Articles
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Budget & Tax
Casinos win big while Oklahomans pick up the tab?
Despite earning $7.4 billion in gaming revenue in FY 2023, Oklahoma’s tribal casinos paid the state only $208 million—an effective tax rate of just 2.8%. That’s far lower than the taxes paid by everyday Oklahomans on income and basic goods.Ray Carter | July 28, 2025
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma Supreme Court says McGirt ruling has limits
In a major clarification of legal jurisdiction, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision—which applied only to federal criminal law—does not extend to civil or tax matters.Jonathan Small | July 25, 2025
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Agriculture, Economy
Critics say proposed minimum-wage hike would export California’s problems to Oklahoma
A new Oklahoma ballot proposal, State Question 832, would dramatically raise the state’s minimum wage by tying it to the cost of living in expensive urban areas like San Francisco and New York City.Ray Carter | July 23, 2025
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Criminal Justice
Oklahoma Democrats say no masks for ICE—even as threats against officers rise
Twenty members of the Oklahoma House Democratic caucus are demanding that immigration enforcement officials display visible name tags and refrain from concealing their faces while making arrests, even as threats and harassment against those officers surge nationwide.Ray Carter | July 22, 2025
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Good Government
Former Oklahoma governor, attorneys general defend initiative-petition reform
Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and former Attorneys General Scott Pruitt and John O’Connor are urging the Oklahoma Supreme Court to uphold a new law that reforms the state’s initiative-petition process to ensure broader geographic representation.Ray Carter | July 22, 2025
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Economy, Good Government
Oklahoma among nation’s job-growth leaders since COVID
Since the COVID-19 disruption in early 2020, Oklahoma has emerged as one of the nation’s top job creators, ranking 14th in payroll growth according to a new analysis of federal data.Ray Carter | July 21, 2025
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Health Care
Medicaid work requirements make moral and fiscal sense
Oklahomans have to work to pay the taxes that fund Medicaid. But it’s somehow wrong to require able-bodied, childless adults on Medicaid to work?Jonathan Small | July 21, 2025
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Education
One in four Oklahoma youth benefiting from school choice
Many claim that 95% of Oklahoma students attend their local public school. In reality, the share of Oklahoma students whose families “choose” to enroll in the geographically closest public school may be closer to 76 percent.Ray Carter | July 18, 2025
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Education
As NEA commits to fight ‘fascist’ Trump, lawmakers target union’s federal charter
At its recent national convention, the National Education Association (NEA)—the parent organization of Oklahoma’s OEA—approved a series of resolutions attacking President Trump, defending illegal immigration, and more.Ray Carter | July 17, 2025
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Education
Oklahoma teacher pay ranks higher than many realize
Despite claims from state House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson that Oklahoma ranks “last in the region for teacher pay,” data from the National Education Association and the Oklahoma State School Boards Association tell a different story.Ray Carter | July 16, 2025