OKPOLICY.ORG
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK-Oklahoma Policy Institute today released its Online Budget Guide, a comprehensive look at how Oklahoma state and local governments collect and spend money to provide public services.
The Online Budget Guide is designed to give citizens and policy makers a useful tool for understanding how the budget process works and how it impacts Oklahomans. With this knowledge, Oklahomans can actively observe the legislature’s steps in weathering the current economic storm.
OK Policy’s Executive Director Matt Guillory said, “In the face of budget cuts to public services that are heavily relied upon, it is especially important that citizens have access to concrete and reliable information about how we collect and allocate public dollars. What government does and chooses not to do reflect our common goals and affects our communities.”
The Online Guide is interactive, detailed and easy to use. There are search functions, opportunities to comment, ask questions, or request additions, and links to data sources and analysis from all points of view. It will be updated regularly as new data becomes available so users will always have the most current information. The Guide is available athttps://okpolicy.org/online-budget-guide.
“The Guide will be a resource for anyone interested or affected by government finance in Oklahoma. Those just getting interested will find it to be a clear and simple overview, but it will also serve as a great reference tool for legislators, advocates, members of the media, teachers, and others with greater experience in state budget issues,” Guillory said.
The Online Budget Guide is just one example of how OK Policy contributes to the policy dialogue in Oklahoma. The Web site’s blog offers commentary and analysis on a wider range of issues. Issue briefs and fact sheets available on the site make sense of the state’s budget, the federal stimulus programs, and key fiscal issues. In the coming months, OK Policy will introduce its legislative agenda that offers paths for Oklahomans and the state to move toward the prosperity they seek.
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