Articles
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Budget & Tax
How money walks: Florida
Due in part to Florida’s much friendlier tax climate, the state has gained $156 billion from wealth migration since 1992. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has lost $1.22 billion since 1992.Curtis Shelton | November 20, 2018
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Health Care
Medicaid eating state budget, feeding national debt
SoonerCare expenditures, as a percentage of total state spending, have nearly doubled since 1997. They now account for 30 percent of total Oklahoma state spending.Kaitlyn Finley | November 19, 2018
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Budget & Tax
October 2018 gross receipts set a record high
October 2018 gross receipts set an October record high of $1.14 billion. Record highs have been set for all four months of this fiscal year.Curtis Shelton | November 15, 2018
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Health Care
States turn to work requirements to fight escalating Medicaid costs
Due to rapidly escalating costs and increases in enrollment, states are pursuing new ways to reform their Medicaid programs, including work requirements for certain eligible able-bodied adults.Kaitlyn Finley | November 13, 2018
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Higher Education
Lawsuit challenges speech code, bias response team
Like many universities across the nation, the University of Oklahoma operates a bias reporting hotline that allows any aggrieved or offended party to report and launch an investigation into supposed acts of bias.Mike Brake | November 12, 2018
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Budget & Tax
Volatile revenue sources make budgeting difficult
Relying on volatile tax sources makes it difficult to predict how much revenue state government will receive. This makes the budgeting process more difficult than it already is. Oklahoma should be wary of increasing its reliance on volatile taxes like the corporate income tax and the gross production tax.Curtis Shelton | November 9, 2018
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Good Government
Voting for responsible government
Oklahoma voters had a clear choice in the election for governor.Jonathan Small | November 9, 2018
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
As TSET endowment grows, so do questions about spending
The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) preliminarily certified $64.8 million for fiscal year 2018. These earnings come from the $1.2 billion endowment for TSET. As the endowment has grown, the scope of the trust has expanded from tobacco-related programs to some questionable areas.Curtis Shelton | November 7, 2018
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Budget & Tax
A look at the October 2018 economic report
The Oklahoma State Treasurer released the monthly report for October revenue collections. Total Gross Receipts collected in October were $1,138.5 million—up 16.1 percent, or $158.3 million, from the same month last year.Curtis Shelton | November 7, 2018
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Health Care
Charting Oklahoma Medicaid growth over the past 20 years
In 2017, more than 1 million Oklahomans were on SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program. Over the last 20 years, the state’s annual cost of the medical welfare program has increased from $536 million to more than $2.3 billion.Kaitlyn Finley | November 5, 2018