By:
Kristin Wells
December 21, 2021 // Updated: December 21, 2021

As 2021 comes to an end, our OK Policy staff looked back at the largest issues from the past year. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to loom large in the lives of all Oklahomans, with outsized impacts for low-income Oklahomans and our communities of color.
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The monthly state revenue report by State Treasurer Randy McDaniel shows another large increase in receipts by state government for this November over November 2020. The collections for November totaled $600.7 million, which were $154.6 million or 34.7 percent above…
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By:
Dave Hamby
December 18, 2021 // Updated: December 18, 2021

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…
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By:
Steve Lewis
December 13, 2021 // Updated: December 13, 2021

It’s a sure sign the legislative session is close when the appropriations committees begin hearing from state agencies about how they are spending their funding for the current fiscal year and what their funding requests are for the next year.…
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By:
Dave Hamby
December 11, 2021 // Updated: December 11, 2021

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…
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By:
Paul Shinn
December 8, 2021 // Updated: December 8, 2021

he public should be involved through public hearings and through the opportunity to comment — both in person and online — about budgets. Our state’s budget process won’t be this transparent until Oklahomans demand it. While many steps must be taken, moving back toward the more open and participative process of the 1990s would put us on the right track.
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By:
Steve Lewis
December 6, 2021 // Updated: December 6, 2021

Everyone who makes decisions in criminal cases — from judges to prosecutors and defense attorneys to the parole board and the governor — bears the weight of the decisions they are making. They live in apprehension that a wrong decision could cost damage, injury, or life. It goes with the territory. No one in the system is infallible.
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By:
Dave Hamby
December 5, 2021 // Updated: December 5, 2021

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…
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 30, 2021 // Updated: November 30, 2021

The Center for Disease Control released figures recently showing that 100,000 Americans died from a drug overdose between April 2020 and April 2021, nearly 30 percent more than the previous year. Of those, 798 people died in Oklahoma, a 20…
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By:
Kristin Wells
November 29, 2021 // Updated: November 29, 2021

The Oklahoma Policy Institute is expanding its community outreach efforts across the state with three new staff members, and boosting its communications and operations teams through the hiring of a new fellow.
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