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Weekly Wonk: Poverty comes from structural barriers, not personal choices | A look at the upcoming special session | More

Weekly Wonk, Sept. 24, 2024 | Poverty comes from structural barriers, not personal choices | A look at the upcoming special session | More [More...]

Taking a deeper look at the latest special session call (Capitol Update)

The Oklahoma Constitution provides for a regular session of the legislature once a year, but last week Gov. Kevin Stitt called the third special session for 2023 to begin on Oct. 3. This follows two special sessions in 2022, one in 2021, and two in 2020. Special sessions are provided for in the Constitution, but they are called Extraordinary Sessions. If the name means anything, you’d think special sessions would be rare. [More...]

Weekly Wonk: The dangers of eliminating personal income tax | Census: Oklahoma has 8th highest poverty rate | Hispanic Heritage Month | Capitol Update

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...]

2022 Census data: Oklahoma remains among the nation’s poorest states; policy solutions can help reverse this trend

Data from the Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey released Sep. 14 show that Oklahoma’s poverty rate was 15.7 percent, which was the nation’s 8th highest. The national poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, and Oklahoma’s ranking among states remained unchanged compared to 2021. [More...]

Everyday Oklahomans will be hurt by sweeping revenue cuts

NOTE: On Sept. 11, 2023, Gov. Stitt called for a special session in October 2023 to address tax reforms. One of the items included in the governor’s request was a “path to zero income tax.”  – – – Oklahoma should… Read more [More...]

Refreshing to see bipartisan work on capital needs for regional, rural universities (Capitol Update)

An encouraging piece of bipartisan work will occur in the form of an interim study to help assess the capital needs for regional and rural universities. [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Oklahomans deserve more than incremental justice reform | Removing barriers for workforce development | Capitol Update

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...]

Investments in people can help make Oklahoma’s workforce competitive (Capitol Update)

Instead of using the state's record-level savings as an excuse for ill-advised tax cuts, lawmakers should follow the wise counsel of elected officials who want to see Oklahoma make workforce development investments in job training, education, childcare and other programs that can help residents get good jobs or re-enter the job market. [More...]

Lawmakers made incremental changes towards justice reform last session, but Oklahomans deserve much more 

During Oklahoma’s 2023 legislative session, lawmakers made some positive improvements in the state’s criminal legal system, including investments into diversion programs and significant reforms around court fines and fees. While these changes are commendable, they are only the beginning of… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Time to revisit state education governance | Tax isn’t a four-letter word | Sales Tax Relief Credit | More

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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