Articles
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Education, Law & Principles
Oklahoma House advances bill requiring schools to show instructional spending before bond elections
Oklahoma lawmakers have advanced legislation requiring school districts to tell voters exactly how much of their funding goes to classroom instruction before asking for approval of new bond projects.Ray Carter | March 24, 2026
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Law & Principles
What SQ 832 gets wrong about real people
Proponents of SQ 832 may believe they’re promoting fairness, but they’re overlooking the fragile economics and personal choices that keep many of Oklahoma’s small businesses alive. The unintended damage could be lasting.Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. | March 9, 2026
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Law & Principles
House lawmakers vote to prevent illegal aliens from using welfare
By a margin of more than four to one, members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives have approved two bills that will make it harder for illegal immigrants to obtain taxpayer-funded welfare benefits in Oklahoma.Ray Carter | February 26, 2026
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Law & Principles
Foreign billionaire’s money backs minimum-wage effort?
A group accused of helping move foreign money into U.S. ballot campaigns has quietly pumped $50,000 into Oklahoma’s State Question 832—the measure that would tie Oklahoma’s minimum wage to the cost of living in expensive cities.Jonathan Small | February 23, 2026
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma House panel advances measures mandating immigration verification for welfare
Two bills to bar illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer-funded welfare benefits have cleared committee and are headed to the Oklahoma House floor. One Democrat lawmaker countered that the bills may deter illegal immigrants from seeking welfare benefits for family members.Ray Carter | February 19, 2026
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Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
Oklahoma’s ‘path to zero’ income tax survives first test in legislature
A proposal to repeal Oklahoma’s “path to zero” income-tax law—an automatic trigger that reduces rates whenever state revenues surge—failed in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on a 2–9 party-line vote.Ray Carter | February 16, 2026
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Law & Principles
OCPA urges opposition to income-tax bill
OCPA President Jonathan Small urged lawmakers to oppose Senate Bill 1302, by state Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City. The bill would repeal the state law that has placed Oklahoma’s income tax on the path to repeal by requiring that a portion of strong future revenue growth be partially returned to taxpayers through strategic reductions in the income-tax rate.Staff | February 16, 2026
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Law & Principles
‘Top two’ turnout claim falls flat in OKC election
Supporters of State Question 836, which would replace Oklahoma’s party-primary system with a California-style “top two” model, have argued the change will increase voter turnout and say Oklahoma City’s nonpartisan mayoral elections offer a proof of concept. But Tuesday’s results tell a different story.Ray Carter | February 12, 2026
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Law & Principles, Culture & the Family
Bill allowing students to sue over forced coed sleeping quarters advances
Oklahoma lawmakers have advanced a bill that would allow students to sue schools or colleges that force them to share sleeping quarters or other intimate spaces with members of the opposite sex, including individuals who identify as transgender.Ray Carter | February 10, 2026
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Law & Principles
Group accused of funneling foreign money involved in Oklahoma minimum-wage campaign
A nonprofit tied to a lawsuit over allegedly funneling foreign money into U.S. political campaigns is now among the funders of an Oklahoma initiative that would hike the state’s minimum wage far beyond local market levels.Ray Carter | February 10, 2026