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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
Oklahoma’s families face the nation’s 6th highest poverty rate. Raising the minimum wage will help change that.: Almost one in six Oklahomans live in poverty, yet for 15 years, Oklahoma lawmakers have failed to raise the minimum wage and give families the tools that they need to become more economically secure. Since 2009, inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the minimum wage by more than a quarter while the cost of living has continued to increase. This means Oklahoma families are struggling to make rent, put food on the table, and provide economic security for their children. [Gabriella Ramirez-Perez / OK Policy]
Let’s not kid ourselves: Oklahoma can’t run without income tax revenue: Income tax is a necessary revenue source for Oklahoma’s fiscal health. Reducing or eliminating income taxes provides almost no relief for the segment of Oklahoma’s population who needs it most: low- and middle-class taxpayers. Fiscally responsible policy choices during the 2025 session can ensure our state is prepared for any financial difficulties while still being able to help working Oklahomans. [Aanahita Ervin / OK Policy]
Dental Therapy Act (HB 2921) can help address our dental care needs: The Dental Therapy Act would expand basic preventive and restorative dental treatment to children and adults in Oklahoma. A model that has been successfully been used in other states, it would be an additional solution to addressing Oklahoma’s dental health outcomes and address the significant unmet need for dental care. [Vivian Morris / OK Policy]
Policy Matters: Dark money has no place in Oklahoma: A group funding dark money political campaigns — and strongly linked to the governor — has started releasing ads touting his ill-conceived tax cut proposals. As can be expected from political ads funded anonymously by rich donors, they champion proposals that favor their self-interest. They do so at the expense of everyday Oklahomans while pretending to do the opposite. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
- Related: Fact check: How would the governor’s proposal to cut, eliminate personal income tax affect Oklahoma?
A look at HB 1008, a new abortion bill (Capitol Update): House Bill 1008 by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, would permit abortions in Oklahoma in cases where an abortion is required to save the life of the mother. The bill passed out of the House Health and Human Services Oversight Committee last Wednesday on a partisan 9-3 vote. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Weekly What’s That
Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT)
The Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT), created by SB 1 in 2019, is a division within the Legislative Service Bureau intended to provide greater legislative oversight of state agency budgets. Duties of the Office include gathering information related to proposed agency budgets; evaluating the extent to which each agency fulfills its statutory responsibilities; determining the amount of revenue available to the agency from various sources; comparing current budget information to prior agency requests; and conducting an investigation of any agency as needed to fulfill its responsibilities. The Office is also authorized to conduct performance evaluations and independent comprehensive performance audits.
A 14-member bipartisan legislative committee appointed by the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore and co-chaired by the House and Senate Appropriations committee chairs oversees LOFT’s operations. The committee approved LOFT’s first annual workplan in August 2020. LOFT released its first report, looking at revenue estimates by the State Board of Equalization, in January 2021; by August 2024, it had released 31 reports on subjects ranging from the Developmental Disabilities Services Waiting List to the state’s use of Coronavirus relief funds and federal education funding, among many others. In August 2024, LOFT initiated an investigation into spending concerns involved State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“I was shocked by the dramatic decrease in support for a tax cut when I saw the results of that poll. It’s a little inspiring in my mind that Oklahomans are focused on trying to build a certain kind of state and not just driving for lower and lower taxes.”
– Bobby Stem, the executive director of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors, speaking about a poll conducted in February showing Oklahomans prefer investing in infrastructure over tax cuts. [The Oklahoman]
Op-Ed of the Week
Opinion: How many brooms do we need to keep our government clean and well managed?
The question many are asking now is a simple one: Isn’t there some way to ensure that government operations are financially responsible and effective on an ongoing basis? Good government performance isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue and should have bipartisan support. Why does it take a scandal to bring about change? [William C. Wertz / The Oklahoman]
Numbers of the Week
- 46.9% – Nearly half (49.6%) of Oklahoma children who live in small towns and rural areas have health care coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A House budget blueprint, approved largely along party lines, indicated that the Republican majority was aiming to reduce Medicaid spending by $880 billion. [Center for Children and Families]
- $2 billion – Oklahoma was projected to receive more than $2 billion this year (FY 2025) for all programs and services operated by the U.S. Department of Education in the state. Recent changes to federal education programs and funding under the new presidential administration make the final amount for this year uncertain. [U.S. Department of Education]
- 110 – Number of working hours per week at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom rental in Oklahoma. [National Low Income Housing Coalition]
- 43 – A minimum wage worker in Oklahoma would need to work full time for 43 weeks, or from January to October, just to earn enough to cover annual child care for one infant (about $12, 468). [Economic Policy Institute]
- $1,500 – President Trump’s original proposal — including both his proposed tax cuts and a higher 60 percent tariff on goods imported from China — would increase costs by over $1,500 a year for middle-income Americans (households earning between $55,000 and $94,000 a year) while cutting taxes by over $36,000 for the richest one percent, with income over $914,000. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
What We’re Reading
- 2025 Budget Stakes: Poverty and Hardship Could Rise for Millions: Millions of people would be pushed into, or deeper into, poverty under Republican proposals that Congress could consider this year. A range of spending cuts and other proposals that House Republicans are reportedly considering would increase hardship for individuals and families in every part of our nation by taking away health coverage, food assistance, and other supports to people who struggle to afford the basics. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- Cutting education is an ‘America last’ not an ‘America first’ approach: With the stroke of a pen, President Trump and his administration have cut education investments and weakened the United States’ global competitive edge—in stark opposition to the government’s America First Priorities. Using executive orders to debilitate the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID), and universities, the administration is creating an education shock where a system is suddenly compromised by attacks that leave it struggling to breathe and thrive. [Brookings]
- Congress is debating stricter SNAP and Medicaid work requirements—but research shows they don’t work: Proponents of work requirements argue that they incentivize employment and promote self-sufficiency. But decades of economic research tell a different story: Work requirements do little to increase employment and often strip essential benefits from society’s most vulnerable, while also adding bureaucratic barriers that disproportionately harm those already struggling. Other research consistently finds that stricter work requirements for both SNAP and Medicaid fail to increase labor market participation—undermining popular claims that they promote self-sufficiency. [Brookings]
- Proposed Cuts to SSI Would Hurt Disabled Children and Their Families: Families caring for children with disabilities — especially multiple children with disabilities — often face higher health care costs, more demands on their time, and more financial insecurity than other families. Roughly one-third of families with children receiving SSI already live below the poverty line; Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits help them afford basic needs like food and housing as well as disability-related expenses like therapies or home modifications, which health insurance often doesn’t cover. The proposed cuts would make it even harder for these families to make ends meet. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- Domestic workers’ pay and working conditions in the South reflect racist, gendered notions of care: Despite the essential nature of domestic care work, these occupations are characterized by low pay and poor working conditions and are highly racialized and gendered, especially in the South. Domestic workers today and the conditions they face are deeply connected to the gendered and racist history of care work and the intersecting identities of the women and people of color performing these duties. [Economic Policy Institute]
