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What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
This Week from OK Policy
Policy Matters: Trust but verify – Getting election-ready for November: Oklahoma runs one of the nation’s most secure election systems. So, when the governor announced last week — just weeks before the November presidential election — that more than 450,000 voters had been removed from the state’s voter rolls over the previous three and half years, the numbers were eye-popping. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Survey: Business leaders prioritize investment in infrastructure, education over tax cuts (Capitol Update): The State Chamber Research Foundation recently published its 2024 Business Leaders Poll said that “78 percent of business leaders favor reducing or eliminating the state income tax.” But when you read the survey itself, the results are much more nuanced. For example, the report says “though supportive of income tax reform, business leaders generally do not wish to see tax cuts come at the expense of spending on core government services such as education, mental health programs, and infrastructure.” [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
OK Policy in the News
In an increasingly divided world, nonprofit fights for nonpartisan solutions for Oklahomans: American politics has become so polarized in recent years, it’s rare to see Republicans and Democrats in agreement, working together on projects with the potential to help the members of both parties. Yet that’s the goal of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, says Executive Director Shiloh Kantz. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma represents nearly one-third of pregnancy-related prosecutions a year after Roe’s end: Oklahoma had the second-highest number of pregnancy-related prosecutions nationwide in the year after Roe. v. Wade was overturned, according to a new study by the advocacy organization Pregnancy Justice. [KGOU]
- NOTE: Brancen Gregory and Polina Rozhkova from OK Policy’s Research Team contributed to the data collection for this report.
Oklahoma minimum wage vote pushed back to 2026 (video): OK Policy’s Cole Allen talked with OETA about the governor’s decision to set a 2026 election for SQ 832, which would raise the minimum wage. [OETA / YouTube]
Upcoming Opportunities
We’re Hiring! Join OK Policy as a Regional Organizer for Central Oklahoma: Our Regional Organizer supports OK Policy in the development and implementation of virtual and community-based advocacy actions that further policy goals identified by OK Policy. This position works as part of OK Policy’s grassroots advocacy arm Together Oklahoma (TOK) to engage communities and affinity groups. [Learn More]
Save the Date! Please join us for the release of “Reimagining Youth Justice in Oklahoma”: Please save the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 22, to join the Oklahoma Policy Institute, the Justice for Oklahoma Youth (JOY) Coalition, and community partners for the release of “Reimagining Youth Justice in Oklahoma.” This Tulsa event will feature an overview of the report, conversations with people and organizations working in Oklahoma’s youth justice space, and a call to action for our state to allocate resources to adequately address the problems youth face in our communities.
Weekly What’s That
Emergency rules are exceptions to the regular permanent administrative rule-making process for state agencies, boards and commissions. As set out by Title 75, Section 253 of Oklahoma Statutes, emergency rules may be promulgated if an agency can establish that the rule is required to:
a. protect the public health, safety or welfare,
b. comply with deadlines in amendments to an agency’s governing law or federal programs,
c. avoid violation of federal law or regulation or other state law,
d. avoid imminent reduction to the agency’s budget, or
e. avoid serious prejudice to the public interest.
The Governor has 45 days to approve or reject an emergency rule request. If the Governor approves a rule, it takes immediate effect and remains in effect until the first day of the next legislative session, or no later than September 15th if in effect during the legislative session. Emergency rules can be disapproved by the Legislature or superseded by the promulgation of permanent rules.
Agencies may not establish or raise fees by emergency rule while the Legislature is not in session, with limited exceptions.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“Most Americans are fundamentally immigrants, and so it’s always just kind of crazy when this gets called into question, and there’s some idea that immigration is not a strength.”
– Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, speaking about the cultural and economic benefits that immigrants provide to communities. [Border Report]
Editorial of the Week
Editorial: Oklahomans expect to know where all tax dollars are spent, including private schools
School choice does not mean throwing $600 million in taxpayer funds into an untraceable black hole. Yet that’s what Oklahoma lawmakers created, and they need to fix it.
