Topic: Budget & Tax

Would expanding the Rainy Day Fund help Oklahoma’s revenue problems? (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
December 11, 2015 // 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

Until the state proves it can live within its means, it really should stop reducing them (Guest post: Ken Miller)

By: Guest
December 8, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Ken Miller, PhD, is the Oklahoma State Treasurer and an economics professor at Oklahoma Christian University.  This post originally appeared as an article in the November 2015 Oklahoma Economic Report and is reprinted with permission. The billion dollar question that… Read more [More...]

Would budget-only sessions create more problems than they solve?

By: David Blatt
November 30, 2015 // Updated: May 1, 2019
This is an updated and expanded version of a column that originally appeared in the Journal Record. No one who observes or participates in developing Oklahoma’s budget is happy with how things work. Each year, the Legislature approves billions in… Read more [More...]

OCPA’s ‘alternative’ for funding teacher raises proves it can’t be done without new taxes

By: Gene Perry
November 19, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Last month, a group of Oklahomans led by University of Oklahoma President David Boren launched an effort to put an initiative petition on the ballot that would restore funding to education in Oklahoma through a 1 percent statewide sales tax… Read more [More...]

Don’t touch Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund

By: David Blatt
November 18, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
As Oklahoma staggers through an apparently endless string of bad budget years, our investments in education, health care, public safety, and infrastructure that are tied to the annual budget cycle are suffering. Amid all the cuts and all the struggles… Read more [More...]

What’s really behind Oklahoma’s rising Medicaid costs (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
November 6, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

‘End the income tax’ broken record plays on

By: Gene Perry
November 4, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In a recent House interim study led by Rep. Mark McCullough, lawmakers returned to a subject that has been attempted several times in Oklahoma’s recent history. They once again looked at eliminating Oklahoma’s income tax or transforming it into a… Read more [More...]

Budget challenges call for better tools

By: David Blatt
October 26, 2015 // Updated: May 1, 2019
As Oklahoma grapples with a deepening budget crisis, one of the greatest challenges our policymakers face is the absence of a full and forward-looking picture of the state’s financial situation to help guide tax and spending decisions. Year after year,… Read more [More...]

Would consolidating law enforcement improve public safety? (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
October 23, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma lottery’s contribution to education reaches new low

By: Gene Perry
October 21, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
As an effort gears up to restore funding to education through a 1-cent sales tax, we’re already hearing more Oklahomans ask a common question: Why hasn’t the lottery fixed our education funding problems? In a post from last year, we… Read more [More...]