OK Policy Blog

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2023 Census data: Oklahoma ranks as sixth poorest state

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
September 12, 2024 // Updated: September 12, 2024
Lawmakers have options to improve Oklahomans’ well-being, access to prosperity Data from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey released Sept. 12 show that Oklahoma’s poverty rate was 15.9 percent, which was the nation’s sixth highest. The national poverty rate… Read more More...

Recent Posts

Weekly Wonk: Flipping the script on state’s upside down tax system | State will move backwards if we continue ignoring unmet needs | More

By: Dave Hamby
March 2, 2024 // Updated: March 2, 2024
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...]

Statement: Elimination of grocery sales tax is far too little support for low- and middle-income families

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
February 27, 2024 // Updated: February 27, 2024
While elimination of the state portion of the grocery sales tax provides a measure of financial relief to some Oklahomans, it’s far too little support for our low - and middle-income families and seniors who need it most.  [More...]

Ignoring Oklahoma’s unmet needs today will move us further backwards tomorrow (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
February 26, 2024 // Updated: February 26, 2024
Legislators decided to take a break for this year and cut taxes while they can. Not paying taxes on groceries will feel good. But some of the state’s urgent unmet needs will go unmet for another year while this year’s aspirational requests will become a future unmet need. [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Zoning reforms would help address housing needs | Proposed bill would provide overdue legal reform | Senator’s ‘filth’ comment shameful | More

By: Dave Hamby
February 24, 2024 // Updated: February 24, 2024
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...]

Proposed bill would provide overdue reform of the criminal legal process (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
February 20, 2024 // Updated: February 20, 2024
House Bill 3777, which deals with discovery in criminal trials, is an important and long overdue reform in the criminal legal process. [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Better ways to deliver fiscal relief than cutting grocery sales tax | Living wage out of reach for many Oklahomans | Capitol Update

By: Dave Hamby
February 17, 2024 // Updated: February 17, 2024
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...]

Fact check: Will Oklahomans still pay sales tax on groceries?

By: Dave Hamby
February 15, 2024 // Updated: August 16, 2024
Lawmakers have eliminated the state portion of the sales tax on groceries, which is 4.5 percent. Oklahomans buying groceries will still be paying city sales/use taxes (up to 5.5 percent) and county sales taxes (up to 2.5 percent). [More...]

Governing is finding a way to say ‘yes’ to solving problems (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
February 13, 2024 // Updated: February 13, 2024
Legislators during appropriations hearings — or in private conversations in the hallways or in their offices — hear from state agencies anxious for funding to do their jobs and to provide services to Oklahomans. The governor’s budget would lead one to believe that Oklahoma has arrived, that we are near the top on measurements of quality of life. In fact, the opposite is true — from mental health to education to health care.  [More...]

Weekly Wonk: How do new immigrants fare in our economy? | Oklahomans get what we pay for | 2024 Legislative Primer | More

By: Dave Hamby
February 10, 2024 // Updated: February 10, 2024
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...]

Economic Projections for Asylum Seekers and New Immigrants in Oklahoma

By: Gabriela Ramirez-Perez
February 7, 2024 // Updated: February 7, 2024
Authored by Anthony Capote, Senior Policy Analyst at Immigration Research Initiative; David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of Immigration Research Initiative; and Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, Immigration Policy Analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute. # # # Immigration is hardly a new social trend… Read more [More...]

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