Dental Therapy Act (HB 2921) can help address our dental care needs 

Contact your legislator in support of the Oklahoma Dental Therapy Act, House Bill 2921. • Find your lawmaker using OK Policy’s Legislator Lookup The Dental Therapy Act in Oklahoma can help address our unmet dental care needs This legislative session,… Read more [More...]

Black Health: Dying in Oklahoma (Commentary)

Neither the United States Constitution nor the Bill of Rights guarantee health care as a basic right for any American. Our nation and our neighbors struggle with access to affordable health care and prescription medicine. However, for Black Oklahomans, lack… Read more [More...]

Anti-immigration raids harm all communities (Commentary)

This commentary was authored by Vivian Morris, Tribal-State Policy Analyst, and Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, Immigration Policy Analyst. As the new administration issued a flurry of executive orders during its first weeks in power, many of the actions have specifically targeted immigrants… Read more [More...]

Statement: All children have the fundamental right to an education – July 31, 2024

the state superintendent announced that the Oklahoma Department of Education would be issuing guidance to school districts to identify costs and resources associated with educating undocumented immigrant children. OK Policy wants to ensure that Oklahomans understand the historical context — see Plyler v Doe (1982) — about the right of every child in this country to receive a free, public education. [More...]

National study: Undocumented immigrants contribute $227M in Oklahoma taxes a year

In Oklahoma, undocumented immigrants contributed $227.5 million in state and local taxes in 2022. Undocumented immigrants pay higher state and local tax rates (8.9%) than the top 1 percent of Oklahoma households (6.4%). [More...]

Anti-immigrant laws punish families and children. Oklahoma lawmakers pass them anyway. (2024 Legislative Wrap-up)

Immigration is a complex issue, and gridlock in Congress has resulted in states venturing deeper into a legal area reserved solely for the federal government. In a state like Oklahoma, this means that lawmakers introduce punitive immigration policies meant to… Read more [More...]

Economic Projections for Asylum Seekers and New Immigrants in Oklahoma

Authored by Anthony Capote, Senior Policy Analyst at Immigration Research Initiative; David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of Immigration Research Initiative; and Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, Immigration Policy Analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute. # # # Immigration is hardly a new social trend… Read more [More...]

Dr. King’s dream of economic freedom (Commentary) 

Dr. King understood, then as it is now, that income inequality binds Americans into a cycle of poverty that often becomes generational. Poverty lowers life expectancy as well as educational attainment, which is a predictor of wealth for all races.  [More...]

New report spotlights imbalances among child well-being for Oklahoma’s children of color

2024 Race for Results report identifies gaps in child well-being that persist across race and ethnicity, caused by policy choices, disinvestment in services for young people — A new national report out Jan. 10 shows that child well-being outcomes for… Read more [More...]

Ending single-family zoning would help close Oklahoma’s housing gap

Ending single-family zoning and allowing small multi-family homes is a proven path to improved housing availability and affordability; it’s one that Oklahoma policymakers should consider. [More...]