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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
Policy Matters: Let’s not be last: We are days away from the Nov. 5 general election, which will decide the presidential race and a host of state and local issues. While many Oklahomans have the best intentions to vote, far too few follow through on their civic responsibility. Being an informed voter is as simple as 1-2-3. Research the issues. Make a plan. Cast your ballot. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
WATCH: A community discussion about youth justice in Oklahoma: As part of the release of OK Policy’s latest report on youth justice in Oklahoma, we helped convene a community conversation with Oklahomans working directly in that space. Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma Executive Director Xavier Graves moderated the conversation with BerThaddeus Bailey, Managing Director of My Brother’s Keeper; Jess Eddy, Chief Development Officer for Live Free Oklahoma City; and Beth Svetlic, Assistant Executive Director of Youth Services of Tulsa. [OK Policy on YouTube]
WATCH: Long Sentences and Oklahoma’s Parole Process | Interim Study, October 2024: OK Policy’s Criminal Justice Policy Analyst Cole Allen spoke with lawmakers about how long prison sentences impact the state’s parole process. [OK Policy]
WATCH: Mental Health in Oklahoma Prisons and Jails | Interim Study, October 2024: OK Policy’s Criminal Justice Policy Analyst Cole Allen spoke with lawmakers about how to improve mental health treatment in Oklahoma jails. [OK Policy]
Overview of Oklahoma’s Sales Tax Relief Credit: OK Policy’s Fiscal Policy Analyst Aanahita Ervin spoke with lawmakers about the state’s Sales Tax Relief Credit, which provides targeted fiscal relief to low- and moderate-income families. The Sales Tax Relief Credit has been on the books since 1990, but hasn’t been adjusted since then. Ervin spoke during an Oct. 23, 2024, interim study in the Oklahoma House focused on the modernizing Sales Tax Relief Credit. Included here are her prepared remarks, video from the interim study, and other resources. [Aanahita Ervin / OK Policy]
- Impact of the Sales Tax Relief Credit on Oklahoma Families [Aanahita Ervin / OK Policy]
Modernizing the Sales Tax Relief Credit: It’s never too late to do the right thing (Capitol Update): The House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Finance held a study last week on modernizing the state Sales Tax Relief Credit, which is an income tax credit for low-income people to recover some of the money they pay in state sales tax. The study was requested by House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, based on House Bill 3987 that she introduced last session. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
OK Policy in the News
Oklahoma lawmakers discuss mental health crisis in jails, seek solutions: State lawmakers took a look at issues within the jail system in Oklahoma, specifically relating to inmate mental health. Speakers at the study on Monday said on a per capita basis, Oklahoma is one of the worst spending states on mental health and addiction crisis. [FOX25]
Early voting in Oklahoma begins amid national election unrest concerns: NewsChannel 8 spoke with Cole Allen with the Oklahoma Policy Institute who says that incidents like ballot boxes being set on fire are not a concern in Oklahoma. He says that Oklahoma hasn’t had any issues related to ballot security or ballots not being counted, but he says that if you do have any concerns, to contact your county election board or the state election board. [NewsChannel 8]
Weekly What’s That
In 2010, Oklahoma voters approved State Question 746, which established new voter identification requirements. The state question requires voters to present a valid government-issued document that includes their name and picture or a voter identification card issued by their county election board. A person who cannot or does not provide one of those forms of identification may sign a sworn statement and cast a provisional ballot.
SQ 746 was approved with 74.3 percent of the vote and took effect in July 2011. After a lengthy legal challenge, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously upheld Oklahoma’s voter ID law in 2018.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“It would never have passed. We were all under the impression that at the end of the year when you filed taxes, that you had a tax credit on your tax return.”
