Oklahoma Policy Institute

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Oklahoma Policy Institute
Logo Oklahoma Policy Institute.png
Institute Logo
Established2008
Chair Don Millican
Executive DirectorShiloh Kantz [1]
Staff20
Key peopleBoard members: Felicia Collins Correia (Vice-Chair), Ann-Clore Duncan (Past Chair), Charles (Chuck) Garrett, Dr. Joseph (Joe) Siano, Jeff Berrong, Kara Berst, Susan Chambers, Dr. John Feaver, Ken Fergeson, Holbrook Lawson, Erika Lucas, Andrew Tevington
BudgetRevenue: $792,306
Expenses: $733,054
(FYE December 2015) [2]
SloganBetter Information, Better Policy
AddressP.O. Box 14347, Tulsa, OK 74159
Location
Website www.okpolicy.org

The Oklahoma Policy Institute (OK Policy) is a nonpartisan think tank located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Contents

Founding and Mission

OK Policy was founded in 2008 by David Blatt, Vincent LoVoi, and Steven Dow. It grew out of the public policy department of the Community Action Project of Tulsa County, where Blatt had been director of public policy. Blatt began his tenure at OK Policy as director of policy. In 2010, Blatt replaced Matt Guillory as executive director, and the organization's main office was moved from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tulsa. Through 2010, Blatt was the organization's only full-time employee. In 2011, two additional full-time staff members were hired. [3] In 2012, Oklahoma Policy Institute hired an Outreach Coordinator. [3] In 2019, Ahniwake Rose became the executive director. [4]

According to its website, OK Policy "advances equitable and fiscally responsible policies that expand opportunity for all Oklahomans through non-partisan research, analysis, and advocacy." [5] and "our core commitments are to the adequate, fair, and fiscally responsible funding of public services, and to an economy that provides shared prosperity through increased economic opportunity and financial security for all. Our main issue areas are: state budget and tax issues; programs serving low- and moderate-income Oklahomans; and policies promoting financial security and prosperity."

Collaborations and Affiliations

Oklahoma Policy Institute is affiliated with two networks of state policy research organizations. The first is the State Priorities Partnership (SPP), a collaboration coordinated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. [6] The second is the Economic Analysis Research Network (EARN), coordinated by the Economic Policy Institute. [7]

Involvement in Income Tax Debate, 2012

In 2012, members of the Oklahoma Republican Party in the Oklahoma Legislature began advocating a decrease in, or abolition of, the income tax. [8] OK Policy helped form a coalition of stakeholders that would be impacted by income tax cuts. Stakeholders included the Oklahoma Education Association, The Oklahoma State School Boards Association, and The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. [9] This group was called Together Oklahoma. [10]

In April 2012, OK Policy hosted an Economist Forum in Oklahoma City. [11] Speakers at the forum included economists and state officials.

OK Policy advocated against the income tax cut, while Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs advocated for the cut. [12]

Position on State Question 744, 2010

Oklahoma State Question 744 was a Ballot Measure that proposed to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to require the Legislature to fund public education at or above the per-pupil average of neighboring states. [13] Oklahoma Policy Institute opposed the measure after the organization released a report which found that the initiative would cost the state $1.7 billion. [14] Oklahoma Policy Institute further stated that the cost of the measure would worsen existing budget shortfalls.

State Question 744 was defeated in the general election.

Related Research Articles

Supply-side economics is a macroeconomic theory postulating that economic growth can be most effectively fostered by lowering taxes, decreasing regulation, and allowing free trade. According to supply-side economics theory, consumers will benefit from greater supply of goods and services at lower prices, and employment will increase. Supply-side fiscal policies are designed to increase aggregate supply, as opposed to aggregate demand, thereby expanding output and employment while lowering prices. Such policies are of several general varieties:

  1. Investments in human capital, such as education, healthcare, and encouraging the transfer of technologies and business processes, to improve productivity. Encouraging globalized free trade via containerization is a major recent example.
  2. Tax reduction, to provide incentives to work, invest and take risks. Lowering income tax rates and eliminating or lowering tariffs are examples of such policies.
  3. Investments in new capital equipment and research and development (R&D), to further improve productivity. Allowing businesses to depreciate capital equipment more rapidly gives them an immediate financial incentive to invest in such equipment.
  4. Reduction in government regulations, to encourage business formation and expansion.

The Tax Foundation is an international research think tank based in Washington, D.C. that collects data and publishes research studies on U.S. tax policies at both the federal and state levels. Its stated mission is to "improve lives through tax policy research and education that leads to greater economic growth and opportunity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hall (Oklahoma politician)</span> American politician

David Hall was an American Democratic politician. He served as the 20th governor of Oklahoma from January 11, 1971, to January 13, 1975. Prior to winning election as governor, Hall served as county attorney for Tulsa County and as a law professor at the University of Tulsa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Fallin</span> American politician (born 1954)

Mary Fallin is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She is the first and so far only woman to be elected governor of Oklahoma. She was the first woman to represent Oklahoma in Congress since Alice Mary Robertson left office in 1923.

