State Question 800: New Reserve Fund for Oil and Gas Revenue

State Question 800 will be on the ballot on November 6, 2018. Download this fact sheet as a PDF or download all five State Questions as a single PDF. Visit our 2018 State Questions and Elections page for more information on Oklahoma ballot measures and elections. … Read more [More...]

The state budget is growing but is not fully recovered

As Oklahoma heads into a new budget year and closes the books on FY 2018, two things are especially clear: Oklahoma’s fiscal situation is much improved, but we still have a long ways to go to recover from a decade… Read more [More...]

With revenue growing again, can Oklahoma make up for a lost decade? (Capitol Update)

Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. According to State Treasurer Ken Miller, gross receipts to the state treasury during FY-18 were at an… Read more [More...]

What we know – and don’t know – about the revenue bill veto challenge

In late March, on the eve of an anticipated teacher walk-out, Oklahoma lawmakers approved a series of bills intended to provide pay raises for teachers, school support staff, and state employees. To pay for the raises, lawmakers approved a number… Read more [More...]

FY 2019 Budget Highlights

[Download this report as a PDF.] The FY 2019 budget increases funding significantly from recent years. State agencies will be appropriated a total of $7.567 billion in FY 2019. This is an increase of $718.5 million (10.5 percent) compared to… Read more [More...]

Bill Watch: This year in #okleg

Last week, the Oklahoma legislature adjourned one of the more extraordinary legislative sessions in recent memory – one that followed one special session, ran partially concurrently with another, included nine days of protests at the Capitol, saw the Legislature raise… Read more [More...]

The FY 2019 Budget: Been down so long this looks like up

In the 1960s, the New York City poet and folksinger Richard FariƱa published a novel titled “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.” This title certainly applies to Oklahoma’s FY 2019 state budget, approved by the House… Read more [More...]

New budget marks a return of line-item appropriations (Capitol Update)

Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. When Republicans took full control of the legislature, both House and Senate, they began a process of… Read more [More...]

Unheralded law puts increased funding in doubt

Lawmakers this year have approved over half a billion in new taxes to pay for a package of spending measures, including increased pay for teachers, support staff, and state workers, and increased operating support for schools. While the new obligations… Read more [More...]

Will the teacher raise be delayed by a veto petition?

[Note: The post has been edited to correct the information regarding HB 1024xx] On March 28th, just hours before Oklahoma Senators were to vote on pay raises for teachers and other employees funded by new taxes, a group calling themselves “Oklahoma… Read more [More...]