August budget cuts by agency: not quite across-the-board

As a follow-up to our earlier post about the announced cuts to state agencies resulting from the shortfall in July revenue collections, we have prepared a spreadsheet that shows how much of a cut each agency will receive in dollar… Read more [More...]

New Revenue Numbers: The long climb back

As you’ve no doubt already heard, the worst fears about state revenue collections in the beginning of the new fiscal year were confirmed yesterday with the release of July General Revenue (GR) collections. The Treasurer’s office announced that July revenues… Read more [More...]

Tax incentives–Why not hold them to the same standard as other spending?

I recently attended a meeting of the state’s Incentive Review Committee. This board of citizens is appointed by elected leaders to review some of the hundreds of tax incentives we give to encourage specific economic activities. Dr. Larkin Warner, a… Read more [More...]

What are we buying? Effectiveness measures from our upcoming Online Guide

Like most people who watch public budgets, we tend to focus on what is being spent, at the expense of what is being bought. Our upcoming Online Guide to Oklahoma Budget and Taxes looks at state and local expenditures more… Read more [More...]

Pension system liabilities: the train at the end of the tunnel

It will be worth your time to check out Better, Faster, Cheaper, a blog produced by former Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith for the Kennedy School of Government. Among its gems is an excellent article by William Eggers, The Pension Time… Read more [More...]

Federal Stimulus Information

It’s back to school for OK Policy’s Stimulus update! Our August 2009 issue profiles over $425 million in new federal money available to Oklahoma’s education system.  This update is a quick and easy way to learn about: Why education programs… Read more [More...]

Is spending the easy part? Stimulus transparency is opaque

As the debate about the speed and impact of stimulus spending rages on, Good Jobs First is taking on the less glamorous but equally important task of assessing accountability in state spending of funds from the stimulus bill (more formally,… Read more [More...]

The Art of budget forecasting

We have not yet reached the end of the first month of the new fiscal year but already Treasurer Scott Meacham has publicly predicted that state General Revenue collections will fall far enough short of the forecast to trigger an… Read more [More...]

Dealing with revenue shortfalls–this year and beyond

Last week, State Treasurer Scott Meacham unveiled the the state revenue report for June, 2009. Revenue was below the previous year, for both  the last  month and the fiscal year as a whole, as we reported earlier. It’s natural to… Read more [More...]

Fewer Exceptions – Tobacco tax revenues rise while sales fall

Five years after voters approved a State Question increasing the tax on tobacco, there is good news to report: over the course of the recently completed fiscal year (FY ’09), tobacco sales in Oklahoma declined by 7.2 percent over the… Read more [More...]