NSU hosts public forum for Oklahoma Academy for State Goals

(Tahlequah, Oklahoma)--Northeastern State University will host a northeast Oklahoma public forum for The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals on Thursday, September 15 at 10 a.m. Held on the sixth floor of the Webb Tower building on the NSU Tahlequah campus, the forum will provide a regional report on the outcomes of the 2015 Oklahoma Academy for State Goals Town Hall, The Government and Taxes We Want.

This event is one of 18 the Academy is presenting across the state of Oklahoma in reporting out of the 2015 Town Hall findings. The Academy Town Halls bring together more than 150 individuals representing, communities, professions, businesses and community leaders from across the state for a two and one half day examination of a current topic and by individual vote, select consensus findings that are reported back to local, state, tribal and federal officials.

The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that serves as a facilitator for public input and discussion on current and pressing topics facing the citizens of Oklahoma.

The facilitators for the Tahlequah reporting forum will be the 2015 Oklahoma Town Hall Co-Chair, the Honorable Dan Boren, and Mr. Craig Knutson, who coordinated the regional focus group listening sessions held prior to the 2015 Academy Town Hall.

Due to budget cuts the Academy elected not to conduct a Town Hall in 2016 but will resume the event in the fall of 2017, according to the Oklahoma Academy CEO, Julie Knutson.

The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals motto, Moving Ideas Into Action, explored the hotly debated and discussed topic The Government and Taxes We Want this past year at the 2015 Town Hall. The topic was determined several months in advance of the states FY2016 revenue failures and the resulting FY2017 budget shortfall.

In addition, the Academy spent several months taking listening sessions to 6 locations across the state of Oklahoma with focus group research on a wide variety of budgeting questions but were prefaced with two fundamental questions. First, is the state, through its current budget process, reflecting the desires and needs of its citizen? Second, which three to five agencies would you place at the top of your list in terms of addressing the greatest need and making the greatest positive impact?

The website for the Oklahoma Academy, www.okacademy.org, has recently expanded its archive section with information and findings on both the Town Hall discussions and the Listening Sessions that are found in the Library tab on the home page.

The September 15th forum is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact the Oklahoma Academy of State Goals at 405-307-0986 or Jerry Cook NSU Director of Community and Government Relations at 918-444-2009.