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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
The Future of Democracy Rests in the Oklahoma Supreme Court (SB 1027): This past session, the Oklahoma Legislature passed Senate Bill 1027, which imposes sweeping restrictions on the initiative petition process. In June, concerned Oklahomans filed two lawsuits with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to challenge this bill. These lawsuits are critical steps to protect Oklahomans’ constitutional right to the initiative petition. The Supreme Court must act with haste to strike down SB 1027 as a blatantly unconstitutional limit on free speech and democracy. Any Oklahoman who values democracy should care about the outcomes of these cases and support the overturning of SB 1027. [Cole Allen / OK Policy]
CoreCivic profits from incarcerating our loved ones and exploiting rural towns. Oklahomans have the opportunity to push back: Shuttered private prisons in Oklahoma are being considered to re-open as immigration detention centers. The primary purpose for companies that operate these private prisons is maximizing shareholder value, not making our communities safe. [Gabriela Ramirez-Perez and Polina Rozhkova / OK Policy]
Policy Matters: We’re the people we have been waiting for: Do your elected officials reflect your values? Are their decisions helping your community thrive, or just advancing their own political careers? Will their choices keep the next generation here or drive them away? Did their actions this year prepare Oklahoma for long-term success? If your honest answers reveal a gap between what you believe and how your leaders act, it’s time to take on a more significant role. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
OK Policy in the News
‘Under threat’: How HUD cuts could hit Oklahoma families hard: As the country faces a homelessness and housing crisis, there are plans to reshape a decades-old initiative, commonly known as HUD. Here’s what you need to know about the proposal to cut funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development also known as HUD. [News 9]
Weekly What’s That
CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program)
CHIP – the Children’s Health Insurance Program, formerly known as SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) – was a program enacted by Congress in 1997 as a way to expand health coverage to children in families with income above the traditional eligibility level for Medicaid. States were provided an enhanced federal Medicaid match for enrolling children who became newly eligible for coverage under CHIP.
States were given the option of either expanding their Medicaid program up to 185% of the federal poverty level, or designing a stand-alone CHIP program that was administered separately from Medicaid and could offer slightly different benefits. Some states received federal approval to use CHIP funds to cover certain adults, including pregnant women and parents of children receiving benefits from both CHIP and Medicaid.
Months prior to Congressional passage of SCHIP, Oklahoma had enacted legislation, State Question 639, that expanded Medicaid for children and pregnant women to 185% of the federal poverty level. With implementation of SQ 639 already underway, Oklahoma opted against creating a separate CHIP program and instead received an enhanced federal match to cover those who became newly eligible for Medicaid under SB 639.
Enacted in the wake of the Clinton Administration’s failed effort to enact universal health coverage, CHIP represented the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded health insurance coverage for children in the U.S. since the establishment of Medicaid in 1965. There were 7.3 million people enrolled in CHIP nationally as of April 2025, and 81,300 Oklahomans, out of a total Medicaid enrollment of 993,000. The program has been reauthorized multiple times by Congress and is currently funded through FY 2027 based on the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“When people can earn a fair wage, they are less likely to be pushed toward crime and more likely to build stable, thriving lives. This new analysis clearly shows raising the minimum wage isn’t just about higher wages, it’s about building better, safer communities, while saving taxpayers millions of dollars.”
– Rob Moore, principal researcher at Scioto Analysis, which co-authored a report with This Land Research and Communications Collaborative examining how raising Oklahoma’s minimum wage to $15 could reduce crime, lower incarceration rates, and save taxpayers millions. [Oklahoma Voice]
Editorial of the Week
Opinion: Visionaries needed to shape Oklahoma’s future
There aren’t many visionaries toiling in American politics these days. Never have been, really. There’s a reason only four faces are chiseled into Mount Rushmore.
On occasion, though, visionaries do emerge and the results are extraordinary. Take Mayor Ron Norick’s Metropolitan Area Projects as an example. Norick sold Oklahoma City residents on the wisdom of investing in themselves … in their hometown’s p-o-t-e-n-t-i-a-l.
Anyone who lived through Urban Renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s knows it was a disaster for myriad (pun intended) reasons. But Norick saw what Oklahoma City could be post-Murrah Building bombing. He got residents to believe. And a far different, vastly improved capital now shines. One that even celebrates an NBA championship. Who’d a thunk?
Too often, unfortunately, the occasional visionary program starts out bearing fruit … but ends up, slowly but surely, derailed by well-heeled ideologues and power-hungry politicians. Think: House Bill 1017’s education reform package that, among other things, mandated reduced class sizes (kudos to then-Gov. Henry Bellmon). Or the statehouse’s huge financial investments that made Oklahoma’s early childhood education system a national model (kudos to then-Gov. George Nigh). Not much is left today of either ground-breaking effort.
This century, most of Oklahoma’s visionary progress (albeit not much) has come not via the Legislature, but because of community visionaries able to persuade voters of the potential of a brighter future. Case in point: Criminal justice reform won voter approval and now bears fruit – thanks to former House Speaker Kris Steele and others – despite the prison industrial complex’s best efforts to derail what it feared would cut into its profits.
