Topic: Budget & Tax

Don’t touch Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund

By: David Blatt
November 18, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
As Oklahoma staggers through an apparently endless string of bad budget years, our investments in education, health care, public safety, and infrastructure that are tied to the annual budget cycle are suffering. Amid all the cuts and all the struggles… Read more [More...]

What’s really behind Oklahoma’s rising Medicaid costs (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
November 6, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

‘End the income tax’ broken record plays on

By: Gene Perry
November 4, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In a recent House interim study led by Rep. Mark McCullough, lawmakers returned to a subject that has been attempted several times in Oklahoma’s recent history. They once again looked at eliminating Oklahoma’s income tax or transforming it into a… Read more [More...]

Budget challenges call for better tools

By: David Blatt
October 26, 2015 // Updated: May 1, 2019
As Oklahoma grapples with a deepening budget crisis, one of the greatest challenges our policymakers face is the absence of a full and forward-looking picture of the state’s financial situation to help guide tax and spending decisions. Year after year,… Read more [More...]

Would consolidating law enforcement improve public safety? (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
October 23, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma lottery’s contribution to education reaches new low

By: Gene Perry
October 21, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
As an effort gears up to restore funding to education through a 1-cent sales tax, we’re already hearing more Oklahomans ask a common question: Why hasn’t the lottery fixed our education funding problems? In a post from last year, we… Read more [More...]

Back in time: The 1980s budget crisis and today’s (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
October 9, 2015 // 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

Our statement on the proposed ballot initiative to fund education with 1 cent sales tax increase

By: Gene Perry
October 2, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement on the proposal for a ballot initiative that would increase funding for common and higher education through a 1 cent increase in the state sales tax: Our public schools and colleges are the… Read more [More...]

Is Oklahoma headed for a revenue shortfall?

By: David Blatt
September 24, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The next legislative session is still four months off, and we’re nine long months out from the start of the next fiscal year. Yet concern is already mounting that the state’s protracted budget crisis is likely to get more severe.… Read more [More...]

Lawmakers to state agencies: “Don’t tell us what Oklahoma needs. Tell us what we can cut.” (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
September 18, 2015 // 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]