| Policy Matters: True patriotism means speaking up Patriotism isn't passive. It isn't blind loyalty, a bumper sticker, or a red-white-and-blue wardrobe. And it doesn't belong to one party or worldview. True patriotism is about loving your country enough to ask hard questions. It's showing up, speaking out, and pushing this country to live up to its promises. That's what the people who built this democracy did. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]] |
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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. |
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| "We believe that no American should lose access to basic healthcare simply because of where they live. This is not about politics — this is about people." – Brian Whitfield, President and CEO of McCurtain Memorial Hospital, writing to Senators Mullin and Lankford ahead of the Senate reconciliation vote, urging them to consider the impact of the big congressional budget bill on small, rural communities. He warned that the bill's proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare would endanger both rural hospitals and the people who rely on them. [Southwest Ledger] |
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$45 billion - The amount ICE could spend over two years on "Emergency Detention and Related Services," paving the way for new privately run immigration detention centers amid plans to massively expand deportations. [National Immigrant Justice Center] 5.09% - The Medicaid improper payment rate in 2024. Nearly 80% of these improper payments stemmed from missing documentation — not fraud. [The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] 69% - The share of net tax cuts in the Senate's budget bill that would go to the richest fifth of Americans in 2026 — compared to just 10% for the middle fifth and 1% for the poorest — highlighting the plan's deeply unequal distribution of benefits. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy] 220% - The projected size of the national debt compared to the economy in 2055 if the 2017 tax cuts are extended — 63 percentage points higher than current estimates. That means the federal government would owe more than twice what the entire U.S. economy produces in a year, putting long-term pressure on interest rates and essential public services. [Congressional Budget Office] |
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Budget Reconciliation Budget reconciliation is a special process that makes specific legislation easier to pass in the U.S. Congress. In the Senate, reconciliation bills aren't subject to the filibuster and therefore need only a simple majority of 51 votes to pass. The process starts when the House and Senate agree on an annual budget resolution that includes "reconciliation directives" for specified committees. These instruct specified House and Senate committees to prepare and report legislation by a certain date that: 1) increases or decreases spending (outlays) by specified amounts over a specified time; 2) increases or decreases revenues by specified amounts over a specified time; or 3) modifies the public debt limit. In most cases, a single budget resolution can generate only two reconciliation bills: a tax-and-spending bill or a spending-only bill and, if desired, a separate debt limit bill. To ensure that reconciliation bills remain focused on budget measures, the Senate adopted the "Byrd Rule", which treats as extraneous any provision that doesn't change the level of spending or revenues, or where the change in spending or revenues is "merely incidental" to the provision's non-budgetary effects. The Byrd Rule is enforced by points of order raised by members and decided on by the Senate Parliamentarian. In 2021, the Parliamentarian rejected efforts to pass a minimum wage increase and provide a path to legalization for certain categories of unauthorized immigrants in reconciliation bills. As of mid-2024, Congress has passed reconciliation bills 23 times since the procedure was first employed in 1980. It has been used on several occasions to pass major tax cuts, including the Republicans' tax cut of 2017, as well as the major welfare overhaul bill in 1996 and parts of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. In March 2021, the Democrats used reconciliation to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). After repeated failures in 2021 to approve the multi-trillion Build Back Better Act, a centerpiece of the Biden Administration's agenda, the Democratic majority in Congress was able to use the reconciliation process to pass the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here. |
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Opinion: Rural Oklahomans will pay the price of the not-so-beautiful spending bill [Editor's note: The U.S. House vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was ongoing at the time this commentary was being published.] Earlier this week, Washington celebrated the Senate's passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a sweeping package advertised as tax relief, border security and government modernization. But here in Oklahoma, far from the marble floors of the Capitol, the real story is simpler and far more dangerous: If you live in a rural county and you get sick, you may soon have nowhere to go. Let's be honest about what this bill actually does. Beneath the talking points and sound bites is a set of health care provisions that could devastate our rural hospitals, strip coverage from older Oklahomans, and pull the financial rug out from under the very programs keeping people alive in small towns across our state. [Esther Houser / The Oklahoman] |
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Takeaways from AP's reporting on shuttered prisons, mass deportation push and no-bid contracts: As the federal government ramps up plans to detail and deport more immigrants, private prison companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group are revising shuttered facilities through no-bid or modified contracts — raising serious concerns about oversight, abuse, and local resistance. [Associated Press] Medicaid is Even Leaner as Accountability Improves: Medicaid continues to operate as a highly efficient, tightly managed program — with recent accountability measures enhancing payment integrity and reducing waste. However, proposed deep cuts or tightened eligibility rules would risk stripping vital care from low-income families, older adults, and people with disabilities, shifting costs onto states and undermining both service access and overall health outcomes. [National Health Law Program] Tracking Senate Action on Tax and Budget Reconciliation Plan: The Senate's tax and budget reconciliation plan would extend the 2017 tax cuts, raise the debt ceiling significantly, and introduce selective tax breaks, while offsetting those with deep cuts to Medicaid provider taxes, new Medicaid and SNAP work requirements, and reduced support for clean energy and food assistance. Analysts warn these measures could put millions at risk of losing Medicaid coverage and exacerbate economic and health disparities nationwide. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] Don't expect much growth from the One Big, Beautiful Bill: While the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" extends Trump-era tax cuts and offers targeted incentives, economic growth generated by the bill would be modest and insufficient to offset its projected deficit increase over the next decade. Despite claims that the bill will spur "extraordinary growth," any growth effect would be small, leaving public debt significantly elevated and fiscal sustainability unresolved. [The Brookings Institution] |
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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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