{"id":968,"date":"2011-09-22T11:13:12","date_gmt":"2011-09-22T16:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=968"},"modified":"2012-12-20T10:19:55","modified_gmt":"2012-12-20T16:19:55","slug":"is-oklahoma-vs-texas-a-fair-economic-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2011\/09\/22\/is-oklahoma-vs-texas-a-fair-economic-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Oklahoma vs. Texas a Fair Economic Comparison?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_970\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/plmccordj\/2706969619\/sizes\/m\/in\/photostream\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-970\" title=\"leaving_oklahoma\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/09\/leaving_oklahoma.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/09\/leaving_oklahoma.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/09\/leaving_oklahoma-127x150.jpg 127w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/09\/leaving_oklahoma-255x300.jpg 255w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Paul McCord Jr. \/ Flickr<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Is Texas&#39; economic policy a good model for Oklahoma lawmakers?<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Whether the topic is tax reform, business regulation or jobs creation, Oklahoma lawmakers and budget stakeholders always seem to end up <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2011\/09\/08\/four-important-points-made-at-the-tax-credit-task-force-meeting\/\">talking Texas<\/a>. And that Texas economy is dominating the news, as Gov. Rick Perry continues his quest for the White House by arguing the Texas model of job creation can work nationwide.<\/p><p>But the two states are very different. In population, geographic size, and economic output, everything is much bigger in Texas.<\/p><p>So when it comes to state economic policy, does it make sense for lawmakers to gaze longingly at the Lone Star State?<\/p><p>State Treasurer Ken Miller says yes.<\/p><p><!--more-->In the September edition of his Oklahoma Economic Report (right-click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ok.gov\/treasurer\/documents\/OER_9-21-11.pdf\">here<\/a> to download), Miller argues that despite the differences between the two states, \u201cTexas envy\u201d is warranted.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cConsidering the ease in which former Oklahoma-based companies have relocated to Texas, our state\u2019s interest in Texas and its policies can be justified,\u201d Miller wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote><p>Miller&#8217;s editorial references the so-called \u201cTexas Miracle,\u201d in which the state chalked up 47 percent of the nation\u2019s job creation since June 2009. Over the last decade, Texas added more jobs than all other states combined, Miller wrote, noting that detractors have criticized the low wages of the jobs added.<\/p><p>Oklahoma and Texas agree on economic fundamentals, Miller wrote.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cTexas policymakers credit the state\u2019s success to long-standing adherence to low taxes and limited government, principles historically popular with both Texans and Oklahomans,\u201d Miller wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote><p>As it is in Texas, raising taxes isn\u2019t a \u201cviable\u201d option in Oklahoma, Miller wrote, adding that economic policy in both states centers on spending priorities.<\/p><p>Since Oklahoma competes with Texas to lure in businesses, Miller argues that it makes sense to discuss ways to match that state\u2019s \u201clow-tax, low-regulatory environment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether the topic is tax reform, business regulation or jobs creation, Oklahoma lawmakers and budget stakeholders always seem to end up talking Texas. And that Texas economy is dominating the news, as Gov. Rick Perry continues his quest for the White House by arguing the Texas model of job creation can work nationwide.But the two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[492,16],"tags":[102,104,103],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":984,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions\/984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}