OKPOLICY.ORG
What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk is dedicated to this week’s events, publications, and blog posts.
This week the OK Policy Blog shared five proven economic development ideas that are more cost-effective than tax cuts. Our director David Blatt was quoted in this Tulsa World article on how corporate loopholes and exemptions have left our tax base riddled with holes. We also questioned the wisdom of a request from Oklahoma’s Insurance Department to give profitable insurers a free pass to shift administrative expenses onto already strained household budgets.
Also this week, a new report from Good Jobs First found that while Oklahoma does the 6th best job of applying job standards to major tax subsidy programs, some of our subsidies did not fare as well. OK Policy analyst Gene Perry discussed the report in an article in 23rd and Lincoln. Lastly, yesterday’s blog post explores how some are profiting from immigrant detention in Oklahoma.
- 3.4 percent – Percentage growth in year to date total adjusted retail sales in Oklahoma, compared to 2010
- 47th – Oklahoma’s rank among the states on early prenatal care – the percentage of women who receive prenatal care within the first trimester, 2011
- 307,253 – Number of filers in the state that claimed the Oklahoma Earned Income Tax Credit on their 2009 returns
- 91.2 percent – Percentage of Oklahoma farms owned by individuals or families, 2007
- 446M – BTU’s of energy consumed per capita in Oklahoma in 2007, 11th most in the nation.
In The Know, Policy Notes
- The ACLU explains how mass incarceration is a windfall for the private prison industry.
- US Attorney General Eric Holder denounced recent state laws that restrict voting and proposed that the federal government automatically register all citizens to vote.
- The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that state governments are losing out on over $10 billion in transportation revenue every year because the average state has not increased its gas tax rate in over a decade.
- The Atlantic Cities discusses new research suggesting that cultural diversity plays a key role in economic growth.
- Economist Nancy Folbre shows that since welfare reform instituted strict work requirements, the program no longer provides a safety net in times when jobs are not available.
