5 things you should know about Oklahoma taxes

It’s tax day — the annual event when procrastinators, or those who just like to live on the edge, rush to get their tax returns filed before the midnight deadline. If your return is safely filed, or if you just… Read more [More...]

Sex, forecasting and fiscal planning (okay, no sex)

Twice a year,  the seven members of the State Board of Equalization – six statewide elected officers and the Secretary of Agriculture – get together to certify how much revenue the legislature will have to appropriate for the upcoming fiscal… Read more [More...]

We should expand America’s most successful anti-poverty program

This post is by OK Policy intern Haley Stritzel. Haley is a University of Tulsa student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies. In his budget plan for next year, President Obama has proposed expanding… Read more [More...]

Education follows the ROADS to guaranteed funding growth

A decade ago, following the overwhelming defeat of a referendum to boost state taxes on motor fuels, supporters of increased transportation funding hit on a new approach.  In 2005, the legislature approved HB 1078,  creating the Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and… Read more [More...]

New Poll: Voters favor end to drilling tax break

A new poll finds that Oklahoma voters strongly support eliminating tax breaks for horizontal drilling in order to  provide more funding for education, public safety, highways, and other state needs. Nearly two-thirds of voters (64 percent) oppose providing tax breaks… Read more [More...]

With the right choices, we can restore education funding

These are the prepared remarks delivered by David Blatt at the Oklahoma Education Rally on March 31st It’s amazing to see such a huge crowd standing up for public education and Oklahoma’s children. Thank you all for being here. My… Read more [More...]

There’s still no free lunch: Impact of massive tax cuts in Kansas offers a warning to Oklahoma

As Oklahoma considers tax cuts similar to those that took effect in Kansas last year, a new report shows that following in Kansas’s footsteps is a bad idea.  Kansas’s massive tax cuts have failed to improve the state’s economic performance,… Read more [More...]

Filling the Hole: Options for a balanced approach to the state budget shortfall

The Board of Equalization has certified that legislators will have $188 million less for next year’s budget compared to this year.  In her FY 2015 Executive Budget, Governor Fallin proposed an overall cut of 1.9 percent across all of state… Read more [More...]

Filling the Budget Hole: Options for a Balanced Approach

Despite a drop in revenue certified as available for next year’s budget, a new report from Oklahoma Policy Institute shows that budget cuts are not inevitable. [More...]

Graph of the Day: State tax rates and drilling activity show no correlation

In recent years there has been a tremendous growth of horizontal drilling for oil and gas across the United States.  In Oklahoma, this has led to growing concern that the state’s tax breaks for horizontal drilling are growing out of… Read more [More...]