Good Government

Stitt’s consequential legacy takes shape

February 16, 2026

Jonathan Small

Now that Gov. Kevin Stitt has given his final State of the State speech, it’s worth noting what he has accomplished in his first seven years in office. It’s safe to say Stitt is leaving Oklahoma better than he found it. 

Prior to Stitt’s election, the Oklahoma government was marked by poor financial practices. Unconstrained overspending produced major budget shortfalls. Rather than bring spending in line with revenue, officials instead imposed tax increase after tax increase.

Stitt has taken a far better approach by prioritizing tax cuts and government savings. Because the income tax is a penalty on work and investment, it is particularly destructive to economic growth. Thanks to Stitt, the current rate has now been cut to 4.5 percent and is on the path to full repeal. This simple but common-sense change makes Oklahoma far more attractive for work and investment and will help us compete with high-growth Texas, which has no income tax.

Stitt has also reined in government spending growth by fighting to hold a portion of funding in reserve. Thanks to this simple strategy, Oklahoma now has billions in savings, making it possible to handle future downturns without the helter-skelter, tax-hiking chaos seen before Stitt’s election.

On education, Stitt has made Oklahoma a national leader in school choice even as he has worked to improve public schools. Thanks to the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program, working-class families can now use refundable tax credits to pay for private school. Stitt also expanded open transfer between public-school districts, expanded a tax credit program that pays for low-income children to receive private-school scholarships, and improved a state scholarship program that helps children with special needs attend private school.

By increasing children’s access to a quality education, Stitt has put Oklahoma on the path to greater prosperity. Options that were once limited mostly to higher-income families are now available to all.

Stitt has also shown boldness in pushing back against cultural radicalism. He has stood for common-sense laws that ban males from accessing women’s bathrooms or competing in women’s sports, and he signed a law that prevents radicals from performing sex-change surgeries on children. He has worked to make sure all Oklahomans are treated equally regardless of their race, sex, or geographic location.

The governor has also signed other important reforms, including restrictions on frivolous lawsuits, legislation that aggressively pares back government regulations, and criminal justice reforms that focus on rehabilitation, along with many other less heralded but important policy changes that have shifted Oklahoma government in a conservative, pro-growth direction.

This year, Stitt has the chance to build on his legacy. But regardless of the outcome of the 2026 legislative session, there’s no doubt the governor has already put Oklahoma on a much better path.