Social Security

This chapter highlights Article XXV of the Oklahoma constitution, which concerns Social Security. Section 1 provides for a separate state program to help the needy and also provides for cooperation with federal programs to provide such aid. It was adopted in 1936 and amended in 1941 for the purpose of permitting full participation in the federal program. The state may not spend ad valorem taxes, which are taxes imposed upon the value of real or personal property, to fund the programs contemplated by this section. Section 2 through Section 4 of this article are repealed. Meanwhile, Section 5 is merely a housekeeping provision to ensure that the timing of passage of the sections in this article did not interfere with the validity of the sections.

The Relation Between Tobacco Tax Structure and Corruption in European Union Member States

Background: Taxing tobacco products is one of the most effective tobacco control measures, and most countries apply a combination of specific taxes, which comprise a fixed amount per cigarette or gram of hand-rolling tobacco, and ad valorem taxes, which increase in proportion to the cost of the product. Since specific taxes reduce price differentials across tobacco product ranges while ad valorem taxes amplify them, we hypothesised that tobacco companies seeking to minimise the effect of tax increases on sales across a range of products will tend to favour, and hence lobby for, ad valorem rather than specific taxes; and that relatively corrupt governments would be more susceptible to such lobbying and hence, more likely to favour ad valorem taxes. Methods: We searched for cigarette tax data and Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores for current 28 EU Member States for the years 1995 to 2017/8. Trends in cigarette tax levels and the ratio of ad valorem to specific taxes at a national and mean EU level were analysed by visual inspection, the within-country relation between the ad valorem to specific tax ratio and CPI scores over time by time-series regression analysis, and at EU level, for which complete data were available from 1995 to 2017, using a multi-level regression model. Results: Within most Member States, the ad valorem to specific cigarette tax ratio declined over the study period and was not significantly associated with corruption score. However, at an aggregate EU-level, our multi-level model indicated that reduced corruption was associated with a significant increase in the ad valorem to specific cigarette tax ratio, by 0.04 (95% confidence interval: 0.003–0.077, p < 0.036) per unit increase in CPI score. Conclusions: The ratio of ad valorem to specific taxes declined in most EU Member States over the study period, with no evidence that those with higher levels of perceived corruption tended to favour ad valorem taxes.

Optimal Regulation of Invasive Species Long-Range Spread: A General Equilibrium Approach

Economic activity is implicated in the long-range spread of invasive species, resulting in ecological and economic damages. Current policies that are used to prevent such spread include specific and ad valorem taxes. However, these taxes are often created under ecological and economic uncertainty. To address this concern, this paper develops a general equilibrium model capable of evaluating the efficiency of specific and ad valorem taxes under uncertainty. Results show that specific taxes are more efficient at achieving a social optimum under imperfect information and that a combination of taxes is needed for multiple forms of long-range transmission.