Four ways to find free tax help

The deadline to file your federal income tax return (April 17th) is fast approaching.  The Internal Revenue Service offers free tax help by computer, telephone, and in person.  Free tax preparation sites sponsored by community organizations and staffed by volunteers… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Elizabeth McNichol): The "Texas model" is hard to follow and not all it seems

Elizabeth McNichol is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities specializing in state fiscal issues including methods of examining state budget processes and long-term structural reform of state budget and tax systems. This post originally appeared… Read more [More...]

For Oklahoma jobs, don't mess with success

This post is by OK Policy intern Emily Callen. Emily is a senior at the University of Tulsa, where she is pursuing a major in Biology and a minor in Economics. A longtime wonk-in-training, Emily has for years been boring… Read more [More...]

Watch This: Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope

Oklahoma has the highest rate of households with very low food security in the nation; 7.5 percent of the state’s households reported being hungry at times during the year because they could not afford enough food.  This six minute video… Read more [More...]

Drug Testing & TANF

A bill to require TANF applicants to submit to and pay for a drug test, HB 2388, has passed the state House and now awaits consideration before two Senate committees.  TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and refers… Read more [More...]

The Racial Wealth Gap in Oklahoma

This presentation was presented on March 14th, 2012 at an Oklahoma Assets forum on Closing the Racial Wealth Gap in Oklahoma.… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma's Housing Crisis: How bad was it?

Dr. Gobar will be visiting Oklahoma to present the results of her research in full.  She will be speaking Wednesday night, March 15th at the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum and Thursday night March 16th at the Mayo Hotel in Tulsa. … Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Mortgage Lending Patterns

An analysis of patterns of subprime lending and homeownership and foreclosures among people of color in Tulsa and Oklahoma City MSAs Dr. Angela Gobar, Jackson State UniversityA research project of Howard University’s Center on Race and Wealth Since the housing… Read more [More...]

Economics 102

Arthur Laffer and OCPA have begun responding to a few of the many criticisms of their tax proposal. Their latest argument boils down to this: it’s “Economics 101” that tax cuts are always pro-growth, because when less income goes to… Read more [More...]

Five reasons not to drug-test welfare applicants

Two bills that would require applicants for TANF benefits to submit to and pay for a drug test, HB 2388 and SB 1073, have cleared their first committees and are moving through the legislative process.  TANF stands for ‘Temporary Assistance… Read more [More...]