OKPOLICY.ORG
The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
OK Policy’s assessment of the recent tax cut, signed by Gov. Fallin, was endorsed by conservative website OKPolitechs and mentioned in The Lost Ogle blog post. Commanche Public School District Superintendent, Terry Davidson, quoted OK Policy findings on educational funding in the Duncan Banner. In NewsOK, OK Policy analyst Gene Perry wrote that Oklahoma’s 2014 state budget doesn’t meet the values test. OK Policy Executive Director, David Blatt’s Journal Record column honored the courage of teachers who put their lives on the line to protect children.
On the OK Policy blog we answered key questions regarding Gov. Fallin’s proposal to change the Insure Oklahoma program. We also highlighted the upcoming event, The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation annual national Symposium on The Value of Reconciliation in Tulsa on May 29-31. OK Policy’s David Blatt and Kate Richey will speak at the symposium about closing the opportunity gap. We also, discussed how April’s state revenue boost was likely a one-time increase due to federal tax changes. Lastly, we responded to Oklahoma House of Representatives Speaker T.W. Shannon’s attempt to repeal Common Core standards implemented in Oklahoma and addressed the Speaker’s comment regarding the government’s role in providing health insurance.
- 53 percent – Percentage drop in the number of natural gas rigs drilling in Oklahoma over the past year (declining from 62 to 29 rigs since last April).
- 62 – Average annual number of tornadoes occurring in Oklahoma from 1991 to 2010, out of 1253 nationwide.
- 58 – Average age of the principal operator of an Oklahoma farm, exactly the same as the national average in 2011.
- 43.7 percent – Percentage drop in state appropriations for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management since FY 2009, a more than $500,000 cut.
- 97,646 – The number of children in Oklahoma living in extreme poverty in 2011; roughly 16 percent of those children live in families receiving ‘welfare’ through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Policy Notes
- A University of Illinois law professor writes in the New York Times that the IRS scandal around Tea Party groups shows why we should eliminate 501(c)(4)s.
- Atlantic Cities explained how suburban poverty is less visible and more insidious than urban poverty.
- The New Republic examined efforts in Washington to build a better disaster-funding system.
- Atlantic Cities mapped out the differences in teen birth rates across the U.S.
- ProPublica investigates predatory lenders circumventing the Military Lending Act.
