Category: Press Releases & Statements

OK Policy 2020 State of the State response

Oklahoma’s leadership has consistently called for the state to achieve Top 10 status. The rhetoric, however, often lacks a yardstick about how we measure our state’s success.  [More...]

Statement about Proposed Medicaid Expansion Alternative in Oklahoma

The plan includes elements that will inevitably draw lawsuits from health care organizations and advocates who fight to protect the rights and coverage low-income residents. [More...]

OK Policy Statement on the Criminal Justice RESTORE Task Force report and need for legislative action

The Criminal Justice RESTORE Task Force report released today identified some positive ideas to address needs within Oklahoma’s justice system, but it lacks bold – and specific – legislative changes to fully match the scale of Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis.  [More...]

OK Policy comments on revenue certification

Oklahoma lawmakers should have about $206.8 million, or 2.5 percent, more available funds for essential state services during the budget year that starts July 1, 2020, based on estimated revenue numbers released Friday by the Oklahoma Board of Equalization. The estimated revenue figures certified Friday show the state should expect a modest increase in revenue. When those figures are run through the state’s budget formula, however, it shows a substantially higher availability of new budget dollars than might initially appear.  [More...]

OK Policy names new Communications Director

The Oklahoma Policy Institute has named Dave Hamby as its communications director to oversee the organization’s communication and media relations programs. [More...]

Oklahoma Policy announces new northeast Oklahoma field organizer

The Oklahoma Policy Institute has hired D’Marria Monday, a Tulsa community advocate and social entrepreneur, to grow its Together Oklahoma chapters in northeast Oklahoma, including the Tulsa metro area.  [More...]

Census data confirms we must do more to help Oklahoma children and families

Census data confirms that Oklahoma policymakers must do more to help Oklahoma families get ahead.  [More...]

Black and Latino Oklahoma children are still more likely to live in concentrated poverty

Despite some improvement since the Great Recession, Black and Latino children in Oklahoma are still more likely to live in concentrated poverty according to “Children Living in High Poverty, Low-Opportunity Neighborhoods,” a new KIDS COUNT® data snapshot released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  [More...]

Report: Juvenile crime plummets in Oklahoma, but racial and local disparities remain

For Immediate Release Contact: Jessica Vazquez, jvazquez@okpolicy.org, (918) 794-3944 TULSA, Okla. (Sep. 11, 2019) — Rates of serious violent and property crimes by youth have fallen dramatically over the past three decades, according to a report released today by Open Justice Oklahoma,… Read more [More...]

Ahniwake Rose takes OK Policy helm while organization honors outgoing director David Blatt with Legacy Fund and Events

Today marks a new era in the history of Oklahoma Policy Institute (OK Policy) as Ahniwake Rose takes over the helm as Executive Director, succeeding longtime director David Blatt. [More...]