Articles
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Health Care
Stitt declares support for Medicaid expansion
Reversing a stance he has publicly touted throughout his term, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Thursday he will support expansion of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program to include up to 628,000 able-bodied adults at a state taxpayer cost of as much as $374 million annually.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Education
Parents urged to drive change via school choice
Perry Daniel, a longtime educator who is currently an official with K12, an online education provider, told parents that through school choice they have the power to change education to address the real, 21st-century needs of their children.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Higher Education
Report highlights partisanship of Oklahoma professors
According to popular stereotype, college professors are overwhelmingly liberal Democrats. New research shows that cliché is grounded in reality, including at several major Oklahoma universities.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Budget & Tax
OMES savings partially offset by increased fees
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) will request $12.7 million less in state appropriations this year. But those savings will be partly offset by a planned increase in the fees OMES charges other agencies for information technology (IT) services. And those fees, which will cumulatively total more than $3 million, will in many instances be covered by increased appropriations to other agencies, reducing state savings.Ray Carter | January 28, 2020
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Budget & Tax
Aerospace tax-credit debacle points up need for reform
Recent problems with Oklahoma’s engineering tax credit highlight the problems with tax incentives generally. Policymakers should reduce taxes for all Oklahomans, not just a few.Curtis Shelton | January 28, 2020
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Economy
Mass transit burns energy, attracts few riders
As 2019 rolled over into a new decade, Oklahoma City celebrated the first anniversary of its sometimes-maligned streetcar system. Unfortunately, many of those gleaming streetcars were running virtually empty.Mike Brake | January 27, 2020
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Budget & Tax
Governor responds to tribes’ casino lawsuit
The state’s filing notes gaming compacts say auto-renewal occurs only if racetracks are allowed to conduct electronic gaming “pursuant to any governmental action of the state or court order following the effective date of this Compact.”Ray Carter | January 24, 2020
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Health Care
Is Saint Francis shortchanging Muskogee?
Muskogee officials claim Saint Francis has failed to pay necessary in-kind payments to the city, hurting public school funding.Kaitlyn Finley | January 23, 2020
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Law & Principles, Good Government
Court arguments highlight redistricting plan’s potential impact
Arguments before the Oklahoma Supreme Court highlighted how an initiative-petition proposal, which would strip the Oklahoma Legislature of redistricting power and place that authority with an outside commission, could play out in practice.Ray Carter | January 22, 2020
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Education
OEA membership slide continues
The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) has long claimed to speak for state teachers. But it now represents considerably fewer than half of them, according to new filings with the Internal Revenue Service as reported by labor analyst Mike Antonucci.Mike Brake | January 22, 2020