By:
Paul Shinn
May 28, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In the first year that Republicans fully control the Legislature, who would expect we’d have so little to report from the tax cut beat? The economy and a $600-plus million revenue shortfall, of course, were major factors in tax decisions.…
Read more [More...]
By:
Paul Shinn
May 27, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Stateline.org is an indispensable–and free–source of news and analysis on just about every aspect of state government. Last week, staff author Pamela M. Prah provided an excellent analysis on the state of California’s budget crisis and–more importantly for us–what other…
Read more [More...]
Last week, I attended a meeting of the State Coverage Initiative (SCI), an effort that has taken shape over the past two years under the leadership of Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland to develop a plan to extend health insurance coverage…
Read more [More...]
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...]
When legislative leaders and the Governor announced the FY ’10 budget deal last Friday, they stated that the agreement “protects the four core functions of government, including education, health care, corrections and transportation.” It may not be that simple. The…
Read more [More...]
It is clear that the $7.2 billion FY ’10 budget agreement reached by legislative leaders and the Governor will lead to a tough and painful year ahead as agencies struggle to address increased costs and growing caseloads on flat or…
Read more [More...]
A new report by our friends at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that the approach Oklahoma policymakers are taking to the current fiscal crisis – implementing budget cuts without drawing down reserves or looking at raising revenues…
Read more [More...]
The May edition of Numbers You Need, our monthly update of key Oklahoma economic and budget trends, includes some recent data on bankruptcy filings in Oklahoma that provides another indicator of the spread of economic hardship in the state. For…
Read more [More...]
The initial reports on the agreement for the Fy ’10 budget reached on Friday between legislative leaders and the Governor were positive – due to the availability of over $600 million in federal stimulus dollars, key education, health care, and…
Read more [More...]
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...]