You're invited to join a Community Listening Session near you! This summer, the Oklahoma Policy Institute and Together Oklahoma are hosting in-person listening sessions across the state to hear directly from Oklahomans about the issues that matter most in their communities. These free, public events offer a chance to connect with neighbors, share your experiences, and speak with policy experts. Participants will receive compensation for their time. Make your voice heard—find a session near you and join the conversation. Make Your Voice Heard — In Person or Online Can't attend in person? Take our online survey (available in English and Spanish) and share your thoughts about the laws and policies that affect you and your neighbors. Your input helps shape our priorities for the next legislative session to build stronger, healthier, and more equitable communities across Oklahoma. |
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| "Put simply, ensuring every child has access to no cost meals every school day and throughout the summer is a goal we should all share and that we can achieve, but it will take additional investment from our state and leveraging every federal dollar available to make it happen." – Hunger Free Oklahoma, an organization that advocates for stronger legislative support to reduce hunger across the state, responding to Ryan Walters' mandate to fully fund student meals using existing resources. In their statement, they emphasized that while healthy, accessible school meals are critical to children's development and academic success, providing universal school meals is not feasible without new funding from the state. [Hunger Free Oklahoma] |
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37 - The number of tribal colleges and universities in the U.S. that could be devastated by the FY 2026 budget proposal, which slashes their federal funding — threatening education access, cultural preservation, and community infrastructure across Indian Country. [ProPublica] 20% - One in five students in Oklahoma aren't completing high school within four years, putting them at greater risk of lower earnings, poorer health, and limited career options. Delayed graduation rates are often a reflection of systemic underinvestment in public education. [2025 KIDS COUNT Data Profile for Oklahoma] 55,746 - The number of people held in immigration detention by the federal government as of the end of June 2025. That's a 49% increase from the end of January. [U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement] $87 million - The amount Oklahoma could save each year by expanding mental health diversion programs, including alternatives to jail and emergency room visits. This includes strategies like crisis response programs, treatment courts, and reclassifying certain 911 calls to connect people with care instead of incarceration. [Healthy Minds Policy Initiative] |
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SQ 780 and SQ 781 SQ 780 and SQ 781 were closely-related ballot initiatives approved by Oklahoma voters in 2016. SQ 780 reclassified simple drug possession and some minor property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. SQ 781 directed the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to calculate the savings to the state of these changes and to deposit that amount into a fund used by county governments to provide substance abuse and mental health services. Both measures involved statutory, rather than constitutional, changes. SQ 780 went into effect on July 1, 2017 and had an immediate impact in reducing the number of felony filings in the state. In 2019, the Legislature passed HB 1269 making the provisions of SQ 780 retroactive, which allowed those convicted of felonies for crimes that became misdemeanors following passage of SQ 780 to apply to have their sentences commuted by the Pardon and Parole Board. An initial group of over 450 inmates had their sentences commuted by Governor Stitt in November 2019. After several years when some legislators tried unsuccessfully to roll back provisions of SQ 780, the Legislature in 2023 passed HB 2153 that partially reverses SQ 780 by including mandatory jail time and optional diversion programs for multiple convictions involving simple possession of most drugs. Until 2023, the Legislature consistently failed to adhere to the requirement of SQ 781 that the savings attributable to SQ 780 be made available to county governments for mental health and substance abuse services. However, in 2023, it passed a bill directing the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to direct $12.5 million to the County Community Safety Investment Fund. In the first year that funds became available, 36 of Oklahoma's 77 counties applied for funding that could be used to develop and implement a new mental health, substance abuse treatment, education, housing or diversion program. As of 2023, the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency is tasked with calculating the annual savings attributable to SQ 780. Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here. |
