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.…
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By:
Gene Perry
March 7, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
With the oil and gas industry in freefall and a state budget hole that has grown to $1.3 billion, Oklahoma lawmakers’ best budget scenario this year is to find the least bad among many terrible options. While the federal government…
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The state faces a huge budget shortfall
As a result of revenue collections coming in below projections, mid-year revenue failures were declared in December and February. Agencies were cut by 7 percent of…
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As Oklahoma grapples with a rapid decline in state revenue collections, agency budgets have already been cut once this year, and a second round of even greater cuts has just been announced. Oklahoma’s Rainy Day Fund was designed specifically to…
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In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved State Question 712, which established legal compacts between the state of Oklahoma and Native American tribes to regulate tribal gaming. Under the gaming compacts, tribes contribute over $125 million to the state, which goes almost…
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By:
David Blatt
February 23, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Should Oklahoma strip Medicaid health care coverage from people least able to afford insurance on their own? In a state that trails most of the nation in uninsured rates and health outcomes, who could defend this?
Should the Department of…
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By:
Steve Lewis
February 19, 2016 // 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.…
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By:
David Blatt
February 18, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Giving Oklahoma’s teachers a pay raise has been proclaimed as one of the highest priorities of legislators and Governor Mary Fallin this session. Despite a $1.3 billion budget shortfall and the near certainty of cuts to all state agencies, including…
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Millions of low- and moderate-income working families in the United States benefit from a couple of key tax credits that are among the most important ways that we keep people out of poverty and support children’s development. But to receive…
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By:
Gene Perry
February 16, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Last week the Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee approved SB 977, a bill that would suspend 23 tax credits for the next two years as a way to partially address the state’s massive budget shortfall. While the bill targets numerous credits,…
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