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Michael Jay Boskin is the T. M. Friedman Professor of Economics and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He also is chief executive officer and president of Boskin & Co., an economic consulting company, and serves on the Commerce Department's Advisory Committee on the National Income and Product Accounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Department of Transportation</span>

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma secretary of transportation and ODOT executive director, the department maintains public infrastructure that includes highways and state-owned railroads and administers programs for county roads, city streets, public transit, passenger rail, waterways and active transportation. Along with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, the department is the primary infrastructure construction and maintenance agency of the State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</span> American political think tank

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive American think tank that analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Center's stated mission is to "conduct research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates."

Adva Center is a non-partisan Israeli policy analysis center based in Tel Aviv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma District Attorneys Council</span>

The Oklahoma District Attorneys Council is an agency of the state of Oklahoma that provides professional organization for the education, training and coordination of technical efforts of all Oklahoma state prosecutors and to maintain and improve prosecutor efficiency and effectiveness in enforcing the laws of the state. The Council distinguishes itself from the District Attorneys Association, a private organization, in order to lobby the legislature, though it is composed of the same members.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. that addresses federal budget and fiscal issues. It was founded in 1981 by former United States Representative Robert Giaimo (D-CT) and United States Senator Henry Bellmon (R-OK), and its board of directors includes past heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Government Accountability Office.

Every Texan, formerly known as the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), is an Austin-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit policy institute.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) is an American economic research organization that conducts research and analysis of budget, tax, and economics issues to support policies that improve opportunities for all Oregonians. It supplies lawmakers with information "on issues affecting low- and moderate-income Oregonians".

Public budgeting is a field of public administration and a discipline in the academic study of public administration. Budgeting is characterized by its approaches, functions, formation, and type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. Eugene Steuerle</span> American economist, a Richard B (born 1946)

C. Eugene "Gene" Steuerle is an American economist, a Richard B. Fisher chair and Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, and a columnist under the title The Government We Deserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Growth Centre</span> Economic research centre of London School of Economics

The International Growth Centre (IGC) is an economic research centre based at the London School of Economics, operated in partnership with University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">54th Oklahoma Legislature</span>

The Fifty-fourth Oklahoma Legislature was the meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma from January 8, 2013 to January 5, 2015. The first session met from February 4, 2013, to May 24, 2013, in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, during the third year of the first administration of Governor Mary Fallin. After the 2012 elections, the Republican Party held more than two-thirds of the seats in the Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medicaid coverage gap</span>

Under the public healthcare policy of the United States, some people have incomes too high to qualify in their state of residence for Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for those with limited resources, but too low to qualify for the premium tax credits that would subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. These people are described as falling into the Medicaid coverage gap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Treat</span> American politician

Greg Treat is an American Republican politician from Oklahoma and the current President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate. He represents district 47, which includes parts of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Deer Creek, and Bethany. He has served in the Senate since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Hilbert</span> American politician

Kyle Hilbert is a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the current speaker pro tempore. He has represented House District 29 since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Oklahoma State Question 802</span>

Oklahoma Question 802, the Oklahoma Medicaid Expansion Initiative, was a 2020 ballot measure on the June 30 ballot to expand Medicaid in the state of Oklahoma. It passed narrowly, over the objections of many prominent state elected officials, such as Oklahoma's governor Kevin Stitt. Medicaid expansion went into effect on July 1, 2021.

References

  1. "OK Policy Names Shiloh Kantz as Executive Director".
  2. "Oklahoma Policy Institute" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Staff".
  4. "Ahniwake Rose takes OK Policy helm while organization honors outgoing director David Blatt with Legacy Fund and Events". Oklahoma Policy Institute. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  5. "About Oklahoma Policy Institute | Oklahoma Policy Institute". www.okpolicy.org. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. "State Priorities Partnership".
  7. "EARN | Economic Analysis and Research Network". EARN.
  8. "Momentum building to eliminate Oklahoma's personal income tax". Oklahoman.com. December 4, 2011.
  9. [ dead link ]
  10. "Take Action".
  11. "Economist Forum". March 28, 2012.
  12. "Point-counterpoint: Ending personal income tax". Oklahoman.com. December 4, 2011.
  13. "questions". www.sos.ok.gov.
  14. "Analysis: Per-pupil spending initiative would cost Oklahoma $1.7 billion | Tulsa World". www.tulsaworld.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.