Paul Shinn served as Budget and Tax Senior Policy Analyst with OK Policy from May 2019 until December 2021. Before joining OK Policy, Shinn held budget and finance positions for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Department of Human Services, the cities of Oklahoma City and Del City and several local governments in his native Oregon. He also taught political science and public administration at the University of Oklahoma, University of Central Oklahoma, and California State University Stanislaus. While with the Government Finance Officers Association, Paul worked on consulting and research projects for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and several state agencies and local governments. He also served as policy analyst for CAP Tulsa. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Oklahoma and degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Maryland College Park. He lives in Oklahoma City with his wife Carmelita.
By: Paul Shinn
May 26, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Though the dust hasn’t yet settled at the Capitol, Oklahoma’s Legislature has nearly finished a budget for FY’10, which starts July 1. The final budget totals $7.231 billion. Legislators used $641 million from the federal stimulus bill to make up… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 19, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
Sunday’s Tulsa World reports that one of many important decisions left to the last week of the legislative session is whether to modernize Oklahoma’s unemployment insurance (UI) system to qualify for $75 million in additional federal stimulus money. According to… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 18, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The Brookings Institution recently released a study of the continuing shift of jobs away from cities and toward the suburbs. According to Job Sprawl Revisited: The Changing Geography of Metropolitan Employment, only 21 percent of Americans who live in metropolitan… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 13, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Kudos to the Oklahoma Legislature and Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland for taking a small but worthwhile step in helping Oklahomans keep their health insurance. SB 553, authored by Sen. Ron Justice (R-Chickasha) in the Senate and sponsored by Rep. Leslie… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 6, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
Misery loves company? Really? That one doesn’t apply to the state and local governments of Oklahoma. More and more of them are revealing bleak budget pictures for the coming fiscal year, yet none seem to be enjoying the company.
We’ve… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 4, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
As the Oklahoma Legislature winds down the 2009 session, there is still talk of tax relief–a lower top income tax rate, exemptions for oil and gas drilling, and limits on property tax growth–in spite of a budget shortfall of $600… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
April 30, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Considering it was designed to be slow and messy and that it depends on elected officials who must keep us happy, the legislative process works amazingly well much of the time. At other times, though, it encourages bad habits that… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
April 22, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Right now at the state Capitol, the Legislature is working on a tough budget for the upcoming fiscal year, 2010. It often seems nothing is happening from the time the governor submits a budget in February until an agreement rises… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
April 15, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
April 15. I’m not a fan of tax day. Who is? After several tortuous weeks of determining whether I have excess distributions from my 529 plan and deciding how much I owe to the two states I lived in last… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
April 13, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
Two hundred economists from 37 states–including the University of Tulsa’s Steve Steib have joined the rising chorus of voices cautioning states against solving short-term deficits by cutting budgets and public services. They’re urging states to:
Maintain the public services that… Read more [More...]