![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Weekly-Wonk-FT.png?fit=375%2C188&ssl=1)
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...]
By:
David Blatt
January 10, 2019 // Updated: May 1, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/Budget-outlook-offers-opportunities-but-challenges-remain.png?fit=375%2C252&ssl=1)
After a decade of ongoing shortfalls and repeated cuts to core services, Oklahoma’s finances are finally in recovery. Revenues are growing and lawmakers are expected to have substantially more money for next year’s budget, according to initial projections that were…
Read more [More...]
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/Mental-health-and-Medicaid-expansion.jpg?fit=375%2C213&ssl=1)
Oklahoma is in crisis. While need for mental health care climbs, Oklahomans overwhelmingly lack access to the care needed to address these sometimes preventable, always treatable conditions. This has serious consequences: untreated mental illness can mean increased risk for other…
Read more [More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
January 7, 2019 // Updated: June 17, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/Capitol-Update-finding-the-courage-to-say-no-more-prisons.jpg?fit=375%2C242&ssl=1)
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.
“We’re not going to build any more prisons.” I remember House Speaker Dan Draper making that declarative…
Read more [More...]
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/the_weekly_wonk_logo.gif?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1)
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...]
By:
David Blatt
December 27, 2018 // Updated: January 19, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/5-reasons-not-to-donate-to-OK-Policy.jpg?fit=375%2C196&ssl=1)
Typically, when we reach out to ask you to contribute to Oklahoma Policy Institute, we list all the good reasons we believe you should support our work with a tax-deductible donation. But it’s become an end-of-year tradition for us to…
Read more [More...]
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/the_weekly_wonk_logo.png?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1)
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...]
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/Parole-is-broken-in-Oklahoma-Heres-how-we-fix-it-FT-img-20181220.png?fit=375%2C196&ssl=1)
Incarceration is expensive in Oklahoma. The cost of our overcrowded prisons is projected to skyrocket in the next decade. The Department of Corrections requested $1.5 billion next year to address long-neglected repairs and to build a new prison to keep up with the…
Read more [More...]
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/OKC-Crime-Rates-Chart-2.png?fit=375%2C281&ssl=1)
Most discussions about criminal justice in Oklahoma center on our prison system, which is responsible for maintaining our highest-in-the-world incarceration rate but is dangerously underfunded. While our high incarceration rate may be the most pressing issue, law enforcement agencies are the…
Read more [More...]
By:
Rebecca Fine
December 18, 2018 // Updated: September 22, 2023
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/The-number-of-art-and-music-classes-offered-in-Oklahoma-has-fallen-even-as-enrollment-climbed-FT-Img-FB.jpg?fit=375%2C196&ssl=1)
Oklahomans know every student needs access to quality public education. Unfortunately, our state has struggled to uphold this commitment. While all areas of public education have suffered from slashed education funding over the past decade, budget cuts have hit fine…
Read more [More...]