Articles
-
Education
Measure to aid Oklahoma special-needs children clears committee
Legislation making it slightly easier for Oklahoma families to access a scholarship program for children with special needs has cleared its first legislative hurdle.Ray Carter | February 19, 2025
-
Higher Education
Oklahoma universities hire few Republicans in any field
It’s not just the humanities. A recent review shows that Oklahoma’s two major universities hire few Republicans in any field—including those within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains.Ray Carter | February 17, 2025
-
Law & Principles
REINing in Oklahoma’s unelected bureaucrats
Oklahoma state lawmakers are working to restrain government regulation at the state level—even as President Donald Trump does the same thing at the federal level.Jonathan Small | February 17, 2025
-
Law & Principles, Good Government
California-style ‘top two’ election system doesn’t deliver on its promises
The California-style top-two system proposed in SQ 836 does not deliver on its promises. Instead, it makes it more difficult for Oklahoma voters to choose a candidate that represents their values and interests.Rick Farmer, Ph.D. | February 17, 2025
-
Judicial Reform
JNC should avoid favoring sitting judges
Though having experience as a trial judge could well be a plus for those seeking an appellate court position, it would be a mistake to assume that a sitting judge is necessarily more qualified than anyone else.Ryan Haynie | February 14, 2025
-
Law & Principles
Measures to reduce government regulation pass committee
A state Senate committee approved measures that would restrain the growth of state government regulations and repeal many existing regulations to reduce the size of state government.Ray Carter | February 13, 2025
-
Law & Principles
Lawsuit reform moves ahead in Senate
Oklahoma lawmakers are advancing SB 1065, a bill that would cap noneconomic damages at $500,000 in civil lawsuits, aiming to prevent excessive "jackpot" jury awards that drive businesses away and hurt the state’s economy.Ray Carter | February 13, 2025
-
Budget & Tax
Effort to end electric-car subsidy advances
Electric-car manufacturers would no longer receive taxpayer subsidies from the Oklahoma Quick Action Closing Fund under a bill approved by a Senate committee. Meanwhile, another bill to require transparency in the awarding of state incentives failed to advance.Ray Carter | February 12, 2025
-
Education
Oklahoma House, Senate advance school-board election reform
Committees in both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the state Senate have advanced bills that would move school-board elections to the November ballot to dramatically increase voter participation.Ray Carter | February 11, 2025
-
Law & Principles, Culture & the Family
Ban on men in women’s prisons clears committee
Legislation that would prevent officials from housing “transgender women”—men who self-identify as females—alongside women in state prisons has advanced from an Oklahoma Senate committee.Ray Carter | February 11, 2025