Tag: Oklahoma

Our Online Budget Guide is coming soon

On October 6, Oklahoma Policy Institute will release its Online Budget Guide. This unique tool for understanding Oklahoma state and local government finances will be valuable both as an introduction for newcomers and as a reference guide for the more… Read more [More...]

Stagnant enrollment and other numbers you need

Last week we released the September edition of Numbers You Need, our monthly recap of statistics that shape Oklahoma. In addition to bad news for the short run–a higher unemployment rate, more people on public support programs, and the eighth… Read more [More...]

Cutting into the bone: Impact of falling revenues starting to be felt

Anyone hoping for signs that the state’s budget woes had already hit bottom found little to cheer in Tuesday’s  revenue announcement [PDF] from Treasurer Scott Meacham. August General Revenue (GR) collections came in nearly 32 percent below one year ago.… Read more [More...]

Pleasant surprise: Oklahoma health insurance gains ground for all ages, types of coverage

As we noted right after the numbers were  released, last week’s Census Bureau report on health insurance coverage provided some unexpectedly good news for Oklahoma. While the nation as a whole saw an increase in the number of uninsured, which… Read more [More...]

You want insurance with that? Fast food chain covers its employees and helps its bottom line

Burgerville, a small fast-food chain in the Pacific Northwest, has always made a killer fresh blackberry shake. Recently, it also made a shrewd business move: providing health insurance for employees. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on the genesis… Read more [More...]

Better Served: States are encouraged to broaden sales tax base

Should states be looking at broadening their sales tax bases to cover more currently untaxed services? That is the argument made in a recent paper by Michael Mazerov of  the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Most states could improve… Read more [More...]

Non-profits and advocates gather to size up budget situation

Last week, OK Policy convened a meeting of over 30 representatives of non-profit and advocacy organizations to discuss the state’s budget situation. We begin with a presentation on budget trends and outlooks, which can be viewed on our website; the… Read more [More...]

Summer re-run: Domestic violence programs provide shelter from the storm

Note: Occasionally we are re-running blog posts on topical subjects that you may have missed the first time around. Last week, the Tulsa World reported that DVIS (Domestic Violence Interventions Services) of Tulsa has been awarded a $426,335 grant from… Read more [More...]

Taking on tax incentives

In a recent post on our blog, Paul Shinn looked at state tax incentives and made the case for holding them to the same standards of accountability as direct government spending programs.  In the new blog at Tax.com, David Brunori,… Read more [More...]

Uninsured Oklahomans remain a problem we should take seriously

The News on 6 in Tulsa reported last week on Oklahomans who lack health insurance. OK Policy’s David Blatt was featured in the story, available here in both print and video, describing who is likely to be uninsured and explaining… Read more [More...]