Category: Media

Hamilton: Rich play while the poor pay

By Arnold Hamilton The day of reckoning hath arrived. The Legislature’s self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives may have little choice in the session’s final weeks but to declare a fiscal emergency in order to keep already starving state services on life support.… Read more [More...]

Wayne Greene: How not to give teachers a raise

By Wayne Green Two Republican legislators have a provocative idea for how to deal with Oklahoma’s shortage of teachers — exempt them from state income taxes. Sen. A.J. Griffin and Rep. Leslie Osborn made the proposal in a March 18… Read more [More...]

Study finds that payday lenders center around Oklahoma military installations

By Brianna Bailey A new study on payday lending in Oklahoma has uncovered evidence that high-interest lenders target economically distressed communities by opening storefronts in poorer areas and near military installations. The study, from the “Demographics on Payday Lending in… Read more [More...]

Questions Surround State Subsidies Aimed at Saving Jobs

By Warren Vieth Oklahoma’s premier business incentive, the $1 billion Quality Jobs program, entered new territory nine years ago. Until then, businesses only received payroll subsidies from the state if they created new jobs in Oklahoma. In 2006, the program… Read more [More...]

Options to fix Oklahoma’s budget shortfall

For Immediate Release: March 17, 2015 State officials have projected that Oklahoma is facing a $611 million budget shortfall for next year. The shortfall comes at a time when this year’s state budget is already $680 million smaller than six… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma boosters advise bad news is bad for business

By Brianna Bailey Like many Oklahomans, people in the economic development business cringed after blurry cellphone video of the University of Oklahoma fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s racist chant went viral and made national headlines last week. When trying to lure… Read more [More...]

Ginnie Graham: Listen in on your lawmakers; you might be surprised

By Ginnie Graham It’s not fair to say, “Laws are like sausages — it’s better not to see them being made.” That’s a libel against pork. German leader Otto von Bismarck and poet John Godfrey Saxe have had this quote… Read more [More...]

How Do You Solve a $611M Shortfall?

By Michael Cross The State of Oklahoma is facing a $611 million dollar shortfall in the 2016 budget year which starts July First. On Wednesday, February 26th, KOSU held its monthly On Tap series to focus on how to deal… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma debate over US history overshadows education cuts, critics say

By Renee Lewis While Oklahoma lawmakers debate controversial funding cuts for an Advanced Placement (AP) United States history course, critics say the measure is a politicized distraction. Instead, they say, the legislators should focus on the more pressing issue of… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Equalization Board Certifies $611 Million Shortfall (KGOU)

By Associated Press and KGOU Staff State agencies in Oklahoma are being told to brace for budget cuts after a state board led by Gov. Mary Fallin certified that the Legislature will have $611 million less to spend this year.… Read more [More...]