Articles
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Budget & Tax
“Cost avoidance” for special session
Now the Oklahoma legislature is coming back for a special session, at a cost of around $30,000 per day. Lawmakers should focus on ending the session as quickly as possible without raising taxes.Trent England | September 22, 2017
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Budget & Tax
Court upholds taxpayer protections
The Oklahoma Supreme Court today struck down the revenue provisions in Senate Bill 845 and, in so doing, upheld limits on legislative power that were added to the Oklahoma Constitution by voters a quarter century ago.Trent England | August 18, 2017
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Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
Court upholds taxpayer protections
The Oklahoma Supreme Court today struck down the revenue provisions in Senate Bill 845 and, in so doing, upheld limits on legislative power that were added to the Oklahoma Constitution by voters a quarter century ago.Trent England | August 10, 2017
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Budget & Tax
Rainy day fund raid vindicated? Not so fast
After draining all $240 million out of Oklahoma’s Constitutional Reserve Fund, Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger decided to then ask the state Attorney General whether doing so was even legal.Trent England | July 19, 2017
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Law & Principles
Playground fight ends at Supreme Court
Trinity Lutheran Church operates a preschool in Boone County, Missouri. The state, to encourage tire recycling and improve safety for children, gives grants for resurfacing playgrounds with rubber made from ground-up old tires.Trent England | June 27, 2017
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Higher Education
David Boren, Don Betz should correct the record
Yesterday, OCPA President Jonathan Small sent a letter to two Oklahoma university presidents to correct the record on claims about state funding to higher education.Trent England | June 23, 2017
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Budget & Tax
Blue state blues
The truth is that higher taxes can mean deeper budget holes, especially when those taxes target volatile sources of revenue.Trent England | June 6, 2017
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Higher Education
Oklahoma higher education spending continues to rise
Total spending has increased so much in higher education that the legislature could zero out its appropriation altogether—saving more than $800 million, closing nearly all of the shortfall—and it would simply return this part of state government to slightly more than its 2013 spending level.Trent England | June 1, 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, Health Care
The Bogus Budget: Medicaid expanded anyway
Oklahoma lawmakers refused to bow to the demands of the Obama Administration and Oklahoma Health Care Authority.Trent England | May 11, 2017