OK Policy Blog

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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

Weekly Wonk: Governor’s executive order on ‘welfare reform’ misses the real problems facing Oklahomans | We need better policy choices, not campaign headlines | All Oklahomans should speak up, stand up during this legislative session

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
February 1, 2026 // Updated: January 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...]

All Oklahomans should speak up, stand up during this legislative session

By: Shiloh Kantz
January 29, 2026 // Updated: January 29, 2026
The Oklahoma legislative session begins this Monday, and with it comes a familiar mix of hope, frustration, and fatigue. Over the next four months, lawmakers will debate hundreds of bills that could shape our schools, jobs, and communities. Too often,… Read more [More...]

New Office of Juvenile Affairs budget request prioritizes importance of early treatment (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
January 27, 2026 // Updated: February 2, 2026
NOTE: This piece was updated 2/2/2026 to correct the proposed budget request for level E group homes for youth in OJA custody who need intensive behavioral health treatment while living outside their homes. – – – The Office of Juvenile… Read more [More...]

Governor’s executive order on ‘welfare reform’ misses the real problems facing Oklahomans

By: Carly Putnam
January 26, 2026 // Updated: January 27, 2026
While no doubt well-intended, the governor’s executive order for “welfare to work” doesn’t address the real challenges that everyday Oklahomans face and misses the fact that many factors prevent Oklahomans from working. Low wages mean that a job isn’t enough… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: The One Big ‘Beautiful Bill’s hidden costs for states | What Oklahoma got right with tobacco lawsuit settlement money | Silence will never create change

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
January 25, 2026 // Updated: January 24, 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...]

What Oklahoma got right with tobacco lawsuit settlement money (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
January 19, 2026 // Updated: January 19, 2026
Last spring, Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) announced its investment returns had allowed for an additional $150 million that would be awarded statewide under a “Legacy Grants” program. Following a selection process with 167 applicants, TSET began funding health… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: Lifting caps on private school vouchers will make a bad idea worse | Proposed bill could increase support for children-focused nonprofits | Ways the Trump administration tried to erase MLK’s legacy

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
January 17, 2026 // Updated: January 17, 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...]

Proposed bill could increase support for children-focused nonprofits (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
January 12, 2026 // Updated: January 12, 2026
Sen. Jerry Alvord, R-Wilson, has pre-filed Senate Bill 1398, an interesting and, I believe, good bill creating the “Children’s Promise Act.” The bill would create a 100 percent tax credit, up to 50 percent of a donor’s income tax liability,… Read more [More...]

Weekly Wonk: H.R. 1 could push Oklahoma’s health care system past its breaking point | SB 1381 aims to curb unnecessary pretrial detention | Tax cuts and building a better future in Oklahoma

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
January 11, 2026 // Updated: January 9, 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...]

H.R. 1 could push Oklahoma’s health care system past its breaking point

By: Kati Malicoate
January 8, 2026 // Updated: January 8, 2026
Medicaid (aka SoonerCare) doesn’t just insure people — it sustains the hospitals, clinics, and health care providers that care for entire communities. In Oklahoma, billions of Medicaid dollars keep emergency rooms open, behavioral health beds available, and rural providers afloat.… Read more [More...]

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