OKPOLICY.ORG
We have heard a lot of talk this campaign season about cutting taxes and holding government accountable. The message seems to be that by cutting government waste and spending our tax dollars wisely, we’ll pay less in taxes while producing positive, measurable outcomes. We hear a variation of this message every four years, and we usually fall for it. The results have been a continual race to the bottom, as we’ve seen for the past eight years.
Meanwhile, over the past few months, serious-minded legislators have spent time at the Capitol holding interim studies to find real solutions to challenges Oklahomans face. Last week was the final week for interim studies, and the disconnect between the political rhetoric and the actual search for solutions was striking.
For example, during Interim Study 26-089, led by Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, educators and advocates told the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education that large classes continue to hinder teachers. Oklahoma Appleseed Executive Director Brent Rowland said, “We can stretch teachers, and stretch teachers, and stretch teachers; and we have. But the only thing that will work for them is to make the difference they want to make in the life of that child, and that is at the heart of what class size is about.” Lowering class sizes will cost more tax dollars, not less.
The House Public Safety Committee held Interim Study 26-016, led by Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, which focused on programs ensuring successful transitions for female inmates ahead of their release. She called for working with women before their release to connect them with the help and programs they need to get their children back and be good parents.
Shannon Luper, program director for Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB) at Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, pointed to the need to plan before release to provide a variety of assistance, such as substance abuse and mental health treatment and housing. None of this comes for free.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held Interim Study 2026-17, led by Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City, on establishing domestic violence intervention courts in Oklahoma. According to World Population Review, Oklahoma has the highest lifetime prevalence of domestic violence in the U.S. as of 2026. Approximately 49.1 percent of women and 40.7 percent of men have experienced intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking at some point in their lives.
The new court would focus on intervention, offering wraparound services while also creating certainty and consistency for offenders until they can begin to think differently, as well as providing services for victims “so they might also begin to think differently about some of these relationships and ways to be able to move forward,” according to Brooks. A proposed pilot program for Oklahoma County would cost $3.925 million annually. The statewide cost would be determined later when the court proved successful.
The Senate Judiciary Committee also held a joint interim study led by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, on a proposal to improve pretrial procedures in criminal cases in the state. Tulsa County was sued in a federal class-action lawsuit for violating due process and equal protection under the law.
The court held that, to comply with the U.S. Constitution and longstanding Oklahoma law, an individualized hearing must be held within 48 hours of detention to determine whether the detainee must be held or released, based on consideration of community safety and the risk that the accused will not return for court hearings.
This is not being done in Oklahoma County and other counties throughout the state, making the state potentially liable for expensive litigation as well as recidivism and other societal costs of unnecessary incarceration. The Oklahoma County pilot program would cost slightly under $1 million, but no cost was determined for extending the hearings statewide.
In addition to interim studies, Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, held a press conference announcing his intentions regarding the literacy legislation for schools passed last session. Hilbert did not directly cite the need for additional resources, but more than one of the speakers he invited said the process will take additional resources and results will not be immediately evident. Valiant Public Schools Superintendent Brandon Frazier talked about his own daughter’s work to overcome dyslexia, and the efforts to increase screening and resources in his small district.
Mary Dahlgren, a national literacy consultant and the former executive director of the Payne Education Center, said it is possible for 95 percent of Oklahoma third graders to be reading on grade level by the end of Oklahoma’s next governor’s first term. But it will take resources and collaboration from lawmakers, state education services, school services, philanthropists, and parents.
Over the past eight years, Gov. Kevin Stitt has told his executive agencies to submit a flat budget request, asserting that programs to solve the state’s challenges might be nice, but the state can’t afford them. Meanwhile, he’s advocated for eliminating the state income tax and depositing hundreds of millions in various accounts to make future tax cuts possible.
The contrast between political campaign rhetoric and the efforts of those working to solve problems suggests that one side or the other is living in a parallel universe. In everyday language, “living in a parallel universe” means behaving, thinking, or experiencing the world in a way that is so far removed from reality that it seems to exist in an entirely different, fictional, or unrealistic world. I hope we are not headed in that direction for four more years.
