A new report from the Oklahoma Policy Institute — entitled “Plateaus and Cliff Effects in Oklahoma” — is among the first of its kind to examine how public supports and income interact to impact low-income Oklahomans.
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By:
Paul Shinn
April 15, 2020 // Updated: March 2, 2021
Contrary to talking points from state boosters, Oklahoma is not a low tax state for all Oklahomans. Our regressive tax system ensures that low-income Oklahomans pay more in taxes, as a share of their income, than high-income taxpayers.
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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in America. Despite its effectiveness, one in four Oklahoma households that are eligible for the EITC do not claim the credit. The rules setting out who can claim the credit are extensive and challenging to understand, and as a result many people simply don’t bother. Unfortunately, that means these families are not getting the help they very much need to thrive. If Congress were to simplify the rules around the EITC, they could make this already effective anti-poverty tool even more effective.
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Oklahoma is home to more than 260,000 veterans, and good policy choices like restoring the Oklahoma Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would help them and their communities be economically stable.
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By:
Paul Shinn
August 28, 2019 // Updated: September 3, 2019
When the Legislature ended Oklahoma’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refundability in 2016, they reduced an essential tax benefit for over 200,000 Oklahoma families. Prior to that change, if the amount a family received from the EITC was larger than…
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We told you in February that the Legislature would have several opportunities to improve the lives of hard-working Oklahomans and their families. Unfortunately, only a few of these measures passed.
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By:
Daniel Huff
April 17, 2019 // Updated: July 2, 2019
There is a good chance you know someone struggling to make ends meet. People who struggle to pay for health care have higher risks of heart attacks, obesity, and depression. One way to help Oklahomans meet their basic needs and stay healthy is by restoring an effective and bipartisan anti-poverty measure --the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
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In Oklahoma’s tax code, there are multiple tax breaks for high-income individuals and businesses. But just three tax credits are targeted at low-income Oklahomans, and one of those - the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – was slashed in 2016 to help balance the books during a severe budget crisis. This cut resulted in more than 200,000 Oklahoma families losing some, or all, of the value of their EITC. Statewide, low and middle-income working families lost nearly $28 million due to the cut. That’s an average of $121 per family, and many low-wage families lost even more.
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Policies that support low-income families improve the well-being of children. Policymakers have a number of options for improving economic prospects for Oklahoma’s working families and in turn improving health - including their mental health. Two practical changes are to restore the refundability of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and increase the minimum wage. Both of these policy changes would provide more economic stability for families, reducing the risk of childhood trauma and poor mental health outcomes that stem from these adverse experiences. Improving the financial well-being of families creates healthier and economically thriving communities.
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This session, the Legislature will have several opportunities to improve the lives of hard-working Oklahomans and their families. Legislators have filed bills to create second chances for the justice-involved, make sure workers have paid time off to care for their own health and the health of their loved ones, and restore the full value of the Earned Income Tax Credit. All of these would be great steps toward creating an Oklahoma that appropriately values and fairly rewards the labor of its citizens.
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