Articles
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Budget & Tax
Analyst: Spending alone is no measure of success
To simply increase government spending without any focus on also improving outcomes, 1889 Institute research fellow Mike Davis said, is “a terrible goal.”Ray Carter | May 30, 2019
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Budget & Tax
New budget hits near record high
The $8.3 billion appropriated budget is a near record for Oklahoma. This brings the two-year increase in appropriations to $1.2 billion.Curtis Shelton | May 28, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Education
Democrats attack bills, then vote for them
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.Ray Carter | May 23, 2019
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Budget & Tax
OCPA comments on 2019 legislative session
Staff | May 23, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Democrats’ anti-savings argument: People are ‘dying’
Urging lawmakers to spend rather than save money, Democrats painted an apocalyptic picture of Oklahoma’s future if government spending is not increased further.Ray Carter | May 22, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Education
Lawmakers vote to junk April 1 school-funding deadline
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.Ray Carter | May 22, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Education
Democrats call for dramatic education spending increase
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.Ray Carter | May 22, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Department of Health finances defy budget critics’ claims
Legislative Democrats have argued state government should not set aside $200 million into savings, as provided for in the Republican-authored budget. Instead, Democrats say the money would be better spent at agencies. But in making that case, Democrats have chosen an odd agency to champion.Ray Carter | May 20, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Total state revenue collections hit record high
Total gross receipts collected in April 2019 were $1.58 billion—an increase of 12.7 percent, or $178 million, from the same month in the prior year. The General Revenue Fund (GRF) grew 25.5 percent from the same month the previous year, collecting $509 million.Curtis Shelton | May 20, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Education
Stitt, legislative leaders announce budget agreement
Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders announced Wednesday that they have reached a budget agreement that spends more than $8 billion for the first time in Oklahoma history and includes $157.7 million more for K-12 schools, but they struggled to identify any specific measurement of student outcomes they expect will improve as a result.Ray Carter | May 15, 2019