Next June, Oklahoma voters have another opportunity to be public policy visionaries – to make a real difference in rank-and-file Sooners’ lives – when asked to pass judgment on State Question 832, the initiative petition-turned-ballot question that would systematically increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029 from the current $7.25.
Next June? That’s a long way off. Why are we talking about this now?
Primarily because a new report from This Land Research and Communications Collaborative offers important context for voters to consider, beyond the simplistic verbal volleying over government-mandated intervention in supposedly free-market capitalism.
The study, conducted by the public policy firm Scioto Analysis, projects Oklahoma’s crime rate would decline 3%. That’s 7,000 fewer crimes annually – which “translate to $840 million in avoided social costs a year.”
As Scioto’s principal researcher, Rob Moore, told Oklahoma Voice, “These findings make clear that raising wages is not only an economic issue, but a public safety issue.
“When people can earn a fair wage, they are less likely to be pushed toward crime and more likely to build stable, thriving lives. This new analysis clearly shows raising the minimum wage isn’t just about higher wages, it’s about building better, safer communities, while saving taxpayers millions of dollars.”
Fewer crimes mean fewer inmates – about 370 annually – to house and feed, saving taxpayers nearly $5.7 million “over the duration of those sentences.” Modest, sure. But consider this, too: the report estimates police forces in Oklahoma would have to hire 1,000 more officers to achieve the same result – at a cost of about $58 million yearly.
Additional context on SQ 832‘s possible impact can be found in the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s recent annual report, showing $7.25 an hour won’t cover the cost of a modest one-bedroom apartment anywhere in Oklahoma. In fact, a minimum wage earner would have to work an average 93 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom rental here.
The Big Picture is clear: Sixteen years without a minimum wage increase is too long. Will visionary voters agree?
Numbers of the Week
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2% – The share of Oklahoma civil court cases in which a fee waiver was filed, despite the state’s high poverty rate. [Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation]
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$840 million – The annual social costs Oklahoma could avoid by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Research shows that higher wages are associated with reductions in certain types of crime, particularly among young and low-wage workers. These reductions not only mean safer communities, but also lower incarceration and corrections costs. Altogether, the avoided costs add up to an estimated $840 million in social benefits each year, with violent crime reductions accounting for the largest share. [Scioto Analysis]
- 697,358 – The number of public school students in Oklahoma as of Oct. 1, 2024. Enrollment is down 0.25% from 2023 and 0.9% from the 2019 all-time high, before Covid-19 disruptions. [Oklahoma Watch]
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13 – For every 10,000 people living in the state, 13 Oklahomans reported experiencing homelessness in 2024. This is higher than rates reported in neighboring states: Texas (9), Arkansas (9), Missouri (12), and Kansas (9). Colorado (32) and New Mexico (22) had the highest rates of neighboring states. [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development via OK Policy]
What We’re Reading
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Priced Out of Justice: An Examination of Civil Fee Waivers in Oklahoma District Courts: Civil court fees present a significant barrier for low-income Oklahomans seeking relief in matters like divorce, custody, or probate. Although fee waivers exist to remove this obstacle, they are inconsistently applied across counties, burdened by outdated language like “pauper’s affidavit,” and often inaccessible due to limited awareness, in-person filing requirements, and confusing forms. The report recommends standardizing plain-language forms, expanding e-filing and language access, creating safe-harbor policies for clerks to provide procedural assistance, and limiting unnecessary data collection to protect privacy. [Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation] | [Executive Summary]
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Minimum Wages and Public Safety in Oklahoma: Economists theorize that low wages reduce the opportunity cost of engaging in crime, while higher wages can incentivize lawful employment and reduce crime. The report finds that a $15 minimum wage could yield significant public safety benefits for Oklahoma, particularly by reducing violent crime and its associated human and economic toll. These effects are most concentrated among young, low-wage populations and may help mitigate some of the state’s historically high incarceration rates while promoting reintegration into the workforce. [Scioto Analysis]
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Declining public school enrollment: Public school enrollment has begun drifting downward more sharply — accelerated by the pandemic and long-term demographic shifts — leading to growing numbers of students outside traditional institutions. This trend varies widely by district, particularly affecting high-poverty and majority-Black areas, and risks driving school closures if capacity outpaces need. Some districts are responding with budget protections, enhanced outreach, and curriculum innovation to stabilize enrollment. Absent proactive strategies, falling student numbers could force reconfigurations that disrupt access and equity. [Brookings Institute]
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What Would It Take to End Homelessness in America?: Well before the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which allows cities to punish unhoused people for sleeping in public even if they have nowhere else to go, the general public was noticing an uptick in homelessness. The main reason? Housing costs have increased while wages, especially for low-income workers, have not kept pace. While many people believe that substance use, mental illness, or other individual factors are the main drivers of homelessness, extensive research shows that rising housing costs drive more people into homelessness than any other cause. [Johns Hopkins / Bloomberg School of Public Health]
