Quick Take: Rainy Day Fund basics

This is a revised and updated version of a page authored by Paul Shinn from OK Policy’s Online Budget Guide Oklahoma’s Rainy Day Fund helps protect against economic downturns. The Rainy Day Fund (formally known as the Constitutional Reserve Fund)… Read more [More...]

Revenue collections finish strong year – but still face a steep upward climb

State Finance Director Preston Doerflinger yesterday announced that June General Revenue (GR) collections came in $78.1 million, or 15.7 percent, above last year and $66.2 million, or 13.0 percent, above the official certified estimate. The June collections brought to an… Read more [More...]

Visualizing where the money goes

Every year during state budget discussions, state leaders speak about prioritizing spending to protect core services. That’s especially true when times are bad and the overall budget pie is shrinking. However, the distribution of that pie among agencies over the… Read more [More...]

Summer Rerun: Back to Texas? Income tax proposal stirs up some old memories

Recently, Governor Mary Fallin made headlines for saying that while she has no immediate plans to propose more income tax cuts, her long-term goal is to do away with the income tax while finding a way to “restructure the state’s… Read more [More...]

10 Things You Should Know About Oklahoma’s Budget and Tax System

Here are ten facts to help anyone better understand Oklahoma’s budget and tax system. A great conversation starter! Download the fact sheet, or click on any of the links for additional information from one of OK Policy’s publications 1) Oklahomans… Read more [More...]

Quick Take: Revenues rebounding but still way down from pre-downturn levels

This week, State Finance Director Preston Doerflinger announced General Revenue (GR) collections for May.  For the month, GR was $36 million, or 9.5 percent, above May 2010 and $25.4 million, or 6.5 percent, above the certified estimate. May collections would… Read more [More...]

Can we stop the runaway train of tax expenditures?

In an earlier post, we discussed tax breaks that had been extended or newly created in the most recent legislative session. The governor promised to eliminate tax credits that “do not create jobs,” but there were no successful bills to… Read more [More...]

Eliminating tax breaks: The dog that didn't bark

In her first State of the State speech, Gov. Fallin said, ”Our course of action will be simple: only tax credits that create jobs will stay. For instance, my budget begins the process of restoring the Aerospace Engineer Tax Credit,… Read more [More...]

Legislative action on pensions shores up system, defuses rhetoric

The 2011 legislative session was marked by passage of legislation to limit lawsuit damages, restrict the collective bargaining rights of public employees and the legal rights of teachers, revamp the workers compensation system, and consolidate state agencies. Yet when asked… Read more [More...]

Hot off the Presses: Our FY '12 budget highlights

With the 2011 legislative session now wrapped up, we are pleased to release our FY ’12 Budget Highlights, a one-page summary analysis of the budget for the upcoming year, along with eight detailed charts and tables on revenues and appropriations.… Read more [More...]