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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
Statement: Oklahomans deserve to see the full budget process, not just the final result: A state budget deal announced on April 1 raises a few eyebrows, but the real concern to Oklahoma taxpayers isn’t the timing — it’s the process. Once again, legislative leaders are keeping Oklahoma’s budget process among the least transparent in the nation. A handful of lawmakers have negotiated in closed rooms how they intend to spend billions of taxpayer dollars. These decisions were made in private, shutting out the public and most lawmakers, including members of their own party. Oklahomans deserve better. [Shiloh Kantz / OK Policy]
Oklahoma lawmakers once again push for more harmful anti-immigrant bills: This legislative session, lawmakers filed more than 30 immigration-related bills on subjects ranging from property rights to education to public benefits. The vast majority of these bills would further marginalize and penalize Oklahoma immigrants, while also creating negative spillover effects for U.S. citizens. Oklahoma lawmakers should stop targeting a segment of our neighbors for political gain and instead focus on what actually strengthens our state: ensuring every Oklahoman has the opportunity to succeed. [Gabriela Ramirez-Perez / OK Policy]
Policy Matters: Are lawmakers solving Oklahoma’s real problems?: With last week’s major legislative deadline, it’s a good time to ask a simple question: Are our lawmakers working on the issues that actually shape everyday life in Oklahoma? In one of the nation’s poorest states, our friends and neighbors are struggling — yet much of the focus at the Capitol has been on issues that won’t meaningfully improve daily life. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Oklahoma’s property tax cap proposal raises equity concerns (Capitol Update): Property taxes are unpopular in Oklahoma. And an ill-advised initiative petition proposal, State Question 843, would eliminate property taxes on homesteads without replacing the funding for schools, cities, and counties. So, it’s not a surprise that House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, and Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, want to offer voters an alternative property tax cut. [Steve Lewis / OK Policy]
OK Policy in the News
Proposed Oklahoma law would make state to report non-citizens who apply for benefits: Oklahoma lawmakers say that at the urging of White House advisor Stephen Miller, they’re going to require the state to report to ICE people without legal immigration status who apply for benefits like food assistance or health care – even for their eligible children. [NPR]
Homeless shelter oversight bill among housing measures advancing at Oklahoma Capitol: A bill that would create state oversight of homeless shelters and several other measures addressing housing and homelessness have survived a key deadline in the Oklahoma Legislature. Two measures to reform Oklahoma’s eviction process also passed out of their chambers of origin, and a measure to strengthen tenant protections is moving forward. [The Frontier]
North Tulsa church hopes to provide a healthy outlet this summer for kids and their families: According to the Oklahoma Policy Institute, black youth are arrested at three times the rate of white youth. Meleiaa Powell, the head pastor at the church, said she wants to help lower these incarceration numbers. [KJRH]
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
JCAB (Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget)
JCAB (Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget) is a committee governed by separate rules from most legislative committees. It is typically used as a way for House and Senate leadership to introduce and approve new bills in the final weeks of the legislative session.
The committee, which is co-chaired by the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, is not subject to regular legislative deadlines. Only bills authored by the Appropriations Chairs or by the House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem can be referred to JCAB. House and Senate JCAB can meet together, but most often meet separately. Most appropriation bills are assigned to JCAB, but substantive bills can also be heard. Bills are required to have a fiscal impact statement to pass out of JCAB. Bills that pass out of JCAB are placed on a separate Joint Calendar to be heard by their full chambers for Third and Final Reading.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“Oklahomans deserve a real chance to see what’s in the budget and speak up before it’s final. Anything less falls short of the trust taxpayers place in their leaders.”
– Shiloh Kantz, executive director of OK Policy, criticizing the state’s opaque budget process and arguing that meaningful public input and transparency are essential for accountability when allocating taxpayer dollars. [OK Policy]
Editorial of the Week
Teachers need a raise, and OK needs bold education investment
At the half-way mark, taxes and education have dominated this session of the Oklahoma Legislature.
