By:
David Blatt
October 22, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
For advocates, policymakers, and the general public, having access to reliable data is among the essential building blocks of informed discussion and debate. Last week at the Fall Forum event of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA), participants were…
Read more [More...]
By:
Paul Shinn
October 20, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
We’ve recently joined with CFED, a national organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity, and the Oklahoma Asset Building Coalition, in releasing the 2009-2010 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard. Our earlier post summarized the Oklahoma results, as did several media reports.
One…
Read more [More...]
By:
Paul Shinn
October 19, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
From time to time we publish guest blog posts that help illuminate a policy issue or advance the discussion of public policy in Oklahoma (see our guest blog guidelines). This post was written by Laura Dempsey-Polan of Life Senior Services,…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
October 15, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Our October edition of Numbers You Need is now out, providing a snapshot of economic and budget trends in Oklahoma through monthly data on jobs, inflation, public benefits, and state revenues, as well as the most recent quarterly data on…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
October 14, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Yesterday’s announcement of state revenue collections for September marked the end of a truly dismal quarter. Collections for the 1st quarter of FY ’10 were 29.5 percent below the first three months of FY ’09. The graph below shows that…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
October 13, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Are tax breaks for businesses a legitimate tool of economic development, or a form of corporate welfare? The fact is they can be either. The challenge is telling the two apart and ensuring through clear legislative language and ongoing oversight…
Read more [More...]
On September 30th, I attended a Leadership OK conference with an emphasis on health. Oklahoma and the United States have some disturbing statistics related to our health, specifically the obesity rates. The surprising part is how far reaching the implications are.…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
October 9, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
Next Tuesday and Wednesday, several hundred Oklahomans from diverse walks of life will get together on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond for an event, organized by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, known as the Fall Forum. …
Read more [More...]
By:
Paul Shinn
October 8, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Today we released our long-awaited Online Budget Guide, a comprehensive resource exploring how Oklahoma’s state and local government collect and spend money to provide public services. While the Guide is packed full of facts and figures and works as both…
Read more [More...]
By:
Paul Shinn
October 6, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
The House of Representatives Appropriation and Budget Committee recently held hearings on an interim study of State Question 744. State Question 744, also known as the HOPE petition, is an initiative sponsored by the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) that would…
Read more [More...]