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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: Property tax ‘limits’ are long-term cuts in disguise: Some lawmakers frame property tax limits as reining in government, not cutting funding. But this ignores a simple reality: if funding for services grows slower than the cost of living, our public schools and communities will fall behind. That gap soon translates to very real cuts for schools, public safety, and essential services. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Eliminating taxes is a trade-off most Oklahoma families can’t afford (Commentary): The promise sounds simple enough: eliminate taxes and let people keep more of what they earn. No property taxes. No income taxes. No April deadlines. More money in your pocket. But when taxes disappear, everyday life doesn’t stay the same. It changes fast — and the damage is hard to undo. [Dave Hamby / OK Policy]
Swapping one tax for a worse one doesn’t pay off: Public education is the foundation of a strong workforce and equal opportunity. It creates pathways for upward mobility and economic growth. In Oklahoma, however, that foundation is increasingly at risk. While lawmakers claim to prioritize public schools, current legislative efforts tell a different story — one where lawmakers are weakening critical funding streams without clear plans to replace them. [Aanahita Irani Ervin / OK Policy]
Lawmakers can make modest gains in housing this session: Bills that make relatively small changes to Oklahoma’s Landlord Tenant Act — the laws that define the rights of landlords and tenants — and the eviction process can improve housing stability for Oklahoma renters. Other bills filed can help close the gap between demand for affordable housing and the number of available rental units. Furthermore, legislators should reject efforts to further criminalize and stigmatize Oklahomans experiencing homelessness and vote against creating more barriers for the shelters trying to serve them. [Sabine Brown / OK Policy]
The kids are alright for now…: At the midpoint of Oklahoma’s current legislative session, policy proposals are still evolving. Some promise to protect children and strengthen services, while others could undermine hard-earned progress. As lawmakers continue their deliberations at the Capitol, policy efforts should focus on improving Oklahoma’s low child well-being rankings through improved service coordination and sustained investment in programs that help children and families thrive. [Jill Mencke / OK Policy]
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
Woolly-booger (or woolly-bugger) is a colloquialism used in Oklahoma and Louisiana politics referring to a provision snuck into legislation, usually in the waning hours or days of session, that is likely to be overlooked by all but a small handful of people. A lobbyist might be overheard saying, “We need to keep an eye on that deal, we don’t want them to go adding in any woolly-boogers.” Outside the State Capitol, a woolly-booger is the colloquial term for “the larval-stage insect known as the woolly worm or woolly bear; a fishing fly that resembles such an insect.”
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“I am now of the mind that SNAP should be an anti-hunger program, and there are many, many ways to do workforce development, career ladders, career training, job search — all of those things. That’s not an anti-hunger program, and it shouldn’t be associated with it.”
– Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at Brookings Institution and the associate director of The Hamilton Project, arguing that SNAP’s purpose should remain focused on reducing hunger, not serving as a workforce policy tool. She notes that research shows work requirements primarily remove people from food assistance rather than improve employment outcomes. [Oklahoma Voice]
Editorial of the Week
When the people speak, governments should listen
We believe voters should take advantage of the opportunity they have in the primary election to vote for a minimum wage increase, and we believe the Legislature should reconsider its apparent inclination to try to undo the constitutional expansion of Medicaid the people of the state approved just six years ago.
Those actions may not result in a golden trophy to wave overhead in a parade. But they will be steps in the right direction toward better lives for millions of Oklahomans. [The Oklahoman Editorial Board]
Numbers of the Week
- 71% – Among uninsured adults who were working, 71% were not offered or were not eligible for health insurance coverage from their employer in 2024. [KFF]
- -10.01% – Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fell by 10 percent, or 30,000 Oklahomans, between July and December 2025, after the enactment of H.R. 1, or the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Many of the policies that states are already adopting in an effort to lower error rates are likely to result in eligible households losing SNAP food assistance because of administrative burdens. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- 69,970 – The total number of Oklahomans who have lost SNAP benefits since passage of the harmful Republican megabill, whose work requirements push people off food assistance without boosting employment. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- 500,000 – The approximate annual natural population increase in the U.S. if immigration is excluded. With birth rates falling and deaths rising, that growth is rapidly approaching zero — meaning major cuts to legal immigration could push the U.S. into population decline as soon as this year, creating new challenges for economic growth and competitiveness. [Migration Policy Institute]
- $41 billion – A recent study of 88 corporations found that if these companies were still taxed at the old 35% corporate income tax rate — before Republicans and President Trump passed two tax cuts starting in 2017 — they would have paid a combined $41 billion in taxes in 2025. Today, the official federal tax rate for corporations is 21%, but the companies in this study paid no federal income taxes at all last year. In fact, they received $4.7 billion in tax rebates. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
What We’re Reading
- Key Facts about the Uninsured Population: The high cost of private insurance and limited availability of public coverage for some individuals with low income—particularly in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—continued to leave millions of people without health coverage in 2024. The number of people who are uninsured is expected to continue to increase in coming years because of changes to Medicaid and the ACA Marketplace included in the 2025 reconciliation law, the expiration of the Marketplace enhanced premium tax credits, and other administrative actions. [KFF]
- SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance as the Republican Megabill Is Implemented: H.R. 1, the Republican megabill enacted July 4, 2025, poses great harm to families, including higher food costs, poverty, and hunger. It makes deep cuts to federal funding for food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), shifting significant new costs to states. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- A primer on SNAP work requirements: SNAP work requirements have not been shown to meaningfully increase employment, but they do significantly reduce participation in the program by causing many eligible people to lose benefits. Research suggests many SNAP recipients already work or want to work, but struggle with unstable schedules, inconsistent hours, and barriers common in low-wage jobs that make meeting strict monthly thresholds difficult. The report finds that work requirements often function more as administrative barriers than employment incentives, cutting off food assistance without improving long-term labor market outcomes. Overall, the evidence suggests SNAP work requirements reduce access to food assistance more than they increase workforce participation. [The Hamilton Project]
- Trump Restrictions on Legal Immigration Could Sharply Reduce U.S. Population Growth: Restrictions on legal immigration could significantly slow U.S. population growth, especially as birth rates continue to decline and the country relies more heavily on immigration to sustain long-term population increases. Recent policy changes affecting visas, refugee admissions, and family-based immigration may reduce the number of people entering the country through legal pathways and contribute to slower labor force growth. Experts warn that prolonged reductions in immigration could create workforce shortages, weaken economic growth, and accelerate demographic challenges tied to an aging population. Immigration policy increasingly plays a central role in shaping not just border enforcement, but the nation’s long-term economic and population trends. [Migration Policy Institute]
- 88 Corporations, $105 Billion in Profits, Zero Federal Income Tax: At least 88 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the U.S. While the biggest U.S. corporations have avoided taxes in this way for decades, it appears that corporate tax avoidance has increased in the most recent year. This is at least in part due to two separate packages of corporate tax cuts pushed through by the Trump administration: last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
