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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
Creating a minimum age of adjudication is common sense youth justice reform: Oklahoma’s youth justice system is tasked with ensuring youth who cause harm face fair consequences, but is also responsible for protecting children and promoting long-term public safety. One of the most effective ways to do both is by setting a reasonable minimum age of adjudication at 12 years old, like Senate Bill 2097 proposes. Adjudication is the court process for determining if children can be held criminally responsible, or delinquent, in court. [Jill Mencke / OK Policy]
Opinion: Property tax cuts aren’t the real driver of housing costs: Oklahomans are frustrated by rising housing costs, but this session, lawmakers are targeting the wrong culprit. While property taxes are drawing most of the attention at the Capitol this year, the real cost surge — homeowners’ insurance — remains largely overlooked. Lawmakers should take a closer look before rushing to cut property taxes that fund schools and services. [Aanahita Irani Ervin / The Oklahoman]
Policy Matters: SQ 640 – Roadblock or solution?: For decades, Oklahoma lawmakers have passed untargeted tax cuts rather than investing in core services, leaving agencies with budget cuts and forcing them to do more with less — often past the breaking point. State Question 640 — which imposes strict limits on how our state can raise revenue — has constrained Oklahoma’s ability to adapt and grow for decades. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
The evolving limits of government liability under Oklahoma’s Governmental Tort Claims Act (Capitol Update): Sovereign immunity was a common law doctrine brought to the United States from England that stood for the axiom, “the King can do no wrong,” meaning generally that a state and its political subdivisions cannot be held liable for the negligent conduct of their employees without the state’s permission. However, the Supreme Court ceded power to the legislature to enact laws determining the extent to which the state would be held liable. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
OK Policy in the News
Is it legal to lower the minimum wage in Oklahoma? Yes: Every U.S. state, including Oklahoma, can generally lower their minimum wage, but stipulations apply. [Oklahoma Watch]
- From OK Policy: What you need to know about the minimum wage in Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s Housing Paradox: Vacant Units Everywhere, Affordable Ones Nowhere: Data from the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency’s Housing Needs Assessment shows the state has more than 220,000 vacant housing units, including nearly 39,000 listed as available for rent. But that number masks a more complicated reality. The issue isn’t how many units exist. It’s whether they can be rented. The gap between what it costs to build housing and what renters can afford has widened to the point that many projects never get off the ground. [Oklahoma Watch]
Tulsa mom emerges from trauma and addiction with a degree — and ideas to help parents like her: A few years ago, Amanda Billings stopped to consider her life. She knew she talked too much, shared too much. She knew her choices led to substance abuse addiction and the loss of her oldest children to foster care. She never felt like she fit into the world. [Tulsa Flyer]
Upcoming Opportunities
Apply Now For The 2026 Oklahoma Summer Policy Institute
OK Policy’s Oklahoma Summer Policy Institute (SPI) brings together highly-qualified college students, recent graduates, and new policy professionals for a three-day learning experience that informs participants about Oklahoma’s policy landscape and provides tools and resources to create change in our state. Apply by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, May 10, 2026.
Weekly What’s That
The use tax is a complementary tax to the state sales tax that is applied to items bought outside a state (or not taxed inside) but used, stored, or consumed in the state. Oklahoma taxes items subject to the use tax at the same rate as the sales tax.
For several decades, states were limited in their ability to collect use taxes by a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Quill v. North Dakota, that determined that retailers lacking a physical presence in a state, or “nexus,” could not be required to collect and remit taxes. The growth of online commerce led to significant revenue losses for states and local governments and various efforts to circumvent the Quill decision. In 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the Quill precedent in South Dakota vs. Wayfair, Inc. In a 5-4 decision, it upheld a South Dakota law that required retailers to collect and remit tax on purchases even if the seller does not have a physical presence in the state, ruling that an economic presence should be the basis for taxing a sale. Oklahoma amended its laws to conform to the Wayfair decision: as of November 2019, a remote seller with $100,000 or more in taxable retail sales of tangible personal property during the preceding 12 calendar months is required to collect and remit Oklahoma sales tax.
Oklahoma collected $638.5 million in state use tax revenues in FY 2024, which represented a 38.4 percent increase from the $461.3 million collected in FY 2021 and nearly triple the $203.2 million in use tax revenue collected in FY 2016.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“Good medicine teaches us to do no harm. Public policy should follow the same principle.”
– Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, arguing that proposals to roll back Medicaid expansion would disrupt a system that is currently improving access to care, stabilizing hospitals, and bringing significant federal funding into Oklahoma’s health care system. [The Oklahoman]
Op-Ed of the Week
Opinion, Hospital CEO: Medicaid expansion has stabilized rural hospitals in Oklahoma
In rural Oklahoma, when the local hospital struggles, the entire community feels it.
