By:
Steve Lewis
December 16, 2019 // Updated: December 16, 2019
Instead of a determined effort to fulfill its charge of classifying felonies with an eye toward reducing the prison population, the Council spent the year discussing improvements that should be made everywhere except in court.
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The Governor's criminal justice task force is expected to release its recommendations in January and it has the potential to fundamentally alter Oklahoma's justice system.
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By:
Damion Shade
December 13, 2019 // Updated: January 12, 2020
The RESTORE task force could bring greater justice to the state’s prison system by strengthening investments in alternatives to incarceration and treatment, reducing fines and fees, lowering the impact of cash bail on the poorest Oklahomans, and creating a dedicated re-entry system.
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The Oklahoma Policy Institute has named Dave Hamby as its communications director to oversee the organization’s communication and media relations programs.
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By:
Steve Lewis
December 9, 2019 // Updated: December 9, 2019
There's an interesting dynamic emerging between the governor and the legislature regarding next year's budget. Usually state agencies are free to make budget requests based, within realistic limits, on what they feel is needed to accomplish their duties and, if funds are available, to increase services. In preparation for the session, agencies appear before the appropriations committees to explain and justify their budget requests. Depending on available revenue, the legislature will decide which, if any, programs deserve either cuts or additional funding. This is done with input from the governor and his staff because, at the end of the day, the governor has the right to sign or veto the appropriations measures.
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By:
Steve Lewis
December 2, 2019 // Updated: December 2, 2019
With the recent widely publicized sentence commutations, one might have the impression that the work of criminal justice reform is done. To the contrary, these commutations only serve to emphasize how much progress can be made with passage of just one reform proposal. But even after the commutations, Oklahoma is still near the top of the world in incarceration.
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By:
Guest
November 27, 2019 // Updated: November 27, 2019
About a third of university students and nearly two out of three community college students nationwide are food insecure, meaning they are uncertain where their next meal will come from.
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 25, 2019 // Updated: November 25, 2019
Recently, an initiative petition to create an independent, bipartisan redistricting commission to redraw legislative and congressional districts in Oklahoma was filed by a group called "People Not Politicians."
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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in America.
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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in America. Despite its effectiveness, one in four Oklahoma households that are eligible for the EITC do not claim the credit. The rules setting out who can claim the credit are extensive and challenging to understand, and as a result many people simply don’t bother. Unfortunately, that means these families are not getting the help they very much need to thrive. If Congress were to simplify the rules around the EITC, they could make this already effective anti-poverty tool even more effective.
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