Tag: Oklahoma

Pay-as-you-go is a promising approach to fiscal responsibility

As Oklahoma’s tax debate unfolds, it has been encouraging to hear a rising chorus of influential voices insist that any tax plan must be revenue neutral. Given deep cuts that state agencies have absorbed in recent years and the long-term… Read more [More...]

High Court Hears Health Law: What's up for debate?

The United States Supreme Court is gearing up for oral argument in what is sure to be a landmark case in American history – the multi-state challenge to the Affordable Care Act, the federal health reform law passed by Congress… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma economists give Laffer a failing grade

The push to eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income tax relies heavily for intellectual support on a study done for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs by economist Arthur Laffer and his colleagues at Aduin, Laffer & Moore econometrics. Last month we… Read more [More...]

Graph of the Day: Tax collections at historic lows

The share of income Oklahomans pay in state taxes has fallen to its lowest point in decades.  In 2010, Oklahomans paid just 5.5 percent of their total income in state taxes.  This includes sales tax, income tax, motor vehicle tax,… Read more [More...]

Dismantling the rural health workforce pipeline

For the past 27 years, a statewide network of Area Health Education Centers (OKAHEC) has worked to increase the supply of primary care providers and improve access to health care in Oklahoma’s rural and underserved communities. Now this program is… Read more [More...]

Stuck at the Drawing Board: Legislature tries again on federal health law

Following a year of open defiance and several months of interim study, the Oklahoma Legislature now appears poised to take action on a major requirement of the new federal health care law, the Affordable Care Act.  States are required by… Read more [More...]

Betting the Farm: Ending the income tax creates huge risks for rural Oklahoma

Could doing away with Oklahoma’s income tax shift taxes not only onto low and middle–income families but also from urban areas to rural areas? Many programs, services, and incentives important for rural Oklahoma rely on our existing revenue structure and… Read more [More...]

Tax Foundation ranks Oklahoma among lowest tax states for business

A new study of state tax costs on business from the Tax Foundation ranks Oklahoma fifth best in the nation for new firms and 16th best for mature firms. Among states in the region, Oklahoma ranked second lowest in business… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (John Thompson): The rewards and dangers of NCLB waivers for urban schools

John Thompson is a former Oklahoma historian and inner city teacher who is now an education writer focusing on inner city schools. When Oklahoma’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver was granted, local news celebrated a new era of “freedom… Read more [More...]

What the income tax pays for

The personal income tax is Oklahoma’s largest single revenue source. In 2011, the state collected $2.412 billion from the personal income tax, or slightly less than one in three dollars (31.7 percent) of total state tax collections. With a strong… Read more [More...]