Category: Featured Blog

A Mexican Consulate in Oklahoma City will help more than 100,000 Oklahomans

For years, Oklahomans have had to travel hundreds of miles to reach the nearest Mexican consulate for handling diplomatic transactions such as renewing passports, getting an identification card, or other routine services for Mexican and U.S. nationals. Commuting to the… Read more [More...]

Renters need protection against landlord retaliation

Unlike most other states, Oklahoma does not protect tenants against landlord retaliation when they report health or safety violations to their landlord, a government agency, or when they organize other tenants to advocate with their landlord for needed repairs. Oklahoma… Read more [More...]

Plain language eviction summons can help Oklahomans in eviction court

Call to Action HB 2792, filed during the 2023 legislative session by Rep. Preston Stinson, would update eviction summons language. The bill has been assigned to the House Civil Judiciary Committee and is scheduled for a committee hearing on Thursday, March… Read more [More...]

The needs of everyday Oklahomans outweigh tax cuts that benefit the wealthy

As Oklahoma’s 2023 legislative session begins, the perennial push for tax cuts that would shrink state revenue will likely return. In 2022, leaders of the Oklahoma House of Representatives championed tax cuts – primarily focusing on reducing the personal income… Read more [More...]

Housing is unaffordable for Oklahoma’s low-wage workers

Updated, 11/6/2023 to reflect updated statistics for Oklahoma from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.  — Oklahomans working a full-time job should be able to provide basic needs for themselves and their families, but 2 in 5 Oklahomans are unable… Read more [More...]

Expanding unemployment insurance to more workers would protect families and Oklahoma’s economy

Unemployment insurance became a lifeline to many Oklahomans during the pandemic. In a period of widespread job loss, the transfer payments that this program provided working people with the means to feed their families and pay the bills while they… Read more [More...]

Medicaid expansion improved access to care for Indigenous Oklahomans

Leading up to when Oklahoma expanded Medicaid coverage, Oklahoma had a large uninsured population of American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). But as a consequence of Medicaid expansion and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s (OHCA) inclusion of — and consultation… Read more [More...]

Medicaid expansion improves housing stability

Oklahomans who voted for State Question 802 in 2020 knew that Medicaid expansion would bring greater access to quality health care, but what voters may not have known is that Medicaid expansion plays a role in keeping people safely housed.… Read more [More...]

Supporting immigration will boost Oklahoma’s economy 

Co-authors: Immigration Policy Analyst Gabriela Ramirez-Perez and Josie Phillips, former Policy Fellow – – – Immigrants are an integral part of Oklahoma’s economy. They work in essential industries, create jobs by starting businesses, care for our aging population, and contribute… Read more [More...]

Excluded in the Expansion: The persisting gaps in health care coverage for immigrant Oklahomans

Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma has allowed more than 300,000 residents to enroll for health care, but almost 82,000 Oklahomans who are immigrants remain uninsured. Since the mid-1990s, many immigrants are either partially or entirely ineligible for federal public benefits programs,… Read more [More...]