Magazine ranks Oklahoma high for attracting new residents
- http://www.okenergytoday.com/2020/01...KtYdFWYLqBOvvUThe magazine ranks Oklahoma number four nationally for states where people are moving to for jobs. Here’s how Forbes described Oklahoma’s attraction:
4. Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s economy had been booming, but slumping energy prices have dimmed Oklahoma’s outlook due to its importance to the state. It is the third biggest producer state for natural gas and fifth biggest for crude oil. Chesapeake Energy and Devon Energy are both fixtures in Oklahoma City. The business tax climate is one of the best in the country and employers still benefit from energy costs that are 25% below the national average.
So Forbes ranks Oklahoma number four nationally for states where people are moving to for jobs. That seems to conflict with an article you put up in a different thread, which stated, "Overall, Oklahoma suffered a net loss of 4,400 jobs from November 2018 to November 2019."
Oklahoma is marketing itself in California with billboards along freeways. It seems like a good move and I’ve long though they should do it. I haven’t seen so far but I’ve been out of the state for a few weeks so I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
https://journalrecord.com/2020/10/05...bPuXm5EBuz3tec
I also do not believe people are moving to Oklahoma in large numbers for jobs or anything else. Reasons for my opinion have been documented many times on this forum. I do not think Oklahoma will reach 4M pop in 2020 census. Growth has been less than 1% for several years now and most is attributed to natural increase. State continues to suffer from negative perception and overall lack of diversity in jobs.
I also don’t see Oklahoma as being as pro growth as it claims to be. Far too many cities, towns, and suburbs just have a small town mentality. Mention raising taxes and everyone looses their minds. These small tax increases here and there won’t do anything but keep this state afloat.
Then I just read a new court ruling about native Indian land will result in the reduction hundreds of millions possibly if a deal can’t be reached. Our leaders here don’t seem to take education all that seriously. OKC seems to be riding on the momentum it created in the early 2000s but how long will that last?
If this state wants to ever really compete and become a top performing state it will need to do several things. Raise taxes. Change it’s perception and draconian ways. Market itself better. Take better if it’s infrastructure and it’s people. Prioritize education.
I’m calling baloney on this one:
https://okcfox.com/news/local/oklaho...tes-study-says
Data released in Feb 2021, via CDC and Kaiser, this is every 10 yr data, so it's through 2019. Unable to link directly but https://www.beckershospitalreview.com has the raw data. Oklahoma is moved from #2 to #1 for heart disease deaths. Not what we want to see and the kind of top ten list we need to get off of if we want to thrive as a state.
It tends to be pretty hard to raise city sales taxes, because they are already high. So any proposal to raise city sales tax will come with the criticism it will have the highest sales tax in the state and so people will go to neighboring towns to shop. It would be nice to raise your city sales tax revenues by growing the population. However, hardly any towns outside the OKC and Tulsa metros are able to that with Durant and to a less extent Stillwater being rare exceptions. With so many towns fading away, rather than growing it makes it hard to find enough funds to advance education, such as replacing school buildings getting too old. Rural towns have become accustomed to living with less, especially from fewer and fewer people, so it's hard for them to see the future as bigger and better. The issues between urban and rural tend to make it hard for the state to go forward.
I don't have much hope for better funded education. Raising taxes to increase teacher pay was like pulling hen's teeth. From what finally resulted, I thought it strange having to pay 3 cents more tax on gas to help fund higher teacher pay, rather than to better maintain the state highway system. At least the state appears to be doing a better job with bridges.
Oklahoma's income tax system is too flat. It keeps it from addressing the problem of increasing income inequality in this state. So make high income people pay higher income taxes. But many legislators at the state capitol want to increase income inequality by eliminating income tax and replace it will little, if any other taxation.
Anyway, Oklahoma does need to do better as a state. Dealing with the future won't make it easier by sticking with the status quo, including the state legislature in every session making news from passing prohibitive laws to deal with new cultural issues as they perceive them. The state would do better by repealing prohibitive laws, such as no car sales on Sundays for starters. For now, Republicans at the state capitol can't seem to accept the notion that business and industry are looking for high quality of life in a state as much as low taxes. At the local level, Oklahoma City addressed that situation with MAPS, and it ended up growing faster than Portland, OR. It shows how progressive government policy works. But large differences between urban and rural would probably make a MAPS difficult to unite on at the state level. State voters couldn't do so much as raise the state sales tax a penny for education.
Oklahoma is ranked as one of the best states for “older adults.”
https://kfor.com/news/local/oklahoma...-older-adults/
Good news:
OK RANKED NO. 11 AMONG BEST STATES FOR MANUFACTURING
https://www.velocityokc.com/blog/eco...ack=super_blog
I'm curious as to the top manufacturing states for factory workers.
Probably one of the reasons it's so popular with older adults is that it's not overly populated. I've been all over the U.S. and absolutely hate the big cities, big traffic, big city problems, etc. I personally don't see anything wrong with staying under 4 million. Of course this is just my personal opinion, not offense to anyone wanting more taxes, bigger cities, etc.
Ranked the worst state for women: https://analytics.twitter.com/mob_id...lored_ads=true
Lol
Some of the criteria make no sense. Bashing the state for a low number of women voting, then blaming that on the state not saying how important voting is. That is circular logic, because it makes it seem like Oklahoma only teaches men how to vote and how important it is. It is a flawed study. Not saying Oklahoma is great for women, but some of their logic and metrics were flawed.
Bingo. Oklahoma scores high for manufacturing because of low wages, low real estate costs, tendency of state laws and legal environment siding with companies and not workers, lack of environmental protections from corporations, lack of unionization, and liability limitations resulting in protection of companies over consumers. Great for manufacturers but not for workers, consumers, or the citizens of OK. Maybe we can compete with Mexico.
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