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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
Lawmakers must build on criminal justice reforms, not tear them down (Legislative Wrap-Up): While the Oklahoma Legislature passed some important measures in 2024, there were also disconcerting attempts to undo years of improvements. Some of these harmful measures were stopped, but many positive changes also failed to progress. If Oklahoma truly wants an effective criminal justice system, legislators must protect and build on the progress made over the years. [Cole Allen / OK Policy]
What are community schools? (Capitol Update): Community schools represent a place-based strategy in which schools partner with community agencies and allocate resources to provide an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Policy Matters: Oklahoma needs bold leadership to shape our future: Leadership is more than a title; it is a transformative force capable of shaping communities and the business world. And it’s something that Oklahoma could use more of. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Weekly What’s That
Fiscal Year
A fiscal year (usually abbreviated ‘FY’) is the period used for calculating annual budgets. The state of Oklahoma’s fiscal year (usually abbreviated as ‘SFY’) runs from July 1 to June 30, while the federal fiscal year (usually abbreviated as ‘FFY’), runs from October 1st to September 30th. Each fiscal year is named after the calendar year that it ends in. For example, Oklahoma’s fiscal year 2024 (SFY 2024) covers the period from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“I had to suppress my identity, and so I just made it a personal commitment to really help our 2SLGBT+ youth love themselves, understand who they are, step into their identities, explore their identities and ask questions about it. When they get to speak freely about it, that’s how we get to do away with hate and these policies that we make.”
– Cousins co-founder Kendra Wilson-Clements said demonstrating how her own journey led her to form Cousins, an organization that provides a safe space for young 2SLGBTQ+ people, holding “talking circles” twice a month to come together and heal. [KOSU]
Editorial of the Week
Norman Transcript: Will you have a say in our future?
If you are not registered to vote, you cannot vote.
Voter registration drives are crucial for voter turnout, and we encourage organizers to step up their efforts — but at the end of the day it is still up to each individual to register to vote. And that day will be here before you know it.
Friday, Oct. 11, is the last day to register to vote in the presidential election but why wait until the last minute? The process is simple and straightforward.
Yes, every vote matters.
Yes, one vote matters.
Yes, your vote matters.
Your vote could determine if President Joe Biden holds office or if former President Donald J. Trump is returned to the White House.
Of course, you can only vote if you are registered, so the question remains are you registered?
If not, why not?
Voting is both a right and a privilege. It is also our most basic civic duty. All of us owe some allegiance, some civic responsibility to the very government we have created to guarantee and protect our freedoms.
None of those duties are more inextricably tied to freedom itself than voting in open, free elections. Civic duties go beyond merely obeying the law, serving on juries and paying income taxes. We are only a self-governed people when we exercise our rights to vote and pick our own leaders.
Do you participate in democracy? Do you vote?
Not voting for the person with whom you agree with the most, is effectively voting for the person with whom you disagree the most.
If you do not register, and do you do not vote then you have no say in the future of our nation.
It’s that simple.
Numbers of the Day
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160,000 – Estimated number of Oklahoma children being fed by Tribal nations this summer after Oklahoma’s governor rejected federal funds for summer food programs for school-age children. Children living in the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole reservations and who receive free and reduced lunch are eligible, regardless of whether or not they are tribal citizens. [The Oklahoman]
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$2.13 – Minimum cash hourly wage for most tipped workers in Oklahoma. For employers with fewer than 10 full-time employees at any one location who have gross annual sales of $100,000 or less, the basic minimum rate is $2.00 per hour. [U.S. Department of Labor]
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2.5% – Percentage increase of people under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities in Oklahoma from 2021 to 2022. [U.S. Department of Justice]
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3 in 5 – More than 3 in 5 members of families experiencing homelessness are minors, according to Oklahoma City’s annual count of homelessness. [2024 OKC Point in Time Count]
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27% – Percentage of Oklahoma families with children under age 18 that have incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level and at least one parent worked 50 or more weeks during the previous year. [KIDS COUNT]
What We’re Reading
- When children don’t have stable housing, it can affect their health later: Not having secure housing is a huge stress for anyone. But when children experience this, especially in early childhood, it can affect their health years down the line. That’s the finding of a new study in the journal Pediatrics, which says that teens who experienced housing insecurity earlier in life were more likely to report worse health. [NPR]
- Tipping is a racist relic and a modern tool of economic oppression in the South: In most of the country, workers in restaurants, bars, nail salons, barber shops, and various other service jobs are paid differently than workers in virtually all other occupations. For these workers, a large portion (in many cases all) of their take-home pay comes from gratuity or “tips” provided directly from the customer. While employers of workers in nearly all other occupations must pay at least the minimum wage, federal and most states’ laws establish a lower “subminimum wage” for tipped workers that effectively passes the responsibility for compensating these workers from their employers to their clientele. [Economic Policy Institute]
- Incarceration and Crime: A Weak Relationship: Nearly 50 U.S. states have reduced both incarceration rates and crime in the last decade. However, many states are reverting to the failed playbook of the 1990s that dramatically increased incarceration, particularly among Black Americans, with limited benefits to community safety. [The Sentencing Project]
- After Supreme Court Allows Penalties for Homelessness, Not Everyone in Law Enforcement Is Applauding: Could the Grants Pass decision lead to more aggressive action by law enforcement? It actually seems least likely in the states with the biggest homeless populations. There’s significant evidence that criminalization can be costly and ineffective, pulling the unhoused away from services that could improve their situation. Criminal records can cost them future opportunities for housing and employment. [Governing]
- Reality Interrupts the Fever Dream of Income Tax Elimination in Kentucky: After authorizing automatic tax cuts in 2022 that would eventually eliminate their individual income tax, Kentucky policymakers are starting to face an inevitable reality. If the state eliminates its largest revenue source, lawmakers will have to choose between raising revenues or enacting crippling cuts to priorities like education and transportation. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
