Topic: Budget & Tax

Fact Sheets: Lottery, Gaming and Tobacco

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
October 13, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved a series of measures that created the Oklahoma Education Lottery (SQ 705 & SQ 706), authorized and regulated tribal and racetrack gaming (SQ 712) and increased tobacco taxes (SQ 713) to generate new revenues to… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Scott Meacham): Rural and Small Business Credits are bad tax policy run amok

By: Gene Perry
October 12, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Scott Meacham is the former State Treasurer and former director of the Oklahoma Office of State Finance. He currently chairs the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development and Taxation Committee. The Oklahoma legislature has struggled for decades with the best… Read more [More...]

Good times don't last forever

By: Gene Perry
October 11, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Last week, Gov. Fallin announced a plan to fix the state’s decaying bridges by 2019. The proposal involves putting more money in the ROADS fund, which receives a portion of income tax revenues that would otherwise go to the state’s… Read more [More...]

Why a federal Balanced Budget Amendment will never happen, and why that’s a good thing

By: Gene Perry
October 6, 2011 // Updated: May 1, 2019
[This post has been changed slightly from the original. An earlier version questioned SoonerPoll’s reliability without providing evidence to back up that claim.] As part of the agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling, Congress will vote on a Balanced… Read more [More...]

Easier to shop in Kansas than move to Texas: Why replacing income tax with consumption tax is bad for Oklahoma's economy

By: David Blatt
October 5, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Many state political and business leaders are clamoring to do away with Oklahoma’s personal income tax, the state’s single largest revenue source, while acknowledging the need to maintain sufficient tax revenue to fund basic services. One influential participant in the… Read more [More...]

From the Archives: I don't need it but I'll take it – Revisiting oil and gas tax breaks

By: David Blatt
September 28, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Note: This afternoon, the Task Force for the Study of State Tax Credits and Economic Incentives will be examining gross production tax exemptions. This blog post on the subject initially ran in March 2011. A recent news report examining proposals… Read more [More...]

Three reforms to modernize Oklahoma's income tax

By: Gene Perry
September 26, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
At the first meeting of the legislature’s tax reform task force, both chairmen expressed support for making top-down cuts to Oklahoma’s income tax or eliminating it entirely. In a previous post, we explained why that’s a bad idea. In this… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Noble McIntyre) – Oklahoma must spend more on public safety education

By: Kate Richey
September 20, 2011 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Noble McIntyre is the senior partner and owner of McIntyre Law, an Oklahoma personal injury law firm. Traffic fatalities in Oklahoma decreased from 765 in 2006, to 627 in 2010, according to the Oklahoma Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2012… Read more [More...]

Presentation to the Oklahoma Task Force on Comprehensive Tax Reform

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
September 15, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Oklahoma Policy Institute presented to the Task Force on Comprehensive Tax Reform on September 15, 2011. You can view the presentation here or download it as a PDF. Readcoverage of the meeting from the Oklahoman or meeting notes taklen by… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Tom Adelson, Scott Meacham & Preston Doerflinger): Oklahoma tax credit is subsidizing out-of-state businesses

By: Gene Perry
September 12, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Senator Tom Adelson is a state senator from Tulsa. Scott Meacham is the former State Treasurer and former director of the Oklahoma Office of State Finance. Preston Doerflinger is the current director of the Oklahoma Office of State Finance. If… Read more [More...]