Topic: Budget & Tax

Senator Lankford ignores the example of his own state if he thinks tax triggers are responsible

By: David Blatt
November 29, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The United States Senate is poised to vote as early as this week on a major tax overhaul bill.  Although tax reform is the highest priority of Congressional Republicans and the White House, crafting legislation capable of securing a 51-vote… Read more [More...]

Congressional tax plan would take Oklahoma’s budget mess national

By: Gene Perry
November 17, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Oklahomans have learned the hard way what happens when you enact massive tax cuts without saying how you will pay for them. In the mid-2000s, we began slashing our top income tax rate. When Oklahoma first started cutting taxes, the… Read more [More...]

The EITC has been an unfortunate victim of Oklahoma’s budget gridlock

By: Gene Perry
November 14, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In 2016, Oklahoma lawmakers were struggling to pass a state budget amid a massive revenue shortfall. Sound familiar? One of the measures taken by lawmakers in that year to fill their shortfall was making Oklahoma’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)… Read more [More...]

New budget is a squandered opportunity of massive proportions

By: David Blatt
November 13, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Here is our assessment of the budget unveiled on Nov. 13th by House and Senate leaders. UPDATE: The new General Appropriations bill, HB 1019X, has now passed the House and Senate and awaits action by the Governor. Lawmakers had plenty… Read more [More...]

What now?

By: David Blatt
November 10, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
A week ago we wrote: “At this point (barring further surprises), special session is likely to conclude with a new budget that averts the doomsday scenario facing the three health and social services agencies but does not address Oklahoma’s chronic… Read more [More...]

How Oklahomans would fare under the Congressional GOP tax plan

By: Gene Perry
November 9, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
A new analysis of the Congressional GOP tax plan reveals that in Oklahoma, the wealthiest 1 percent will receive the greatest share of the total tax cut in year one, and their share would grow through 2027. The value of the… Read more [More...]

This is Oklahoma’s last chance

By: David Blatt
November 7, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Note: This post has been updated to reflect the most recent information (11/7/17: 9:00 pm) You are needed right now to contact your Representative and urge him or her to support the comprehensive budget plan contained in HB 1054. Click… Read more [More...]

Reality Check: Restoring Oklahoma’s Gross Production Tax won’t hurt the economy

By: Gene Perry
November 6, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In a recent editorial, The Oklahoman newspaper accused critics of Oklahoma’s huge tax breaks for the oil and gas industry of ignoring reality. They wrote that the claim that oil and gas companies pay far less taxes in Oklahoma than… Read more [More...]

Oklahomans left guessing by actions in special session (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
November 3, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
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. I can’t imagine that any Oklahoma citizen not participating in or observing full time the actions in… Read more [More...]

​I’m an adoptive parent. S​tate budget cuts put my family at risk.

By: Guest
November 2, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Shelley Cadamy is a native Oklahoman. She has worked in economic development in Oklahoma since 1994 and is a foster/adoptive parent. Nine years ago, I fostered and then then adopted my three kids. They’re biological siblings, now 12, 15, and… Read more [More...]