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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: Hiding federal data hurts all of us: Imagine driving through a dense fog. No street signs, no headlights, no GPS—just guesswork and vibes. That’s what is happening to us right now as the federal government has hidden, removed, and stopped collecting crucial data and information, especially about public health. It’s not just a bureaucratic shuffle; it’s a direct threat to our well-being. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Senate committee hears, rejects four controversial bills (Capitol Update): The Senate Judiciary Committee devoted a good part of last Wednesday afternoon to hearing four, what might be called “religious right” bills, and killed all four of them. The committee meeting was unusual, to say the least. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Weekly What’s That
Regressive Tax
A regressive tax is a type of tax that takes a larger percentage of income from low-income individuals or households than from high-income individuals or households. In other words, as income decreases, the proportion of income paid in taxes increases. This is in contrast to a progressive tax, where the tax rate increases as income increases.
Regressive taxes tend to have a disproportionate impact on lower-income individuals because they impose a higher burden on their limited financial resources. Examples of regressive taxes include sales taxes and flat taxes, where everyone pays the same percentage of their income regardless of their income level.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in 2024 ranked Oklahoma’s tax system as the nation’s 16th most regressive as part of the 7th edition of its Who Pays? report. Oklahoma’s high sales tax rates – sixth highest in the nation – bear primary responsibility for the overall regressivity of the state’s tax system.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“We know that high fees keep people trapped in this cycle and contribute to higher recidivism. I want to change that structure and make sure that a second chance is actually a second chance and get rid of fines, fees and court costs for good. It’s time to reform this system and get rid of what is essentially debtors’ prison.”
-Gov. Kevin Stitt, speaking at his State of the State address about the need to reform Oklahoma’s over-reliance on fees and fines in order to fund basic justice functions. [Tulsa World]
Editorial of the Week
There’s a terrible stench that smells a lot like bull excrement emanating from the halls of our state Capitol right now, and Republicans are hoping that Oklahomans plug their nose and pretend their highly touted voucher-like program doesn’t stink to high heaven.
Many are also likely hoping that their constituents will suffer from a convenient bout of amnesia when it comes to recalling the promises made — and not kept — in 2023 about their Parental Choice Tax Credit Act.
As it turns out, Oklahomans were sold a sham when legislators sought to convince us why our hard-earned tax dollars should be used to pay for children’s private school educations even while their local public schools continue to struggle financially and academically.
Lawmakers swore until they were blue in the face that the program, which allows the Oklahoma Tax Commission to issue individuals checks ranging from $5,000 to $7,500, would expand school choice for low-income children who were trapped in failing schools.
To add guardrails to prohibit all 33,000 private school students from claiming the credit and busting our budget, lawmakers prudently capped expenditure at $150 million in 2024, $200 million in 2025 and $250 million in all subsequent years.
But I think we all probably knew in our gut exactly where this program was headed when lawmakers refused to implement income limits on who could qualify.
Yep, to probably nobody’s great surprise, it turns out our legislators capitulated to their wealthy overlords and created a program that heavily benefits those who absolutely do not need government handouts.
[Read the full Op-Ed by Janelle Stecklein / Oklahoma Voice]
Numbers of the Week
- -4.7% – Oklahoma’s state tax collections were 4.7% lower when compared to the state’s 15-year trend levels, adjusted for inflation and seasonality. Oklahoma had the nation’s 11th largest share of revenue decrease during that period. [Pew Research]
- 686,800 – Number of people in Oklahoma who would be at risk if federal lawmakers move forward with proposed cuts to SNAP, the nation’s largest food assistance program. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- 73% – About 73% of Oklahoma families who received the private school tax credit/voucher for the spring 2025 semester had household incomes above $75,000. Oklahoma’s median household income — representing the middle point of all income earners, where half earn more and half earn less — was about $63,600. [Oklahoma Tax Commission]
- 225,000 – Estimated number of Oklahoma children — nearly 1 in 4 of all children in the state — who lived in households that were food insecure at some point during the year. [KIDS COUNT]
- $62,000 – The Republican Congressional plan to extend federal tax cuts is projected to provide a $62,000 benefit for those who make $743,000 or more a year. The tax cut for these wealthy households is greater than the annual family incomes for most of the 72 million people — 1 in 5 people in the U.S. — who have health coverage through Medicaid. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
What We’re Reading
- Belt-Tightening Budgeting on the Horizon: State budget challenges are brewing after years of historic growth. Tax revenue has dropped, federal COVID dollars have expired and general fund spending is expected to decline in fiscal year 2025. Officials in Maine, Colorado and Washington are anticipating budget shortfalls, and long-term budget projections in California, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida estimate future deficits. Widespread shortfalls typically occur during economic downturns, but the continued growth of the U.S. economy signals potential structural imbalances in state budgets. [National Conference of State Legislatures]
- Millions of Low-Income Households Would Lose Food Aid Under Proposed House Republican SNAP Cuts: The budget resolution that the House plans to take up this week directs the House Agriculture Committee to cut programs in its jurisdiction by at least $230 billion through 2034, with these cuts expected to come largely or entirely from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and to be used to help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest business owners and households. Lawmakers cannot cut $230 billion — or anything close to that amount — from SNAP without slashing benefits, restricting eligibility, or some combination of both. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- How to Protect Democratic Institutions: It’s important to understand what’s going on. It’s important to understand the unitary executive theory that presidents have few constraints on their power, the risks that a president will ignore court orders, and so on. Yes, it’s a power grab. But what can people as individuals do about it? [Brennan Center for Justice]
- Disappearing Data: Why We Must Stop Trump’s Attempts to Erase Our Communities: Data are not just numbers — they represent real people, real experiences, and real disparities. Data tell the stories of our country. Data make visible communities who have long been stigmatized, discriminated against, and underserved in policymaking. These rollbacks not only threaten the integrity of scientific research but are a deliberate attempt to suppress visibility and recognition of underserved communities. [The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights]
- The era of cheap cynicism about government is over: The cynical response to the illegal firings and impoundments pursued by DOGE has been, “So what? Government doesn’t do anything useful anyhow.” But that’s far too cheap a response given the stakes involved. The federal government performs functions that are vital for a decent society. It performs a number of them suboptimally and could use a good faith drive to improve its efficiency and step up its capacity. But compared with the other big centers of power in the U.S. economy—say the tech or finance sector—its employees do far more valuable work for far less money. Relative to these sectors, it is the epitome of efficiency. [Economic Policy Institute]
