Articles

One portion of an Oklahoma law dealing with financial disclosure requires local school districts to publish credit card statements online. And though some districts have expressed a willingness to comply with the law, other districts refuse to post the information on their websites.

Stillwater, Okla. — There is much to like about small, local farms and their influence on what we eat. But if we are to sustainably deal with problems presented by population growth and climate change, we need to look to the farmers who grow a majority of the country’s food and fiber.

Should we add more able-bodied adults to the welfare rolls? Oklahoma lawmakers have wisely rejected the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. Unfortunately, this push to expand medical welfare will return in 2017. Thousands of kids and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are already stacked up in a very long line waiting for Medicaid services. Medicaid expansion would push them to the back of the line while creating a new entitlement for up to 628,000 able-bodied adults.

The White House Council of Economic Advisors recently released a report claiming the Dodd-Frank financial services law of 2010 is not harming community banks. Not so, say the bankers, the General Accountability Office, and the clear numbers.

A product of the populist era, the Oklahoma Constitution establishes processes for direct democracy. On the November 2016 general election ballot, Oklahoma voters will decide whether to adopt four constitutional amendments and three changes to state statutes. Some of these measures are as simple as restating current law. Others would make complex regulatory changes or change legal standards in future lawsuits. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs does not support or oppose ballot measures. To help voters, we are providing accurate descriptions and analysis of what these ballot measures say and will do if adopted by voters.

University of Oklahoma president David Boren is leading the charge for a 22 percent increase in the state sales tax rate. But of course such a tax hike would have many harmful effects.

The U.S. Census Bureau keeps track of all types of data on Oklahoma’s higher education system. The chart below uses Census data to examine the dramatic size and growth in the number of non-instructional workers (per 100 private-sector workers) in Oklahoma’s higher education system.

Congress threatened to stop it, a federal judge delayed it, but, in the end, it was local leaders in Oklahoma and neighboring states who stopped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the lesser prairie chicken as endangered.

The Midwestern governor currently occupying the greatest media bandwidth is the one just selected for a spot on the GOP ticket. We can certainly expect to see Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s name all over the news for the next four months, but it’s also worth taking a look at how other Midwestern governors are making a real impact, and at the state level.

“Raise a glass to freedom,” the hit musical Hamilton recommends. Many Oklahomans did just that last Friday in celebration of Senate Bill 424. Of course, implementing the law to allow beer sales at breweries almost didn’t happen. Last-minute hijinks at the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission threatened to nullify the legislation that had passed easily through the Legislature with bipartisan support.