
This legislative session, lawmakers placed great emphasis on budget transparency. It’s been revealing to watch the process unfold, but there are steps lawmakers can take to build on this progress for next year.
Throughout May, legislative leaders and the governor…
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While elimination of the state portion of the grocery sales tax provides a measure of financial relief to some Oklahomans, it’s far too little support for our low - and middle-income families and seniors who need it most.
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By:
Dave Hamby
January 24, 2024 // Updated: January 24, 2024

Attempts by Oklahoma elected officials to reduce or eliminate the state’s personal income tax are part of a national tax-cutting trend that could undermine funding for the shared services that can move our state out of the bottom 10 states for quality of life and overall well-being for all Oklahomans.
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Media Release: National experts say Oklahoma is part of a damaging tax-cutting trend
For more information, contact Dave Hamby, Oklahoma Policy Institute, (918) 810-0182, dhamby@okpolicy.org
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During the past few decades, Oklahoma has become one of the nation’s…
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On Tuesday, the governor issued a call for a special session on Jan. 29, asking lawmakers to pass a .25-percent cut to the state’s personal income tax.
Statement from the Oklahoma Policy Institute:
Instead of grandstanding with yet another…
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Oklahoma’s tax system is upside-down, with everyday Oklahomans paying a far greater share of their income in taxes than wealthy residents. Proposals to eliminate the state’s income tax would widen this disparity, according to the latest edition of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Who Pays?, the only distributional analysis of tax systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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By:
Emma Morris
January 8, 2024 // Updated: January 7, 2024

most Americans feeling that corporations should pay more in taxes, and most businesses prioritize public services that rely on that tax revenue; Oklahoma must maintain or increase its corporate tax revenue in coming years.
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 6, 2023 // Updated: November 6, 2023

During the decade downturn in the state’s economy, state agencies were hollowed out. When the economy turned around, the governor insisted on agencies submitting flat budget requests to the legislature and “saving” the increased revenue in various accounts. Then he used the “savings” to demand tax cuts.
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By:
Emma Morris
September 14, 2023 // Updated: September 28, 2023

NOTE: On Sept. 11, 2023, Gov. Stitt called for a special session in October 2023 to address tax reforms. One of the items included in the governor’s request was a “path to zero income tax.”
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Oklahoma should…
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By:
Paul Shinn
August 16, 2023 // Updated: November 20, 2023

While this program could make private and homeschooling more practical or affordable for a few families, taxpayers will mostly be paying for people to do what they were willing to pay for on their own. As a result, we’ll be handing millions of tax dollars to the most well-off among us while propping up private schools, whose enrollment has stagnated in recent years.
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