Jobs disappear. Businesses hesitate to invest. Families face longer drives for care when emergencies happen. The hospital is quite literally a lifeline. In many communities, the hospital is more than a health care provider. It is one of the pillars that holds the community together.
That is why discussions about weakening or repealing Medicaid expansion should concern every rural community in our state. [Jimmy Leopard / Tulsa World]
Numbers of the Week
- 1 in 5 — Nearly 1 in 5 Oklahomans working a single, full-time job cannot afford a modest one-bedroom rental at fair market rent, while 2 in 5 cannot afford a two-bedroom rental. Even for full-time workers, wages are insufficient to afford housing for Oklahoma’s low-wage earners. [National Low Income Housing Coalition via OK Policy]
- 3.0% — The share of Oklahoma public school students who lacked a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence during the 2021–22 school year. Oklahoma ranks 40th on this measure, reflecting the scale of student homelessness and housing instability across the state. [America’s Health Rankings]
- 180 — The estimated number of people in Oklahoma awaiting court-ordered mental health restoration services in May 2025. Inconsistent data and gaps in tracking across agencies make it difficult to determine the true scope of the backlog, raising concerns about the system’s ability to meet demand or even accurately measure it. [Briggs v. Friesen Court Consultant Report]
- 222,211 — The number of Oklahoma adults enrolled in SoonerCare through Medicaid expansion as of January 2026. Coverage has been a lifeline not only for individuals accessing care, but also for hospitals and providers across the state who rely on stable reimbursement to keep their doors open. [Oklahoma Health Care Authority]
- 0 — The number of non-elected officials who would be part of a proposed state constitutional convention under the current language in House Joint Resolution 1089. The bill is intended to give voters the chance to approve a constitutional convention meant to modernize and reform the Oklahoma Constitution by May 2028. Under the bill, the delegates drafting the new or revised constitution would be composed entirely of actively serving lawmakers, instead of an even split between lawmakers and representatives of the state’s tribal nations. [KOSU]
What We’re Reading
- The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes: The United States is failing its lowest-income renters. Extremely low-income renters face an enduring shortage of affordable and available homes and, as a result, experience severe housing cost burdens. Absent public subsidy, the rents these households can afford are generally too low to support new construction or maintain existing housing. At the same time, decades of federal underinvestment in housing assistance leaves three out of four households eligible for rental assistance without support. [National Low Income Housing Coalition]
- The Current State of Youth Homelessness Approaches: Insights and Observations: Youth homelessness is often driven by family conflict, poverty, and systems like foster care and juvenile justice that fail to provide stable support during transitions to adulthood. Many young people experiencing homelessness face barriers to education, employment, and health care, which can make it difficult to exit homelessness once they enter it. The report highlights gaps in coordination between systems and limited access to prevention and early intervention services. Addressing youth homelessness requires more stable housing options, stronger support systems, and earlier intervention before young people reach a crisis point. [Community Solutions]
- The Legislative Primer Series for Front-End Justice: Competency to Stand Trial: Competency to stand trial means a person must be able to understand their charges and participate in their defense, but growing demand for evaluations and limited resources have created major delays in this process. Many people end up waiting in jail for long periods — sometimes longer than their potential sentence — while trying to access evaluation or restoration services. States are responding by expanding community-based programs, jail-based restoration, and diversion options that focus on treatment and support instead of detention. Improving coordination, reducing wait times, and investing in community services are key to making the system more efficient and less harmful. [National Conference of State Legislatures]
- Medicaid Expansion Helps Newly Eligible Adults and Groups Traditionally Eligible for Medicaid: Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act has increased coverage and access to care not only for newly eligible low-income adults but also for groups who were already eligible, such as children and people with disabilities. When adults gain coverage, more children enroll as well and families are better able to access preventive care and maintain financial stability. Expansion has also improved access to care, treatment, and employment opportunities for people with disabilities who may not qualify under stricter traditional eligibility pathways. Overall, expanding Medicaid strengthens coverage, health outcomes, and stability across multiple populations — not just those newly eligible. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- The history of Oklahoma’s Constitutional Convention: The history of Oklahoma’s Constitutional Convention begins with conditions leading up to statehood. The area known as Oklahoma was originally called Indian Territory. After the 1889 opening of the Unassigned Lands within Indian Territory to settlement by non-Indians, in 1890 the western portion of present Oklahoma was created as Oklahoma Territory. Together, the two regions were commonly known as the Twin Territories. [Oklahoma Historical Society]
