Recent Articles

Statement: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reversal of rules protecting consumers from payday debt trap will harm Oklahomans

Last week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed to reverse their own rule, issued in 2017, protecting consumers from the harms of predatory lending, despite the lack of new evidence that the rule needs to be reconsidered. Oklahoma Policy Institute opposes this proposed repeal and strongly urges the CFPB to allow the 2017 rule to take effect as scheduled later this year. Oklahomans are depending on these promised protections. [More...]

Statement: Governor’s State of the State address and budget propose some positive steps but leave out major needs

Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement on Governor Stitt's State of the State address and proposed budget. [More...]

2019 Priority: Revisit the supermajority requirement of SQ 640

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. In March 1992, Oklahoma voters approved State Question 640, establishing the requirement that any bill to raise revenue must… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Add racial impact statements on criminal justice legislation to reduce disparities in the justice system

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by incarceration in Oklahoma. One in every 15 adult Black men in Oklahoma… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Safeguard access to quality health care by rejecting ‘junk coverage’

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Before 2013, widely-available junk health insurance coverage left patients at the mercy of big insurance companies, with coverage that… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Reform cash bail and court fines and fees

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Since 2000, the Legislature has added dozens of new fines and fees for criminal defendants to finance our underfunded… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: End the capital gains tax break

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Oklahoma law provides for a 100 percent deduction from state income tax of any gains from the sale of… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Expand opportunities for occupational licenses

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Economic opportunities are sharply limited for Oklahomans who have been involved in the criminal justice system. These Oklahomans face… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Fund public defenders and courts to reduce caseloads and reduce reliance on fines and fees

Oklahoma Justice system court fines and fees Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Public defenders play a critical role in our justice system, serving as legal representation to the vast majority of… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Make the sentencing reforms of SQ 780 retroactive

Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. In 2016, voters approved two major justice reform initiatives, State Questions 780 and 781. SQ 780 reclassified simple drug… Read more [More...]