Tag: Governor Mary Fallin

School consolidation is not a new idea in Oklahoma

With education funding certain to be a major issue this next legislative session, you can be certain that “consolidation” will be suggested as a way to reduce administrative costs and put more money into children’s classrooms.  Governor Mary Fallin has… Read more [More...]

Summer Re-Run: When "business-friendly" regulations are bad for the rest of us

Yesterday, an Oklahoman editorial made the case that many of Oklahoma’s job licensing requirement are unnecessary and harmful to consumers. We made a similar argument in this blog post, originally published in February 2011. One theme of Gov. Fallin’s State… Read more [More...]

Keeping it honest

In a recent blog post, we pointed out that while most core services have seen significant cuts in recent years, transportation has been spared. At a time when many state agencies were absorbing funding cuts of more than 20 percent,… Read more [More...]

Energy Efficiency: 'It’s fruit lying on the ground.'

The way that Americans produce and consume energy is at a major transition point. We’ve seen the emergence of powerful, parallel trends: a dramatic expansion of natural gas production, steadily growing renewable sources, growing concerns about climate change, reliance on… Read more [More...]

The survey says… Oklahoma businesses need a well-funded education system

A few months ago, Governor Fallin released the results of a survey of businesses from across the state that asked what they viewed as the strengths and weaknesses of doing business in Oklahoma.  The results showed clearly that Oklahoma businesses… Read more [More...]

Step up or step aside: Looming deadline forces Oklahoma's hand on a health exchange

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the health care law, or Affordable Care Act (ACA), will soon compel even the most reluctant states to address their central responsibility under the law – state-based health insurance exchanges.  Exchanges, which we’ve blogged… Read more [More...]

Claims for Oklahoma tax cut not OK

This post was written by Nick Johnson, Vice President for State Fiscal Policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This originally appeared on the Center’s Off the Charts blog and is reposted with permission. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal… Read more [More...]

Business leaders urge rejection of tax triggers

As reported in CapitolBeatOK, a group of 30 prominent business executives, civic leaders and philanthropists recently sent an open letter to the Governor, Speaker and Senate Pro Tem urging them not to adopt a trigger mechanism that would lead to… Read more [More...]

Politicians make bad fortune-tellers

A key question in the income tax debate has been whether tax cut supporters were taking a “responsible” approach in their proposals. They have worked hard to convince Oklahomans that we can afford tax cuts without disrupting core services. Revenue… Read more [More...]

The sure path to economic prosperity

What is the best course for strengthening Oklahoma’s economy and providing broad-based benefits for Oklahoma families? Proponents of cutting or eliminating the state’s personal income tax claim that doing so will boost the state’s economy. However, as University of Oklahoma… Read more [More...]