By:
David Blatt
October 31, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
We expect a lot from the Oklahomans who work for state government. These are the men and women we entrust to care for victims of abuse and neglect, supervise the most dangerous criminal offenders, stop the spread of infectious diseases,…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
October 23, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Oklahoma Policy Institute issued the following statement on the new budget proposal announced by Governor Fallin and Republican legislative leaders:
Since the beginning of special session four weeks ago, the bipartisan framework needed to end our budget emergency has been clear.…
Read more [More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
October 20, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol.
What’s going on with the special session?
I’m reliably informed that Republican House members, in their caucus…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
October 18, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
This week the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services began alerting care providers that they will have to shut down the state’s entire outpatient behavioral health system, with just a few exceptions, if lawmakers don’t find ways…
Read more [More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
October 13, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol.
There’s a phrase that most people have heard or used: “when push comes to shove.” Generally, this…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
October 10, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
A tax break that benefits a small number of wealthy taxpayers and costs the state of Oklahoma around $100 million per year cannot “be credibly shown to have significant economic impact or a positive return on investment for the State,”…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
October 6, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
A new poll shows a large majority of Oklahoma voters (67 percent) want lawmakers to pass a comprehensive revenue plan in special session that avoids further cuts and funds a teacher pay raise and other critical needs. That compares to…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
October 4, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
As lawmakers continue to work to develop a plan to address the state’s budget crisis, the top priority has rightly been generating enough new revenue to avoid even more cuts to critical services and to fund longstanding needs like a…
Read more [More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
September 29, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol.
With special session underway, it’s rational to be cautiously optimistic that schools and state agencies will make…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
September 27, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Download this fact sheet as a pdf.
Even before the court threw out the cigarette fee, the budget severely underfunded core services — worsening the teacher shortage, forcing senior nutrition sites to close, cutting support for foster families, and not…
Read more [More...]
OKPOLICY.ORG
