Articles

Recently, a group of 10 state legislators, me included, from the House of Representatives and state Senate introduced a proposal to gradually reduce Oklahoma’s personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 4 percent over four years.

With the release last month by Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) of the new Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the state of Oklahoma, we now know that total state tax collections and total government spending are at record levels.

On January 2, 2014, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services released the news that for the most recent fiscal year, net state sales tax collections reached an all-time high.

On January 2, 2014, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services released the news that for the most recent fiscal year, state tax collections reached an all-time high.

While there is good evidence that SNAP reduces hunger and food insecurity among poor households, there are also legitimate concerns about the program fostering government dependency, reducing the incentive to work, and increasing the government deficit.

Policymakers are currently considering the pay of state government employees. This exercise is not new, but previous attempts to address the pay of state employees were more influenced by politics than by good policy.

Perhaps you've seen various straight-news stories in Oklahoma about state budget cuts, furloughs, and "revenue shortfalls of near-catastrophic proportions" (how's that for objectivity?).

Oklahoma taxpayers have no direct way to judge whether or not they are getting a good "bang for the buck" for the goods and services provided by the public sector.

Governments at all levels are facing severe budget deficits and prolonged fiscal crises amid the national economic recession. With the federal government facing a record $1.4 trillion deficit and at least 44 states facing a cumulative $281 billion in budget deficits through 2011, privatization and public-private partnerships have become increasingly prominent in fiscal policy debates. They will remain so in 2010 as policymakers attempt to reduce the price of government in response to ongoing budget woes.

The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) is the most powerful labor union in Oklahoma. Their representatives, including lobbyists who roam the halls of the state capitol building, often are schoolteachers who have left the classroom in order to become OEA employees.