OKPOLICY.ORG
This column originally appeared in The Journal Record on Jan. 2, 2025
As we welcome the new year, it’s time to set our sights on building a brighter future for Oklahoma—a future where every child, every family, and every community has the opportunity to thrive.
The challenges before us are clear. OK Policy’s 2024 KIDS COUNT data highlight areas where we’re falling behind, with some indicators placing us dangerously close to the bottom of the national rankings. One in 5 Oklahoma children lives in poverty, and 200,000 children are growing up in households that don’t always know where their next meal will come from.
These are not just numbers — they represent the struggles faced by thousands of families across our state. In the coming year, we should resolve to do better by prioritizing the future of our children.
That starts with investing in the services that help all children reach their full potential. And this means aligning our state budget with those priorities. However, doing so is increasingly a challenge because more than two decades of reducing personal and corporate income taxes has delivered little relief to everyday Oklahomans while deeply cutting the spending power of our state budget. When adjusted for inflation and population growth, Oklahoma’s budget this year is 8.8 percent smaller than it was 25 years ago.
Those tax cuts come with a long-term cost — once revenue is gone, it rarely returns. That’s because State Question 640 requires 75 percent of lawmakers to agree to new revenue. The only time lawmakers have agreed to raise new revenue in the last 30 years happened during 2018’s education walkout.
We can’t cut our way to prosperity, and we certainly can’t build a brighter future for our children on a foundation of scarcity.
Instead of across the board cuts that favor the wealthy, lawmakers should look to modernize existing tax credit programs that put money back in the pockets of Oklahomans who need it most. The Sales Tax Relief Credit (STRC), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) are examples of policies that can help families keep their lights on and put food on the table.
This is the year to take bold action. By prioritizing investments in the health, education, and well-being of our children, we can create a state where every child has a chance to succeed. Let’s commit to making that vision a reality in 2024 and beyond — not just for some, but for everyone.
