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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...

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Statement: OK Policy responds to governor’s misleading comments on SB 675

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
April 11, 2025 // Updated: April 11, 2025

Statement from OK Policy Executive Director Shiloh Kantz about the governor’s comments accusing the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of leading the charge to block Senate Bill 675, which would have granted the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority access to law enforcement records to… Read more [More...]

Crossover week, special election results lead up to impending committee, floor deadlines (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
April 7, 2025 // Updated: April 7, 2025

During the lull in legislative action in “crossover” week last week, a bit of politics filled the void. Crossover week is the week after floor deadlines during which House bills that remain alive officially move to the Senate, and Senate… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Fact check: SB 484 would limit homelessness services in Oklahoma communities | DOGE-OK recommends health care cuts that are harmful, counterintuitive | Raising the minimum wage means more Oklahomans could afford housing | Tell our leaders – Prioritize people over profits

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
April 5, 2025 // Updated: April 5, 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...]

This legislative session again put Tribal sovereignty in the spotlight

By: Vivian Morris
April 4, 2025 // Updated: April 4, 2025

Note: Bill updates as of 3/27 deadline While the overwhelming majority of bills were cut at the first deadline this legislative session, there are still quite a few bills remaining to be considered, specifically in the Tribal-state space. State governments… Read more [More...]

Fact Check: Floor debate on SB 484 that would limit homelessness services in Oklahoma communities

By: Sabine Brown
// Updated: April 4, 2025

Background: On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the Oklahoma State Senate passed Senate Bill 484, by Sen. Lisa Standridge, R-Norman. SB 484 now advances to the House. SB 484 would prohibit any Oklahoma city with a population less than 300,000 from… Read more [More...]

Raising the minimum wage means more Oklahomans could afford housing

By: Sabine Brown
April 1, 2025 // Updated: April 1, 2025

It’s been 16 years since Congress raised the minimum wage. Since then, rents have risen by 60 percent. The predictable result of this mismatch is drastic increases in eviction filings and homelessness. [See Oklahoma specific homeless data] Low-wage workers –… Read more [More...]

Bill would create state business court (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
March 31, 2025 // Updated: March 31, 2025

In 2004, in response to the business establishment’s perennial call for “tort reform,” House Speaker Larry Adair and Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson authored House Bill 2661 authorizing the Oklahoma Supreme Court to create a Business Court Division within… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Lawmakers should choose targeted relief amidst budget uncertainty | Bill would revamp Oklahoma’s economic development efforts | Hands off our ‘power reserved for the people’

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
March 29, 2025 // Updated: March 29, 2025

Bill would revamp Oklahoma’s economic development efforts (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
March 25, 2025 // Updated: March 25, 2025

Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, Chair of the Senate Economic Development, Workforce and Tourism Committee, has been working more than two years to revamp Oklahoma’s economic development efforts, and the result was passage in the Senate last week of her Senate… Read more [More...]

Lawmakers should choose targeted relief amidst budget uncertainty

By: Aanahita Ervin
March 24, 2025 // Updated: April 15, 2025

State-level budget and tax policy matters deeply for Oklahomans because it directly affects how the state can meet its obligations to our fellow residents. This includes shared services like public safety, education, transportation construction, workforce development, and other programs that… Read more [More...]

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