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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 The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
This Week from OK Policy
Judges on the 2024 ballot in Oklahoma: What you need to know: Oklahoma is one of 39 states where voters have a role in selecting judges. On Nov. 5, 2024, Oklahoma voters will decide whether to retain three Supreme Court justices, three Court of Civil Appeals judges, and six Court of Civil Appeal judges. Judicial elections usually don’t attract as much publicity as other races, but this year has been markedly different. Conservative dark money groups this year have targeted the three Supreme Court justices appointed by Democrat governors. These attack ads seek to shake up the composition of the state’s top court. [OK Policy]
Voting in Oklahoma: Everything you need to know: OK Policy and Together Oklahoma are sharing some resources and information to help navigate the state’s election process, including key deadlines and how to get more information. [Kandis West / Together Oklahoma]
- Oklahoma’s 2024 general election | Resources and other information you need to know [OK Policy]
Poverty in Oklahoma: A statistical overview of poverty and how to reduce it: OK Policy’s Research Director Anthony Flores shared with lawmakers an overview of poverty in Oklahoma, including defining poverty, showing which residents live in poverty, and what the state can do to address the problem. Flores and OK Policy Fiscal Policy Analyst Aanahita Ervin spoke during an Oct. 10, 2024, interim study in the Oklahoma Senate focused on decreasing poverty in Oklahoma. [Anthony Flores / OK Policy]
Tax credits are anti-poverty tools: OK Policy’s Fiscal Policy Analyst Aanahita Ervin spoke with lawmakers about how state tax credits can be an effective tool in reducing poverty. Targeted tax credits can be used as a tool to fight poverty in Oklahoma because the tax system is an important part of the social safety net for families. [Aanahita Ervin / OK Policy]
Policy Matters: Lawmakers study solutions that can reverse high poverty rate: The Oklahoma Senate last week studied ways in which the state can lower its poverty rate, which increased to the nation’s sixth highest last year. Oklahoma lawmakers have a history of pushing across-the-board tax cuts that favor the wealthy. If they want to be more effective, lawmakers should enact targeted tax credits. Such focused efforts help the working poor. They supplement low earnings, assist with the cost of raising children, and help cover childcare costs. Together, they help parents and caregivers stay in the workforce and thrive. [Shiloh Kantz / Journal Record]
Working across the aisle to address Oklahoma’s needs (Capitol Update): Sometimes it appears that little worthwhile is happening at the state capitol because the attention seems to focus on hot button, culture war issues promoted to gain political leverage by one group against another. If you look closely, you can find good work being done by many legislators who are working across the aisle to address the state’s many needs. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
OK Policy in the News
Oklahoma needs to improve anti-poverty programs, advocates say: More than 500,000 Oklahomans who struggle with poverty, including about 125,000 who are children, would be better served if the state were to make some low-cost changes to programs it runs to help people in need. [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma voters to decide the fate of public infrastructure districts: Voters in the Nov. 5 election are being asked to decide a state question that would allow the creation of public infrastructure districts to pay for things like sidewalks, water lines, sewers and roadways. [Oklahoma Voice]
- From OK Policy: SQ 833: Public Infrastructure Districts
Weekly What’s That
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a tax credit that subsidizes work for low-income families. The EITC is the nation’s largest cash or near cash assistance program after the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Together with the Child Tax Credit, the EITC lifted 10.6 million people above the poverty line and made poverty less severe for 17.5 million others in 2018, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The amount of EITC depends on a family’s earnings and number of children; the maximum credit in 2024 was $6,960 for a family with two children. The federal EITC is refundable, which means the full amount can be claimed even if it exceeds a taxpayer’s tax liability. Refundability is critical to the success of the EITC because it allows the credit to still reward work and support families even if workers pay little or no income tax.
Oklahoma is one of 29 states (including DC) with a state EITC, set at 5 percent of the federal credit. All but three of those states have a larger EITC than Oklahoma’s. In 2016, the Oklahoma Legislature made the credit non-refundable in response to a budget shortfall. In 2021, the Legislature reversed this decision and restored refundability of the credit; however, the state credit was pegged permanently to 5 percent of the federal credit as of 2020. The state EITC was claimed on 321,693 returns for $40.2 million in 2022, according to Oklahoma Tax Commission records. The average credit in 2022 was $125, compared to just $42 in 2020, prior to the credit’s refundability being restored.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“Oklahomans shouldn’t have to risk housing instability or homelessness simply for asking for habitable conditions in their home.”
