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Amenities: A Hopeful Approach to Rural Development

This is the second of two blog posts on rural poverty by Mariah Levison, a graduate student in International Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, based on a presentation that Oklahoma Policy Institute gave last month at McCurtain Memorial… Read more [More...]

Expanded weatherization program–stimulus and investment

Six months into the federal stimulus program (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA), most of the discussion has centered  on infrastructure projects and the impact on economic recovery and jobs, if any. Today, we’d like to focus on… Read more [More...]

Faces of the recession

If  you did not see last Sunday’s Tulsa World, it is well worth checking out their front-page profile of families hit by the economic downturn, titled “Faces of the Recession”. Reporters Ginnie Graham and Mike Averill tell the stories of… Read more [More...]

August budget cuts by agency: not quite across-the-board

As a follow-up to our earlier post about the announced cuts to state agencies resulting from the shortfall in July revenue collections, we have prepared a spreadsheet that shows how much of a cut each agency will receive in dollar… Read more [More...]

Public investment: Better to be lucky than smart?

A story  in USA Today, “Oklahoma City defies recession,” focuses on OKC as the city with the 2nd lowest unemployment rate in the country. In response to questions about OKC’s secret to success, Roy Williams of the OKC Chamber said… Read more [More...]

Standing Corrected: State prison population growth slows

Last week we released the August edition of our Numbers You Need bulletin. In addition to tracking monthly and quarterly trends in employment, inflation, work support programs. state revenues, and foreclosures, each issue also looks at annual data for one… Read more [More...]

Surprising causes of rural poverty

Last month Oklahoma Policy Institute was invited by McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel to give a presentation on poverty as part of a monthly lecture series that the hospital has convened to examine pressing social problems facing their area. Our… Read more [More...]

Casual Friday–529 plan basics

OK Policy focuses not just on budget and tax issues, but on finding ways for government and households to work together to make Oklahoma and Oklahomans more prosperous. One great example of this kind of partnership is 529 college savings… Read more [More...]

New Revenue Numbers: The long climb back

As you’ve no doubt already heard, the worst fears about state revenue collections in the beginning of the new fiscal year were confirmed yesterday with the release of July General Revenue (GR) collections. The Treasurer’s office announced that July revenues… Read more [More...]

Tax incentives–Why not hold them to the same standard as other spending?

I recently attended a meeting of the state’s Incentive Review Committee. This board of citizens is appointed by elected leaders to review some of the hundreds of tax incentives we give to encourage specific economic activities. Dr. Larkin Warner, a… Read more [More...]

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