July 1st marks the start of the new state fiscal year in most of the country – but as glad as state Governors, fiscal directors and legislators will be to see the end of the annus horribilis of 2010, don’t…
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Each year, the State Board of Equalization meets three times to review and approve projected revenues for the upcoming fiscal year – in December, February and June. At this year’s June meeting, which took place earlier this week, the Board…
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For many state agencies, the first rounds of budget cuts over the past two years could be managed without greatly affecting key programs and services for the public. But as funding cuts go deeper and last longer, often a tipping…
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The state’s deep and prolonged budget crisis has taken a serious toll on public services in Oklahoma. We have seen rate cuts to providers of community-based health services, elimination of violence prevention programs for at-risk youth, closures of facilities for…
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In their efforts to find additional revenues for the upcoming budget year, legislative leaders and Governor Henry took some strong and politically risky steps to suspend tax credits for various forms of economic activity. But when it came to tax…
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As the dust settles on the 2010 legislative session that adjourned on May 28th, we’ve now released a detailed summary of the major highlights of the state budget for the upcoming year. Our fact sheet includes a set of seven…
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One measure adopted this session to mitigate the extent of budget cuts was HB 2359, which aims to increase the collections of taxes owed on purchases made over the Internet or by other remote retailers. After opposition emerged, the final…
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Once bitten, twice shy. Or is it twice bitten, thrice shy? Oklahoma’s budgeting laws try to protect against mid-year budget shortfalls by allowing the Legislature to appropriate only 95 percent of the certified estimate of General Revenue (GR) fund collections…
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Earlier this year, we explored the question of what does and does not fall under the supermajority provisions of SQ 640. In these final days of the legislative session, this question has assumed renewed relevance with the introduction and passage…
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From time to time, we use the OK Policy blog to post contributions that offer interesting perspectives on important policy issues for the state. Michael Lipsky is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy…
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