– Sabine Brown, OK Policy Senior Policy Analyst, speaking about the state’s lack of protections for renters who raise issues about health and safety concerns in their rental. [Oklahoma Watch]
Editorial of the Week
Opinion: Oklahoma’s voter turnout is low. We shouldn’t take privilege for granted
Analysis of the 2020 presidential election revealed that Oklahoma ranked last among states in turnout of the voting-eligible population. This is especially pronounced among young voters, ages 18-29, who face unique hurdles. Oklahoma’s college campuses are full of first-time voters from across the country, often grappling with basic but important questions.
As we continue to improve voting access, we must not become complacent. By voting on Nov. 5, we honor the generations who fought for this fundamental right. We show respect to our military personnel who defend it today, and we acknowledge the millions around the world who can only dream of having that right. Oklahoma, we are better than last. Let’s rise to the challenge.
Numbers of the Day
- 38 – Number of federally recognized Tribes in Oklahoma. [Tribal-State Policy 101 / OK Policy]
- 1.6% – Adults who are not working or looking for work account for only 1.6 percent of Oklahomans in poverty. The largest groups living in poverty are children, working adults, seniors, and the disabled. [OK Policy] | [Graph]
- -12% – Percentage decrease of Florida’s per-pupil expenditures between 2008 and 2019, while state spending on educational vouchers and tax credits increased by 313% to $996.3 million during that same period as the state expanded its subsidies for private schools. [The Fiscal Consequences of Private School Vouchers / Southern Poverty Law Center]
- 18.6% – Immigrants account for 18.6% of the nation’s labor force, while representing 14.3% of the U.S. population. Immigrants also account for 21.3% of business owners in the U.S. [Immigration Research Initiative]
- 81,000 – Oklahoma needs more than 81,000 additional homes or apartments just to meet the needs of extremely low-income renters, those making less than around $22,000 per year for a family of four. [National Low-Income Housing Coalition via OK Policy]
What We’re Reading
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The Long Path Toward Establishing Indigenous People’s Day, a Day to Honor and Recognize the First Peoples of America: This Monday, October 14, many Americans will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day by recognizing the history and contributions of Native peoples. President Biden’s administration has officially recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day since 2021, but it is not yet a federal holiday. Thus, for the fourth year in a row, the United States will officially observe Indigenous Peoples Day alongside Columbus Day. However, The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act, reintroduced in Congress on October 2, 2023, would potentially designate the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day nationwide. [National Museum of the American Indian / Smithsonian Magazine]
- Do the benefits of the expanded child tax credit actually fade with time?: A new working paper from two economists at Columbia University examines the effects of long-run cash and quasi-cash transfer programs (like food stamps) in the U.S. in an effort to predict the overall effects of a child allowance over the very long run. Instead of the grim and jobless future forecast by expanded child tax credit critics, they find that a future shaped by a permanent child allowance is well worth the investment. Ananat and Garfinkel found that the total long-run benefits to society of making a child allowance permanent outweigh the costs by nearly 10 to 1. While the paper may not sway skeptical economists, the dramatic returns could still help build political momentum to pass the policy. [Vox]
- How States Use Tax Credits to Fund Private School Choice: An Explainer: Most of the biggest recent developments in the world of private school choice have centered around education savings accounts, a twist on the private school voucher that parents can spend on tuition, fees, and a wide range of other costs tied to their students’ learning outside the traditional public school system. But close to two dozen states also operate smaller-scale private school choice programs that rarely draw attention on the same scale. These programs, known broadly as “tax-credit scholarships,” typically target smaller populations of students and offer fewer dollars per child than vouchers and ESAs. [Education Week]
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Latest data show that recent immigrant population growth is not unprecedented and below historical peaks: Although recent headlines claim that immigration is historically high or even “unprecedented,” new U.S. Census Bureau data show that immigration flows were relatively high but not unprecedented between 2022 and 2023, and were below the historical peaks in the late 1990s. These flows of new immigrants will benefit both immigrants and U.S.-born workers, as shown by many examples of credible economic research—though these benefits could significantly expand and help more workers if immigration policies were reformed to ensure that immigrants are granted full rights as workers in the U.S. economy. [Economic Policy Institute]
- A Road Map to Address America’s Housing Crisis: Housing is a cornerstone of American life—a key determinant of economic opportunities, health and safety, educational outcomes, and more. Yet today, the US faces a national housing crisis, wherein home prices and rents have risen significantly and the largest number of Americans on record are experiencing homelessness. The promise of safe, stable, and affordable housing is moving out of reach for millions of Americans across incomes and generations—for first-time homebuyers, cost-burdened renters, and unhoused individuals alike. [Urban Institute]
