Articles
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Budget & Tax
Getting real about government spending
From the first day of the 2017 legislative session until its closing moments, most lobbyists and many politicians told us our state has a structural deficit leaving it in dire need of new recurring revenue, which is to say, major tax increases.Jonathan Small | June 2, 2017
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Budget & Tax, Education
Does school choice expand the welfare state?
Congratulations, Oklahoma! By pursuing school choice, you did the impossible—you turned some big-government progressives into radical libertarians.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | June 1, 2017
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Budget & Tax
Statement on Legislature passing state budget
The Legislature deserves credit for passing a budget that minimizes damaging tax increases on Oklahomans compared to what was called for at the start of session.Jonathan Small | May 26, 2017
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Budget & Tax
A tribute to SQ 640
As the 2017 legislative session navigated through its final days with debates over budget gaps and proposed tax increases, some who love the idea of soaking the taxpayers for all they can get bemoaned the existence of one of the most important constitutional safeguards in state history – State Question 640, passed overwhelmingly by the voters in 1992.Jonathan Small | May 26, 2017
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Budget & Tax
The veiled budget
To hear some at the state Capitol talk, every agency is on starvation rations due to the state budget shortfall.Jonathan Small | May 19, 2017
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Budget & Tax
Oklahoma state budget crisis? I should say so
When it comes to government spending in Oklahoma, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that everyone ignores is this simple question: Should government grow faster than the private sector’s ability to pay?J. Scott Moody & Wendy Warcholik, Ph.D. | May 19, 2017
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Budget & Tax, Education
Will the IRS give us educational freedom?
As more people in Washington, D.C. have come to see that there are good reasons not to enact a national school voucher program, attention is turning to another proposal for federal school choice.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | May 15, 2017
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Budget & Tax
Three cheers for 'cost avoidance'
Most Oklahomans know there are really only two ways to deal with the state’s budget shortfall. We can either trim expenses—especially those that can be reduced by some real reforms—or raise taxes.Jonathan Small | May 15, 2017
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Budget & Tax
The bogus budget: Career Tech
Oklahoma spends over half a billion dollars every year through the State Department of Career and Technology Education, or Career Tech.Trent England | May 15, 2017
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Budget & Tax, Education
Stroud Public Schools not waiting for legislature to raise teacher pay
Teacher pay raises have been a hotly debated issue for several years at the Oklahoma state Capitol, with multiple legislators proposing various methods for funding the increase.Jay Chilton | May 15, 2017