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This year, lawmakers created the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT), which will audit agency budgets and evaluate the effectiveness of state programs and services, issuing published reports of resulting conclusions. Supporters say the office will lead to better legislative oversight and more efficient use of taxpayer dollars. But officials in other states with similar programs say private-sector watchdogs, rather than politicians, often make better use of the resulting data.

To simply increase government spending without any focus on also improving outcomes, 1889 Institute research fellow Mike Davis said, is “a terrible goal.”

Is the University of Oklahoma a campus rife with racism, hostility to other minority groups, and rampant threats, intimidation, and discrimination? Hopefully not, but there’s no way to tell for certain because the university has failed to respond to requests for details about complaints filed with the school’s bias hotline.

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready says this year’s passage of two bills to increase access to health insurance and give people protection against catastrophic events represent a small step forward in addressing Oklahoma’s health needs.

Gov. Kevin Stitt reiterated his opposition to Medicaid expansion on Friday and discussed efforts to come up with an alternative plan to address Oklahoma’s health care needs.

House Democrats decried portions of this year’s budget plan on Thursday, but then voted for bills they said either provided insufficient funding or misspent money.

Members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives rejected legislation Wednesday that would have allowed more criminal suspects to be released from jail without bail after critics said it would lead to more crime and the bill’s author admitted he did not know how much the measure would increase taxpayer costs.

Urging lawmakers to spend rather than save money, Democrats painted an apocalyptic picture of Oklahoma’s future if government spending is not increased further.

A seldom-obeyed law mandating passage of a public school budget by April 1 may soon be a thing of the past. House Bill 2769, which repeals the funding deadline, has passed both chambers of the Legislature and is headed for the governor’s desk.

This year’s state appropriation for K-12 schools was above $3 billion for the first time ever. It’s now estimated K-12 schools will have received a $638 million increase in appropriations in just two years, including money for an average combined two-year pay raise of $7,320 for teachers.