This private school tax credit scheme has been riddled with problems including dubious accreditation among some schools and surges in tuition at many participating schools, as reported by Oklahoma Watch.
A recent story from Tulsa World reporter Andrea Eger found that the Oklahoma Tax Commission does not track payments of public funds to private schools and considers such information confidential. Also, a look at the Tax Commission website found dozens of out-of-state schools registered for the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act program — from as far away as California, Idaho, Ohio, Florida and even Japan — received funds.
Numbers of the Day
- 1 in 10 – More than 1 in 10 eligible voters have become U.S. citizens through naturalization, making them eligible to vote in November’s presidential election. The number of adults who are naturalized citizens has grown steadily in recent decades and stood at 23.8 million in 2022. [Pew Research]
- 12th – Oklahoma had the nation’s 12th lowest per capita tax collection of $3,267 in 2022. [Tax Foundation]
- 1 in 3 – Oklahoma prosecutors filed 68 criminal cases against pregnant people for crimes related to pregnancy, pregnancy loss, or birth between June 24, 2022 and June 23, 2023 — the first year after the Dobbs decision. Oklahoma accounted for nearly 1 in 3 of the 210 such cases filed that year. [Pregnancy Justice]
- 32.8% – Portion of income spent by a single-parent family on center-based infant care in Oklahoma. [First Five Years Fund]
- 17.4% – The poverty rate for females in Oklahoma is 17.4%, compared to 14.4% for males. [U.S. Census via OK Policy]
What We’re Reading
- What the Federal Reserve’s policy shift means for state and local budgets: The Federal Reserve intended for today’s interest rate cut of 0.5 percentage points to stimulate the broader economy, but this shift in monetary policy also represents a subtle but important change in the operating environment for state budgets. Interest rates affect every aspect of government finance, from revenue to infrastructure projects, and although the effects on state and local budgets will be gradual, the first rate cut in four years sends a message. [Route Fifty]
- Eliminating Income Taxes Would Be an Expensive Giveaway: The idea that states can eliminate income taxes without eventually enduring devastating cuts to schools and vital services is a fantasy. And the inevitable shift from income taxes to more regressive sales taxes and fees would hit regular workers and families the hardest, while showering the wealthy with additional riches. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
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Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs: The Dobbs decision opened up a score of legal and empirical questions. One was clear: how would criminal laws be used after Dobbs to prosecute acts associated with pregnancy? This report shares preliminary results, focusing solely on charges brought and allegations made in the first year after Dobbs. The data suggest an escalation: 210 pregnancy-related prosecutions — the highest number of such cases documented in a single year. These cases reveal that, as in the past, prosecutions target pregnant people predominantly (compared to helpers or providers), causing lasting harm to them and their families and doing nothing to improve health or well-being. [Pregnancy Justice]
- NOTE: Brancen Gregory and Polina Rozhkova from OK Policy’s Research Team contributed to the data collection for this report.
- NOTE: Brancen Gregory and Polina Rozhkova from OK Policy’s Research Team contributed to the data collection for this report.
- Prime for Overhaul: Policy Tools for Solving the Child Care Crisis: This report explores the current state of the U.S. child care industry and reviews solutions that other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have employed to address their own child care challenges. It reviews four policy options that could be leveraged to address the child care crisis in the U.S. at the federal level — universal prekindergarten (pre-K), child care provider subsidies, expanded tax credits, and subsidies for employers that offer child care as a worker benefit — and examines the benefits and downsides of each if used individually or in tandem. [The Baker Institute at Rice University]
- The Coming Policy Backwash from the COVID Revenue Wave: As a recent study documents, federal fiscal stimulus created a budget windfall for states. Most cut taxes, and some now must scramble to make up for shortfalls. Congress is likely to impose tighter restrictions on future countercyclical aid, so it’s a time for all levels of government to get their acts together. [Governing]
