Oklahoma should get tax reform sooner rather than later
An ambitious framework for reform of property taxes appears to have stalled in the state legislature, but the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs notes many recent improvements in state tax laws and suggests reforms that could help the Sooner State’s housing market. “Oklahoma could also consider lowering its annual valuation-growth cap below the current 3 percent limit,” writes Curtis Shelton. “Because a property’s taxable fair-cash value cannot currently increase more than 3 percent per year, reducing that cap could further protect homeowners in fast-growing markets.”
What has Josh Shapiro done?
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ran on a “Get sh*t done” platform, but a new report calls him the state’s “least productive governor” in at least the last 50 years. “In recent weeks, media outlets, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Philadelphia Magazine, noted Shapiro’s inability to match his legislative actions to his often-quoted slogan,” writes the Commonwealth Foundation. “As observed by a state capitol reporter, Governor Shapiro had a 98-day gap between his latest bill signings, neither of which addressed the ongoing budget impasse.”
South Carolina charter schools overperform
A new study of state education records indicates that South Carolina charter schools are substantially outperforming traditional schools in preparing students for college and careers. “Among graduates, 32.47% of public charter school district students were considered college ready, compared to 30.48% of students in traditional districts,” writes Ray Dellinger, director of education policy at Palmetto Promise. “Likewise, 29.63% of charter students were both college and career ready, edging out the 28.6% of traditional public school students who met that mark. Charter students also posted stronger results on specific readiness indicators—17.17% met the college-ready threshold on the SAT, compared to 15.76% in traditional districts, and 26.8% reached the college-ready standard for dual enrollment courses, far ahead of the 18.61% of traditional public school students who did the same.”