In a year of flat revenue and an uncertain economy, those priorities are colliding. Improving our near last-place education ranking will take bold action and sustained investment. Cutting taxes — something legislators continue to push — will mean less revenue to make that investment possible. The state simply can’t afford to do both on a meaningful scale.
Business leaders have been unequivocal: Weak public schools are a drag on the state’s ability to recruit and grow companies. [The Oklahoman Editorial Board]
Numbers of the Day
- 28.5% – Nearly 3 in 10 of Oklahoma’s newspapers have closed in the last two decades. Harmon County is considered a news desert — an area with extremely limited access to local news — and eight Oklahoma counties (Cimarron, Coal, Cotton, Grant, Greer, Jefferson, Roger Mills, and Tillman) are considered at higher risk for becoming news deserts. [Local News Initiative / Northwestern University]
- $12.79 billion – Lawmakers’ proposed FY 2027 appropriated budget totals $12.79 billion — a 1.3% increase from last year that falls short of what many agencies say they need to maintain services. [Oklahoma House of Representatives Budget Portal]
- $12.17 billion – The total authorized Oklahoma state budget for FY 2027, which begins July 1, 2026. This represents a $571 million (4.5%) decrease from the prior year’s legislative spending authority, largely due to fewer one-time and cash funds available. [OK Policy]
- 153,000 – The number of U.S.-born Oklahoma residents living with at least one immigrant parent. That’s about 4% of all U.S.-born residents in the state. [American Immigration Council]
- 48th – Oklahoma collects $938 per capita for property taxes, which is the nation’s third lowest amount behind only Alabama and Arkansas. [Tax Foundation]
What We’re Reading
- The State of Local News: Almost 40% of all local U.S. newspapers have vanished in the past 20 years, leaving 50 million Americans with limited or no access to a reliable source of local news. And although there has been some growth in stand-alone and network digital sites, these startups remain heavily centralized in urban areas, and they have not been appearing fast enough to offset the losses elsewhere. As a result, news deserts – areas with extremely limited access to local news – continue to grow. [Local News Initiative / Northwestern University]
- State Budgets Basics: State budgets determine how money is raised and spent on things people rely on every day, like schools, health care, roads, and public safety. They are mostly funded through state taxes — especially income and sales taxes — and must generally be balanced, meaning states can’t spend more than they bring in. The process typically starts with a governor’s proposal and is shaped by the legislature, with opportunities for public input along the way. Because budgets reflect priorities, they play a major role in shaping economic opportunity, public services, and disparities across communities. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- Tools for Sustainable State Budgeting: State budgets are often built around short-term decisions, which can lead to problems when revenues drop or costs rise in the future. To create more stable budgets, states can use tools like long-term budget assessments and budget stress tests to look ahead, identify risks, and plan for potential deficits or economic downturns. These tools help policymakers understand whether current spending and tax decisions are sustainable and what adjustments may be needed over time. States that use them are better able to avoid sudden cuts or tax increases and make more informed, long-term investments. [The Pew Charitable Trusts]
- Birthright Citizenship Under the U.S. Constitution: The Constitution’s 14th Amendment ensures that nearly everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen, based on long-standing legal consensus and landmark rulings. Recent executive actions attempting to restrict this principle — such as barring children of undocumented or temporary-status parents — challenge established case law and face deep constitutional scrutiny. Protecting birthright citizenship will depend on legal clarity and reinforced judicial and legislative commitment to uphold this foundational right. [Brennan Center for Justice]
- Anti-Tax Revolts Backfire: What We’ve Learned from 50 Years of Property Tax Limits: The last time states were persuaded to “fix” their property taxes by passing tight restrictions, in the 1970s and 1980s, they enacted a wave of measures that have fallen spectacularly short of their promises. These restrictions have failed to curb housing cost growth and instead led to greater inequality, loss of vital public services, and – ironically – even more public frustration with how we pay for schools and other local services. Across-the-board property tax cuts create less fair local tax systems in the long run. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
