OK Policy Blog

Featured Read

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

The Weekly Wonk: Voter registration, carbon tax, and more

By: Carly Putnam
August 23, 2015 // Updated: August 21, 2015
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...]

Lawmakers are not done asking agencies to do more with less (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
August 21, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

Settlement will help help more Oklahomans vote

By: David Blatt
August 20, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Low voter turnout is a serious problem in Oklahoma, as we’ve discussed previously in issue briefs and blog posts. Most recently, just one in three eligible voters in Oklahomans went to the polls in the 2014 mid-term election. Electoral disengagement… Read more [More...]

In The Know: New state program allows students to take ACT for free

By: Carly Putnam
// Updated: August 20, 2015
In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail. Today… Read more [More...]

Should Oklahoma put a tax on carbon?

By: Derek Wietelman
August 18, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Derek Wietelman is an OK Policy summer intern. He is an Oklahoma State University student pursuing a double major in statistics and political science, with minors in economics and environmental economics, politics, and policy. Last May, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse… Read more [More...]

Interactive: What the jobs are in Oklahoma

By: Gene Perry
August 17, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Politicians love to talk about jobs. Promoting job creation is a go-to justification in many of Oklahoma’s policy decisions, whether it’s to extend tax breaks for oil companies or ban local minimum wage and paid sick leave laws. However, aside… Read more [More...]

In The Know: Oklahoma teacher shortage crisis grows

By: Gene Perry
// Updated: August 17, 2015
In The Know is your daily briefing on Oklahoma policy-related news. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Click here to subscribe to In The Know and see past editions. Today In The… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Voter turnout at record lows, financial security for Native Americans, and more

By: Carly Putnam
August 16, 2015 // Updated: August 15, 2015
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...]

Thorny questions on the role of law enforcement in schools (Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
August 14, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

Watch This: Causes and Consequences of the Growth of Incarceration in the United States

By: Gene Perry
August 13, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States more than quadrupled during the last four decades. A recent report from the National Research Council, The Growth of Incarceration in… Read more [More...]

Search the Blog