By:
Gene Perry
April 24, 2019 // Updated: April 23, 2019
This morning, hundreds of Oklahomans will gather on the south side of the state Capitol for the rally to expand health coverage. Beginning at 10:30AM, speakers will share facts and stories about what expanding coverage to 100,000 uninsured Oklahomans would mean for our health, families, and economy. Then we'll go into the Capitol to deliver that message to legislators.
[More...]
While intended to address concerns with the original version, the latest changes to the scholarship tax credit legislation are even more harmful. In addition to diverting more tax dollars away from public services, the revisions also dilute the fiscal impact of donations to public school foundations and create unfair advantages for some nonprofits.
[More...]
Linda Allegro speaks eloquently about how current approaches to immigration enforcement are breaking apart families, hurting public safety, and wasting tax dollars.
[More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
April 22, 2019 // Updated: April 22, 2019
Governor Stitt vetoed his first bill last week. HB 1205, by Rep. Carol Bush and Sen. Greg McCortney, would have created an Oklahoma Home- and Community-Based Services Ombudsman Program Task Force to research, compile data, and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature regarding the creation and operation of an ombudsman program to serve recipients of in-home care and services.
[More...]
What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma.
[More...]
Accepting federal funds to expand access to health care--which Oklahoma has not done-- is one of the most effective tools states have to combat the opioid crisis and other forms of addiction. Expanding access to care will provide Oklahomans with a pathway to recovery and make Oklahoma a healthier state.
[More...]
By:
Daniel Huff
April 17, 2019 // Updated: July 2, 2019
There is a good chance you know someone struggling to make ends meet. People who struggle to pay for health care have higher risks of heart attacks, obesity, and depression. One way to help Oklahomans meet their basic needs and stay healthy is by restoring an effective and bipartisan anti-poverty measure --the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
[More...]
By:
David Blatt
April 16, 2019 // Updated: July 11, 2019
A new research brief prepared by Dr. Kent Olson, Professor of Economics Emeritus at Oklahoma State University, examines the effect that passage of HB 1010xx and other recent revenue measures will have on the state's long-term fiscal outlook. He finds that these revenue measures reduce the state's budget shortfalls over the next decade, but a significant and growing funding gap will remain in the absence of new revenues.
[More...]
By:
Paul Shinn
April 15, 2019 // Updated: May 2, 2019
I’ve had it. Why can’t we make society work without taxes? I’m willing to try, I think, as I doze off…
[More...]
Word is beginning to circulate around the Capitol about a possible expansion of Medicaid services in Oklahoma. I don't know what form this would take, but hopefully it will be broad enough to take full advantage of the 90 percent funding available to the state through the Affordable Care Act (ACA.) A recent compilation of studies by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation found many positive effects for the states that have accepted Medicaid expansion. Oklahoma is among only 14 states who still refuse to accept the expansion.
[More...]