– Rep. Mark McBride, saying that he and his fellow legislators who made a compromise to support the Parental Choice Tax Credit assumed that it would work like a tax credit that applied to a filer’s tax return. Instead, the Oklahoma Tax Commission is mailing checks in the amount of a student’s “tax credit” directly to the private schools they attend, then requiring parents to sign off on the checks. [KFOR]
Op-Ed of the Week
Opinion: My friend passed away, but I’m voting in her memory to further her efforts
Voting was never intended to be a right for far too many of us. A substantial number of our ancestors died before being able to cast a ballot. Sadly, my friend is now one of those ancestors. She knocked on doors and attended meetings to talk about the importance of Oklahomans voting.
Numbers of the Week
- 17% – Percentage of Oklahoma households with zero net worth, which was the nation’s second highest rate. The national rate was 13%. [Prosperity Now]
- 30-to-1 – The ratio of renter households to homes for sale nationally in June 2024. The number of renters per homes for sale has been trending up since 2006, rising from less than 10 to above 30 renter households per home available. Therefore, not only do people seeking to buy their first home have to navigate an expensive market, but they also have to compete with more first-time buyers as supply continues to trail demand. [Freddie Mac]
- 73% – In a 2024 survey, 73% of voters say that elections across the U.S. will be run and administered at least somewhat well. This is 11 points higher than the share who said this in 2020, but 8 points lower than the share in 2018. [Pew Research Center]
- 92% – In a 2024 survey, 92% of registered voters say that elections in their community will be run and administered at least somewhat well, including 50% who say they will be run very well. These shares are comparable to each of the last three general elections. [Pew Research Center]
- 100% – Oklahoma’s voting system had a 100% match of the certified election results in the June 2024 primary elections. To test the system, election board officials conducted manual tabulation audits of ballots in randomly-selected races across the state during that election. [Oklahoma Election Board] | [Post-election Audit Report]
What We’re Reading
- How Would the Harris and Trump Tax Plans Affect Different Income Groups?: Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have put forward a wide range of different tax proposals during this year’s campaign. ITEP has now fully analyzed the distributional impacts of the major proposals of both Vice President Harris and former President Trump in separate analyses. In all, the tax proposals announced by Harris would, on average, lead to a tax cut for all income groups except the richest 1 percent of Americans, while the proposals announced by Trump would, on average, lead to a tax increase for all income groups except the richest 5 percent of Americans. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
- Our Elections Are Not Fragile: We are hurtling toward Election Day, when 160 million people will choose our leaders, each of us with an equal vote. That this system works, election after election, is a modern miracle. So we should never lose our outrage over the way that democracy has come under cynical assault by partisans, armed with nothing but false rumors. But we should take heart that it is now increasingly clear that despite the clamor, in 2024 voters can cast their ballots in an election that is free and fair. [Brennan Center for Justice]
- *Black Youth Are Invested in their Communities but Encounter Barriers to Voting: The civic participation of Black youth in recent years has been complex, with both bright spots and challenges. For example, young Black women, alongside other young women of color, have often been at the forefront of activism and civic action. But Black youth, and especially young Black men, have voted at lower rates and remain underrepresented in the electorate. This analysis of Black youth ages 18-34 who participated in our 2024 pre-election poll re-emphasizes that Black youth are not a monolith regarding civic engagement. They possess a wide range of motivations, ideas, and perceptions about the electoral and civic process. A better understanding of these dynamics can help us support their participation and eliminate inequities in voter turnout. [Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement]
- Addressing ‘Civic Deserts’ May Increase Young Rural Voter Turnout: A Tufts University survey that found rural residents ages 18-34 feel disengaged with their communities and are less civically engaged. That Tufts University survey found that while 64% of white youth and 51% of non-white urban youth indicated they were “extremely likely” to vote in the 2024 election, that was true of just 55% and 48% of their white and non-white rural counterparts, respectively. And as we prepare for a general election in which rural turnout will play a key role in several swing states, that matters. [Daily Yonder]
- Audits and Recounts in 2024: What’s the Difference?: With November’s election here, we’ve received a lot of interest in understanding the difference between audits and recounts. Audits and recounts are two different post-election processes, but both are designed to build confidence in our elections—they help demonstrate that the winner won and the loser lost. [Verified Voting]
