Data just out from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate poverty in Oklahoma decreased about 1 percent in 2007, but the state’s poverty rate of nearly 16 percent is still 2.6 percent above the national average. About 557,000 – or nearly one in six – Oklahomans were below the poverty line last year.

In 2007, the federal government established the poverty line at $20,650 in annual household income for a family of four.

Oklahoma’s 2007 median household income was $41,567, up $1,800 from 2006, but 18 percent below the national median household income.

A recent editorial in The Oklahoman suggested that because state income tax revenues are increasing, recent tax cuts did not hurt state revenues. The truth is that the cuts have prevented us from taking the opportunity to reinvest in Oklahoma.

A think-tank that advocates for the poor says Oklahoma lawmakers would have had $400 million to $600 million more to spend on education and other programs the last two years if not for income tax cuts.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute says its figures are based on average historical growth in personal income taxes over the last 15 years.

Despite improvements last year in the number of Oklahomans living in poverty and a boost in residents' household income, the state's economic numbers remain among the nation's worst, census data released Tuesday show.

"This is a classic glass half-full, glass half-empty situation," said David Blatt, director of policy for the anti-poverty Oklahoma Policy Institute.

But a report says the number of poor people climbed.  

Less government headed this way

For my phone pal who calls the office voice mail every Sunday to preach his less-government-is-great sermon, your prayers have been answered. "Less" looms and the results will be painful for those who can afford it the least.

By Ron Jenkins

Associated Press Writer

Oklahoma lawmakers left virtually no money on the table for emergencies as they spent $12 million on various projects and programs before adjourning the 2008 legislative session.

by: ANGEL RIGGS World Capitol Bureau

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma's standstill budget for the upcoming fiscal year will likely impact the state's ability to fund services and programs, according to a study released Wednesday by the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

Most state agencies didn't receive any increase in state funding, despite increased fuel, utility and benefits costs, nor did they receive much direction from lawmakers on how to cope with the increases, according to the study.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A combination of a flat state budget and rising costs assures cuts in state services this year, according to a new report by the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

A $7.1 billion general appropriations bill adopted by the recently adjourned Legislature was billed as a "maintenance-of-effort" budget.

But the report says cuts in some services are inevitable because the budget did not include enough money for most agencies to cover steep rates of inflation for basic operations.