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Editorial: Let's talk about poverty, health care and hunger ― not fluoride Oklahoma, sad to say, is one of the hungriest states in the nation. It's also one of the unhealthiest. Both are consequences of the fact that we're one of the poorest states in the nation. We'll never truly be in the "Top 10," Gov. Kevin Stitt's often-expressed goal, until we can do something about this huge, complex problem, which has been with us since before statehood. But we're facing now a huge challenge even to maintain the status quo ― something that our elected officials at both the state and federal level don't seem to appreciate. Proposed actions by the Trump administration will cut the amount Oklahoma receives for both the Medicaid/SoonerCare program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ― often referred to as food stamps. Details have been hard to come by despite repeated requests. But we know that both programs are jointly funded. Whatever cuts are made by the federal government will have to be offset by higher state appropriations, or benefits will have to be reduced, a serious blow to those in the state already in dire straits. A further potential complication in Oklahoma is the fact that the option of scaling back Medicaid benefits may well be limited by our state constitution. In 2020, voters approved State Question 802, which required expansion and maintenance of Medicaid coverage to people over 18 and under 65 who were not already covered and whose annual income, as calculated under federal law, was at or below 133% of the federal poverty line. The state wouldn't be able to cancel or modify this expansion without going back to the voters. [The Oklahoman Editorial Board] |
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D.C. Digest: Beautiful or ugly? Time will tell: We'll see: The only agreement on the One Big Beautiful Bill is that it is big. Over 900 pages. Whether it is beautiful, as most Republicans insist, or ugly, as a lot of other Americans think, remains to be seen. Here's a sampling of reactions. [Tulsa World] Red States Follow DOGE's Lead, Slashing Services to Fund Giveaways to the Rich: A handful of states are using DOGE initiatives to push ahead with cuts conservatives have been wanting for decades. The nonpartisan think tank Oklahoma Policy Institute cautioned against slashing this spending, noting that Oklahoma ranks 47th in overall health metrics and 45th in children's health. [Truthout] Oklahoma's total tax revenue collections up slightly compared to last fiscal year: Oklahoma's tax revenues are up by a fraction of a percent compared to this time last year, according to a June report by the state treasury department. It's largely attributed to a tax lawmakers want to get rid of — and that makes up much of the state's budget. [KOSU] Lawsuit Slams Oklahoma Law as 'Unconstitutional Sabotage' of Open Primaries: Two Oklahoma veterans – one a pediatrician, the other a U.S. Coast Guard commander – have filed a legal challenge to SB 1027 in Oklahoma, a law they say unconstitutionally targets their statewide citizen initiative to implement open primaries, State Question 836 (SQ 836). [Independent Voter News] |
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Trump Seeks 90% Cut for Already Underfunded Tribal Colleges: The Trump administration's FY 2026 budget proposal seeks to cut federal funding for tribal colleges and universities by nearly 90%, slashing appropriations from roughly $122 million this year to just $22 million. Tribal leaders warn that, without these funds, schools will be forced to close, jeopardizing critical education, cultural preservation, workforce training — and basic infrastructure — across Native American communities. [Common Dreams] Higher education spending boosts graduation rates – study: Boosting education funding can significantly improve graduation rates, especially in low-income districts. A 7-year study found that increased state spending led to a 2.1 percentage point rise in graduation, with the greatest gains in poorer areas. The findings show that targeted investments in schools can lead to measurable improvements in student success. [World Economic Forum] Senate Republicans Rig the Rules to Make Their Tax Bill Look Responsible. It's Not: Senate Republicans employed procedural rules to fast-track a tax-cut reconciliation bill that fails to offset revenue losses — economically masking the true cost of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts while offering no meaningful pay-fors. This maneuver risks ballooning the federal deficit without any substantial reforms to benefit working-class or middle-income taxpayers, effectively prioritizing wealthy individuals and corporations. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy] Private prisons and local jails are ramping up as ICE detention exceeds capacity: ICE is detaining more people than it has beds for, leading the agency to rapidly expand its use of private prisons and local jails through no-bid contracts. Many of the facilities being reopened have troubling histories of abuse, neglect, and inadequate oversight, raising serious concerns about safety, transparency, and accountability in the immigration detention system. [NPR] From Crisis to Care: Addressing Addiction, Mental Health, and Homelessness Through Health and Supportive Services: Punishing addiction, mental illness, and homelessness with incarceration or forced treatment wastes taxpayer dollars and worsens public health outcomes. Community-based solutions — like voluntary treatment, crisis response teams, supportive housing, and harm reduction — are proven to reduce overdose, lower incarceration rates, and improve long-term stability. [Drug Policy Alliance] |
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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. |
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