Featured Read

Recent Posts

Halt the tax cut

Note: This is an updated and expanded version of a column that ran in the Journal Record. Faced with a $611 million budget shortfall, elected leaders have many tough decisions to make. But one decision should be easy: halting a… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk March 29, 2015

The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.… Read more [More...]

What’s left for the legislative session at the halfway point (Steve Lewis Capitol Updates)

Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

The misleading myth of voter fraud in American elections (Guest Post: Lorraine Minnite)

Lorraine Minnite is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Director, Undergraduate Urban Studies Program at Rutgers University – Camden. She is a member of the Scholars Strategy Network Working Group on Expanding and Protecting the Right to Vote. This is… Read more [More...]

Kansas is considering expanding health coverage. Oklahoma should, too.

It’s no secret that Kansas’s budget is in crisis. Following years of tax cuts and fiscal mismanagement, the state finds itself in a $600 million budget shortfall. The state is scrambling to fill the gap, including across-the-board budget reductions and… Read more [More...]

Fact Check: Would school consolidation boost Oklahoma teacher salaries?

In a recent press release, Sen. Kyle Loveless (R-Oklahoma City) made some claims about how much Oklahoma might be able to improve teacher salaries through school consolidation. He said, “The state of Oregon has the exact same population as Oklahoma… Read more [More...]

Lawmakers pushing another unproven tax break with no idea what it will cost

There’s lots of talk at the Capitol this year about the need for greater scrutiny and control of tax incentives. As we’ve discussed, bills authored by the House Speaker and Senate Pro Tem would evaluate all incentives on a regular… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk March 22, 2015

The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.… Read more [More...]

Upcoming Event: “Inequality – Should We Blame the Market?” with Dean Baker

The University of Tulsa will host economist Dean Baker for the Lectureship in Politics and Law on Thursday, April 9th, at 7:00 p.m. Dean Baker is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. The lecture,… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Legislature has a funny way of supporting education

In February, the Oklahoma House approved a bill (HB 1749) that would ban payroll deductions for membership dues to any organization that conducts collective bargaining on behalf of public employees. This week the bill was narrowly approved by a Senate… Read more [More...]

Search the Blog