Authors
Jonathan Small
President
Jonathan Small, C.P.A., serves as President and joined the staff in December of 2010. Previously, Jonathan served as a budget analyst for the Oklahoma Office of State Finance, as a fiscal policy analyst and research analyst for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and as director of government affairs for the Oklahoma Insurance Department. Small’s work includes co-authoring “Economics 101” with Dr. Arthur Laffer and Dr. Wayne Winegarden, and his policy expertise has been referenced by The Oklahoman, the Tulsa World, National Review, the L.A. Times, The Hill, the Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post. His weekly column “Free Market Friday” is published by the Journal Record and syndicated in 27 markets. A recipient of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s prestigious Private Sector Member of the Year award, Small is nationally recognized for his work to promote free markets, limited government and innovative public policy reforms. Jonathan holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Recent Articles
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Health Care
Arkansas's costly Medicaid lesson provides warning for Oklahoma
Arkansas' much-heralded Medicaid expansion experienced major cost overruns from the outset, drove up insurance premiums, failed to improve health outcomes, and left the state with dwindling insurer participation.Jonathan Small | August 17, 2026
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Economy, Energy
Armstrong seeks to fast-track America's energy future
Rising energy demand will push electricity prices higher unless America makes it easier to build new energy infrastructure. Sen. Alan Armstrong (R-Okla.) has introduced legislation to increase energy supply, help restrain costs for consumers, and replace regulatory bottlenecks with a more predictable approval process.Jonathan Small | August 10, 2026
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Economy
Want affordable housing? Get government out of the way
If Oklahoma wants to remain an affordable place to live, policymakers should focus on removing the obstacles that make homes more expensive to build and buy.Jonathan Small | August 3, 2026
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Economy, Culture & the Family
‘Worst’ states? Actions speak louder than rankings
Two national media outlets recently ranked Oklahoma among America's worst places to live, but the people actually moving across state lines tell a very different story.Jonathan Small | July 27, 2026
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Law & Principles
How Oklahoma changed under Republican leadership
Claims that Oklahoma has declined under Republican leadership overlook the state's dramatic progress over the past 15 years.Jonathan Small | July 20, 2026
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Law & Principles
Don’t blame the calendar for SQ 832’s defeat
Supporters of State Question 832 have argued that the proposal's defeat was largely the result of being placed on a June ballot, but turnout figures suggest otherwise.Jonathan Small | July 2, 2026
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Budget & Tax
Oklahoma welfare rolls are moving in the right direction
Oklahoma’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment fell by 14 percent between February 2025 and February 2026—roughly 97,000 fewer recipients, a decline that outpaced the national average and coincided with increased scrutiny of eligibility verification.Jonathan Small | June 29, 2026
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Law & Principles
Justice Thomas warns: Progressivism threatens America’s founding belief in God-given rights
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently warned that modern progressivism continues to threaten the founding American principle that human equality and rights are self-evident gifts from God rather than governments.Jonathan Small | June 17, 2026
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Economy
Who pays for SQ 832? You do.
Because businesses ultimately derive their revenue from customers, the hundreds of millions of dollars in additional labor expenses projected under SQ 832 would inevitably be passed along through higher prices, reduced employment opportunities, cuts in hours or benefits, or some combination of all three.Jonathan Small | June 12, 2026
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Economy
The affordability crisis has a common cause: Government
The affordability challenges facing American households today are rooted not in market failure but in government intervention.Jonathan Small | June 6, 2026
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