Recent Articles

Stagnant enrollment and other numbers you need

Last week we released the September edition of Numbers You Need, our monthly recap of statistics that shape Oklahoma. In addition to bad news for the short run–a higher unemployment rate, more people on public support programs, and the eighth… Read more [More...]

You want insurance with that? Fast food chain covers its employees and helps its bottom line

Burgerville, a small fast-food chain in the Pacific Northwest, has always made a killer fresh blackberry shake. Recently, it also made a shrewd business move: providing health insurance for employees. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on the genesis… Read more [More...]

Uninsured Oklahomans remain a problem we should take seriously

The News on 6 in Tulsa reported last week on Oklahomans who lack health insurance. OK Policy’s David Blatt was featured in the story, available here in both print and video, describing who is likely to be uninsured and explaining… Read more [More...]

Slate's job change map–now it's good to be a blue state!

Check out Slate.com’s animated map of the changing job picture over the last three and a half years. If you scroll down to the map and click the green arrow at the lower right, you can watch the job picture… Read more [More...]

Stimulus education programs bring promise and challenges

Our new Stimulus Update looks at the $52 billion in education funding in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA, better known as the stimulus). The education programs, in contrast to most other ARRA funds coming to state and local… Read more [More...]

Amenities: A Hopeful Approach to Rural Development

This is the second of two blog posts on rural poverty by Mariah Levison, a graduate student in International Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, based on a presentation that Oklahoma Policy Institute gave last month at McCurtain Memorial… Read more [More...]

Expanded weatherization program–stimulus and investment

Six months into the federal stimulus program (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA), most of the discussion has centered  on infrastructure projects and the impact on economic recovery and jobs, if any. Today, we’d like to focus on… Read more [More...]

Surprising causes of rural poverty

Last month Oklahoma Policy Institute was invited by McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel to give a presentation on poverty as part of a monthly lecture series that the hospital has convened to examine pressing social problems facing their area. Our… Read more [More...]

Casual Friday–529 plan basics

OK Policy focuses not just on budget and tax issues, but on finding ways for government and households to work together to make Oklahoma and Oklahomans more prosperous. One great example of this kind of partnership is 529 college savings… Read more [More...]

Tax incentives–Why not hold them to the same standard as other spending?

I recently attended a meeting of the state’s Incentive Review Committee. This board of citizens is appointed by elected leaders to review some of the hundreds of tax incentives we give to encourage specific economic activities. Dr. Larkin Warner, a… Read more [More...]