OK Policy Blog

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Hard work deserves a fair wage. SQ 832 would help make that happen.

By: Gabriela Ramirez-Perez
May 15, 2026 // Updated: June 6, 2026
After years of inaction by state legislators, Oklahomans took matters into their own hands two years ago and began to gather signatures to put a state question on the ballot and finally raise the minimum wage. This ballot initiative, also… Read more More...

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Oklahoma takes a closer look at its early childhood services (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
June 1, 2026 // Updated: June 1, 2026
With the passage of House Bill 1979, Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, and Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, have taken the right approach to finding long-term solutions to Oklahoma’s childcare crisis and other urgent early childhood needs. The bill creates an Early… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Fact sheet for State Question 832 | Oklahoma doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a priority problem | Voting matters: Who decides if you don’t? | More

By: Kati Malicoate
May 30, 2026 // Updated: May 30, 2026
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...]

Oklahoma’s housing crisis met with legislative silence this session

By: Sabine Brown
May 29, 2026 // Updated: May 29, 2026
For thousands of Oklahomans, the dream of a stable home is collapsing. Fast, cheap evictions, no real tenant protections, and rising housing costs have turned a basic human need into a daily crisis. Legislators had a number of policy solutions… Read more [More...]

Fact sheet for State Question 832: Increasing Oklahoma’s minimum wage

By: Gabriela Ramirez-Perez
May 28, 2026 // Updated: May 28, 2026
• Download a PDF of this fact sheet • Read OK Policy’s information and resources about SQ 832 State Question 832 will be on the ballot on June 16, 2026. The gist State Question 832 would raise the minimum wage… Read more [More...]

Managed care and Medicaid expansion shape Oklahoma’s health policy debate (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
May 26, 2026 // Updated: May 26, 2026
Oklahoma’s approximately $3 billion Medicaid (SoonerCare) managed care program is likely to remain a prominent public policy and political issue for the foreseeable future. Known as SoonerSelect, it covers hospital and physician services as well as dental care, mental health… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a priority problem (Commentary)

By: Kati Malicoate
// Updated: May 26, 2026
For years, the dominant narrative at the Capitol has been that we simply can’t afford to fully fund the things that make communities work — public schools, infrastructure, basic health coverage. We’re told the budget is tight. That tradeoffs are… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Hard work deserves a fair wage. SQ 832 would help make that happen | Why mental health depends on public investments, not just individual resilience | Senate divisions come to a head at session’s end

By: Kati Malicoate
May 24, 2026 // Updated: May 22, 2026
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...]

Senate divisions come to a head at session’s end (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
May 18, 2026 // Updated: May 18, 2026
Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner was once quoted as saying that “a leader without followers is just a man taking a walk.”  Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, must have found himself feeling that way at times this… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Want to improve reentry outcomes? Raise the minimum wage | Lawmakers say public schools matter. Their policies say otherwise | Oklahoma should not deny transgender people medically necessary care

By: Kati Malicoate
May 17, 2026 // Updated: May 16, 2026
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...]

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