Statement: Lawmakers should vote down budget that breaks their promises

The Save Our State Coalition, including Oklahoma Policy Institute, released the following statement in response to the budget plan unveiled by House and Senate leaders late last night: The legislative session began with promises to fix Oklahoma’s structural deficit, fund… Read more [More...]

Amid budget deadlock, a reminder of what’s at stake

At the state Capitol, lawmakers remain deadlocked over how to find enough revenue to avoid crippling budget scenarios. The main barrier appears to be legislative leadership’s refusal to allow a vote on removing huge tax breaks for oil and gas producers. On… Read more [More...]

Focus on “government spending” instead of real people is leading lawmakers astray

Right now most Oklahomans are worried about how our lawmakers will fill a huge budget shortfall following years of cuts that have contributed to teachers fleeing Oklahoma classrooms, left Oklahomans with severe disabilities and children in the child welfare system at risk of losing basic… Read more [More...]

Statement: Republican budget proposal ignores popular solutions

Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement in response to Republican leaders’ new budget proposal: The proposal announced today by Republican leadership does not address the hundreds of millions Oklahoma is giving away each year to the oil and gas… Read more [More...]

Will legislators again pass a last-minute budget without time for scrutiny?

With fewer than two weeks left in Oklahoma’s legislative session, we still have little idea of what the state budget will look like. The budget is the single most important responsibility of lawmakers, but we’re again expecting a last-minute deal that will be… Read more [More...]

How much new revenue will ending oil and gas tax breaks bring in?

As the budget debate has intensified in recent weeks, legislators and advocates have heard dramatically different estimates of how much additional revenue could be raised by ending or reducing the special tax rate for oil and gas production. Some have… Read more [More...]

A test of leadership for Speaker McCall (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. With only two weeks of session remaining (one week to pass revenue bills), legislators seem determined to… Read more [More...]

OCPA’s attack on OK Policy and ITEP doesn’t hold up

Last night, the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs released a statement attacking the credibility and integrity of Oklahoma Policy Institute and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). They claim that a “Number of the Day” we cited from a… Read more [More...]

Itemized deduction proposal has flaws, but opponents’ claims are overstated

With only a couple of week lefts in the Legislative session, lawmakers are scrambling to put together a budget that avoids devastating cuts to Oklahoma communities. The latest revenue idea to emerge is to limit itemized deductions to $17,000 per tax return,… Read more [More...]

On revenue options, the right choice is “All of the Above”

With less than three weeks left in the legislative session, there is still no overall budget agreement. Facing a budget hole of close to $1 billion, a bipartisan consensus has emerged at the Capitol on the need for substantial new… Read more [More...]