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Senate committee hears proposals to reform fines and fees (Capitol Update)

Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the request of Chairperson Sen. Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville), held an interim study on an important criminal justice reform issue: Using the criminal justice system, including incarceration, to collect court-imposed fines, costs, fees, and assessments. [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Higher ed funding cuts worsen inequality; celebrating Yes on 802 signature gatherers; and more

On Thursday, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report which found that cuts in funding for higher education have contributed to rapid, significant tuition increases and pushed more of the costs of college students, leading to worsened racial and class inequality. [More...]

CBPP: State higher education funding cuts have pushed costs to students, worsened inequality

[Image Source: "OSU in the morning" by sringsmuth licensed under CC BY NC ND 2.0] Oklahoma has not been immune from these issues, but the last legislative session saw state lawmakers provide an additional $25.3 million increase, or about 3.3%, in funding for higher education. [More...]

Join the OK Policy team as a paid intern next Spring!

Oklahoma-Policy-Institute-Blog-Spring-2020-Internship OK Policy is now accepting applications for paid, part-time internships in Tulsa and Oklahoma City office during the Spring 2020 semester! [More...]

Agency reforms maintain vital role for Board oversight (Capitol Update)

As the meeting of the OJA board demonstrates, it would be a shame to forfeit the contribution of knowledgeable citizens who volunteer their time, energy, and expertise to make our state policies better. [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Criminal justice reform opportunities; immigrant access to basic services; and more

During the 2018 legislative session, lawmakers created a group of 22 stakeholders who have the opportunity to fundamentally transform Oklahoma’s justice system for the better: the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Reclassification Coordination Council. [More...]

Fixing Oklahoma’s outdated criminal code could be a great step forward but policymakers should be wary of risks.

Reform of the state's criminal code is long overdue — as the code is a major driver of Oklahoma’s expensive incarceration crisis. [More...]

Justice reform for the children (Capitol Update)

These are sobering findings for Oklahomans struggling to overcome the political hurdles preventing us from dealing with overincarceration [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Incarcerated youth; meet Sabine Brown; & more

This week, we wrapped up our analysis of Open Justice Oklahoma's (OJO) recent juvenile justice report by exploring how incarceration can disrupt youths' lives. [More...]

To minimize disruption to youths’ lives, Oklahoma must continue to reduce juvenile incarceration

For justice-involved youth, current systems can remove them from educational opportunities, family, and community during a critical time in their lives, often severing their link to meaningful relationships and inadvertently further embedding them into a life of crime. [More...]

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