Please don’t feed the stereotypes

This is an expanded and revised version of an op-ed that ran in The Oklahoman. The Oklahoma Republican Party recently ignited a local and national firestorm with a Facebook post pointing out a so-called irony of signs in national parks… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s income inequality is at an all-time high

Chan Aaron is an OK Policy summer intern. He is pursuing an environmental policy degree at The University of Tulsa. He is also a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a degree in philosophy and a veteran of the United… Read more [More...]

No place to go: Oklahomans with felony convictions face barriers to affordable housing

This report was funded by a grant from the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation. [See the full issue brief] Oklahoma’s tough-on-crime criminal justice ethos results in one of the highest per-capita incarceration rates in the US. Thousands of these incarcerated… Read more [More...]

Issue Brief: Barriers to Affordable Housing for Oklahomans with Felony Convictions

Finding affordable housing is one of the most difficult barriers faced by Oklahomans with a felony conviction in their past. Yet Oklahoma's major public housing assistance programs frequently exclude people with felony records, and even those who have been arrested without being charged, from getting help. [More...]

Overtime update is long overdue

An earlier version of this post appeared in the Journal Record For a long time now, hardworking, middle-class Americans have seen their wages stagnate, while the benefits of economic growth go mostly to the wealthiest. One reason for this trend… Read more [More...]

What this panhandle county tells us about the future of Oklahoma

Chan Aaron is an OK Policy summer intern. He is pursuing an environmental policy degree at The University of Tulsa. He is also a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a degree in philosophy and a veteran of the United… Read more [More...]

Implementing EPA climate change rule should be no problem for Oklahoma

Last summer, the Environmental Protection Agency issued its proposed Clean Power Plan Rule in an attempt to lower the emissions of carbon dioxide from electric power plants nationwide. [More...]

Higher minimum wages improve economic well-being (Guest Post: Michael Krassa and Benjamin Radcliff)

Michael A. Krassa is Professor Emeritus of Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy and Political Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Benjamin Radcliff, is a Professor of Political Science at University of Notre Dame and the author of The Political… Read more [More...]

Don’t take away Oklahomans’ right to regulate drilling (Guest post: Johnson Bridgwater)

Johnson Bridgwater is the Executive Director of Oklahoma Sierra Club. It’s undeniable that the fracking boom has had a huge impact on many Oklahoma communities. It’s helped bring jobs and income to some, but the rapid increase in this new… Read more [More...]

Upcoming Event: Oklahoma Watch forum on low-income neighborhoods

Nonprofit news organization Oklahoma Watch and the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication will host a public forum about challenges in low-income neighborhoods in south Oklahoma City. The event is Thursday, April 16, 6-7 p.m. at… Read more [More...]