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What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
This Week from OK Policy
This week, Executive Director David Blatt wrote in his Journal Record column that sales tax holidays are poor public policy. He went into greater detail on the subject on the OK Policy Blog. Intern Tara Grigson argued that Oklahoma needs to rethink school suspensions. In his Capitol Update, Steve Lewis explained why a special legislative challenge likely wouldn’t accomplish much.
In The Know took a break during our fourth annual Summer Policy Institute for much of this week. Check it out on Twitter here.
OK Policy in the News
Blatt spoke to KOCO about oil industry objections to our Oklahoma Agenda for Broad-Based Prosperity. Blatt also spoke to the Norman Transcript about objections to sales tax holidays. Policy analyst Ryan Gentzler was quoted in the Enid News on criminal justice reforms.
Weekly What’s That
A supplemental appropriation is funding approved by the Legislature in the middle of a fiscal year, in addition to funds already provided in that year’s initial state budget. Supplemental appropriations generally are made to cover emergencies or unanticipated mid-year budget shortfalls within an agency or other government entity.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“That may surprise some people, but it shouldn’t because we have seen in polling for some time that people want teachers to make more money, so it’s not too surprising that (SQ 779) has support. I think people see this as a need that has gone long overlooked by the Legislature, and I think this state question is basically the people saying ‘If you aren’t going to do something about it, we will.’ ”
– SoonerPoll CEO Bill Shapard, on polling that shows 62 percent of voters support the ballot question that would create a penny sales tax for education (Source). Read our statement on the proposal here.
Editorial of the Week
The problem at DHS, the school funding problem and similar crises in mental health, corrections, public safety and elsewhere in state government reflect the same underlying issue: The Oklahoma Legislature has cut taxes so drastically that the state doesn’t have enough money to do what must be done.
The answer isn’t to nibble around the edges of the funding pie. The answer is to get a bigger pie.
Numbers of the Day
- 61.1% – Percent of Oklahoma adults in 2014 who were eligible for voter registration who were registered, 43rd in the US
- 10% – Percent of Oklahoma children who had had a parent incarcerated at some point in their childhood as of 2011-2012.
See previous Numbers of the Day and sources here.
What We’re Reading
- Confronting the Parasite Economy [American Prospect]
- How Jails Are Violating the Law [Governing]
