Tag: Mary Fallin

Guest Blog (Camille Landry): Stayin’ alive

Camille Landry is a writer, activist, and advocate for social justice who lives in Oklahoma City. This is the first in a series, “Neglected Oklahoma”, focused on Oklahomans who find themselves in a position where the basic necessities of life… Read more [More...]

Revenue forecast confirms need for continued caution

In late December, the Board of Equalization certified a preliminary estimate of the revenues available for next year’s budget. The numbers confirm that while the worst of the fiscal crisis is now far behind us, the state remains in the… Read more [More...]

The matter with Kansas

Earlier this year, while Oklahoma lawmakers were adjourning their legislative session without a final agreement on Governor Fallin’s top priority of cutting the income tax, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback was celebrating his state’s adoption of major income tax changes. Governor… Read more [More...]

Summer Rerun: Back to Texas? Income tax proposal stirs up some old memories

Recently, Governor Mary Fallin made headlines for saying that while she has no immediate plans to propose more income tax cuts, her long-term goal is to do away with the income tax while finding a way to “restructure the state’s… Read more [More...]

Andrea Baker: Women in Recovery has changed my life forever

Note: The following are the remarks of Andrea Baker delivered at the signing ceremony for HB 2131, the corrections reform bill authored by House Speaker Kris Steele and Sen. Patrick Anderson. For more on the Women in Recovery program, read… Read more [More...]

A tale of two closing funds, the Chinese Communist Party, and genetically modified mice

As the state continues to grapple with severe budget shortfalls, Gov. Fallin’s agenda has mostly involved regulatory changes and managing additional cuts to state services. Yet the governor does have one major new program on her wish list: a deal-closing… Read more [More...]

When “business-friendly” regulations are bad for the rest of us

One theme of Gov. Fallin’s State of the State speech was that we should eliminate regulations to make the state more business-friendly. A common refrain from members of the business community is that environmental and safety regulations are too onerous.… Read more [More...]

Why education reform is not like musical chairs

High on this year’s agenda for Governor Fallin and education reform groups is to put more money into Oklahoma classrooms by reducing administrative costs. Two bills filed for the upcoming session seek to accomplish this by mandate — HB 1493… Read more [More...]