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2024 Census data: Oklahoma ranks as 8th poorest state

By: Dave Hamby
September 11, 2025 // Updated: September 12, 2025
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, released Sept. 11, show that Oklahoma’s poverty rate was 14.9 percent, which means that more than 1 in 7 state residents live in poverty. While the state’s overall poverty rate… Read more More...

Recent Posts

What we get wrong about homelessness and mental health (Commentary)

By: Sabine Brown
November 12, 2025 // Updated: November 12, 2025
Too often, when conversations about homelessness come up, someone says it: “Well, they’re all mentally ill.” It’s a comment tossed off as fact, but it reveals something deeper — not truth, but comfort. If homelessness is just the result of… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: What Oklahomans need to know about expiring ACA premium tax credits | Raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma is pro-growth | Charter school facilities take center stage in interim study | Better laws in Oklahoma begin with better listening

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
November 9, 2025 // Updated: November 7, 2025
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… Read more [More...]

What Oklahomans need to know about expiring ACA premium tax credits

By: Kati Malicoate
November 7, 2025 // Updated: November 7, 2025
What’s happening with the ACA premium tax credits? Since 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made health insurance more accessible by creating online Marketplaces where people can compare plans and qualify for help paying monthly payments (aka premiums). That… Read more [More...]

Charter school facilities take center stage in interim study (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
November 3, 2025 // Updated: November 3, 2025
Recently, the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee — chaired by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid — conducted an interim study looking at potential funding and the authorization process for charter school facilities in Oklahoma. The committee was told demand for charter… Read more [More...]

Raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma is pro-growth

By: Aanahita Ervin
// Updated: October 30, 2025
• SQ 832: Information and Resources • What you need to know about the minimum wage in Oklahoma Oklahomans working full-time jobs should be compensated enough to afford food, shelter, and basic necessities. Since the 1980s, wages have stagnated for… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Help wanted – Leadership from Oklahoma’s delegation | Oklahoma enacted one of the five biggest tax cuts for millionaires | Moving the needle on Oklahoma’s youth justice reform | More

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
November 2, 2025 // Updated: October 31, 2025
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… Read more [More...]

Justice demands proportionality in child abuse laws (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
October 28, 2025 // Updated: October 28, 2025
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee — chaired by Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus — held a three-hour interim study exploring Oklahoma’s “Failure to Protect” statutes. The study was led by Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Bristow. The Oklahoma statute, 22 O.S. 843.5,… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: How the not-so-beautiful bill will push eligible Oklahomans off SoonerCare | Interim studies examine Oklahoma services to families, children, youth | Oklahoma can’t prosper while our neighbors struggle

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
October 26, 2025 // Updated: October 25, 2025
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… Read more [More...]

How the not-so-beautiful bill will push eligible Oklahomans off SoonerCare

By: Kati Malicoate
October 23, 2025 // Updated: October 23, 2025
Medicaid – known in Oklahoma as SoonerCare – is the health backbone for nearly a million Oklahomans: children, working parents, people with disabilities, and seniors. But under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” also known as H.R. 1, that foundation is… Read more [More...]

Interim studies examine Oklahoma services to families, children, youth (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
October 21, 2025 // Updated: October 21, 2025
The House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Human Services, led by Chairman Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, and Vice Chair Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, held a series of interim studies last week ranging widely on Oklahoma’s services to families, children, and youth.… Read more [More...]

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