State budget: Where the dollars go

As legislative leaders and the Governor continue to work on an agreement on the FY ’11 budget facing a budget gap of some $800 – $850 million, here’s a quick visual reminder of why you can’t address a shortfall of… Read more [More...]

April revenues: Collections have stabilized but remain well below pre-downturn levels

April General Revenue collections were announced this afternoon and provided further confirmation that while the fiscal free fall has now stopped, the return to pre-downturn levels is likely to remain long and slow. Overall, April’s collections of $512.3 million were… Read more [More...]

The state budget crisis: Time to put leadership over politics

We are at a truly critical time for Oklahoma. The state faces its most severe budget crisis of the past quarter century, perhaps the most severe in its history. As revenues have fallen, successive rounds of budget cuts have created… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (John F. Gajda): State budget cuts will impact people with developmental disabilities

From time to time, we use the OK Policy blog to post submissions we receive from Oklahomans who have interesting perspectives on important policy issues for the state. This entry is from John F. Gajda,  Executive Director of TARC, an… Read more [More...]

What's at stake: Public health budget cuts

While discussing the state of public health in Oklahoma with a House health appropriations subcommittee, Health Commissioner Terry Cline warned that “Oklahoma is about to become the public health joke of the country.” With Oklahoma standing at 49th in overall… Read more [More...]

What's at stake: Medicaid under the budget knife

OK Policy has argued repeatedly  that next year’s budget outlook, with shortfalls equal to cuts of 12 percent across all agencies of state government above those already enacted this year, threatens to have catastrophic consequences for the state’s economy, businesses,… Read more [More...]

Limiting oil and gas tax exemptions would help bring budget balance

In recent months, with the state confronting historic budget shortfalls for the coming fiscal year and critical services facing massive cuts, there has been growing attention paid to the vast array of exemptions, credits, deductions, and rebates known collectively as… Read more [More...]

Fact Sheets: Lottery, Gaming and Tobacco (2010)

In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved a series of measures that created the Oklahoma Education Lottery (SQ 705 & SQ 706), authorized and regulated gaming (SQ 712) and increased tobacco taxes (SQ 713) to generate new revenues to help fund education… Read more [More...]

Budget Cuts: The pain spreads broader and deeper

Last month, we surveyed some of the budget cuts that state agencies were being forced to implement as result of the state’s revenue shortfalls. Since then, the grim news continues to spread deeper into core programs, affecting major services like… Read more [More...]

Citizens for Tax Justice questions Oklahoman's defence of state income tax break

Last week, the Oklahoman published a “Tax Day” editorial addressing OK Policy’s recent contributions to the debate on the state budget crisis. They began by emphasizing our common ground: Along with the Oklahoma Policy Institute’s David Blatt, we’ve been urging… Read more [More...]