Category Archives: State

Bills Advance for OK Military Base Support

By David Arnett

The House passed legislation off the floor today that would allow for additional state investments in infrastructure tied to Oklahoma’s five military bases. None of those are located in Northeastern OK yet they provide over 133,800 well paying jobs (FY 2010) adding $9.6 billion to our state’s GDP which was more than 7% of the state’s entire economy when studied years ago.

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert authored House Bill 2516 and House Bill 2518, which create revolving funds at the state Treasury for use by the Oklahoma Military Department. The Base Infrastructure Needs and Development (BIND) fund will have a technology and a schools component that will allow for additional support to the state’s military bases in the hopes of preventing any future base closures and expanding operations when possible according to a release today.

“Oklahoma has a long history across multiple branches of the military and we want to send a loud signal that the state supports our bases,” said Hilbert, R-Bristow. “These funds will allow funds to accrue over time so we are able to take advantage of potential expansion opportunities as they become available and fight against any potential closures in the future.”

Continue reading →

Medicaid Expansion Harms Continue

By Jonathan Small

A key plank of Obamacare (the federal “Affordable Care Act”) allowed states to expand Medicaid programs to include able-bodied adults and not just the medically needy.

When expansion was narrowly approved by a public vote in Oklahoma in 2020, everyone knew it would require the diversion of up to $300 million annually in state tax dollars. But advocates called that a bargain since federal tax dollars would cover 90 percent of costs.

Obviously, it meant little to the average citizen if they pay for expansion with taxes paid to the state or taxes paid to the federal government, but that’s the kind of argument that too often passes for logic in politics.

But now the folly of buying that argument is becoming apparent.

Continue reading →

OK is the Most Productive State

By David Arnett

In the wake of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) scrutinizing public sector efficiency, the team at Dofollow, a digital strategies organization, has put the same microscope on corporate America. By analyzing the current Fortune 500, they identified which companies are most and least productive in generating profit per employee.

Then the analysis was extended to examine the productivity of the states where these companies are headquartered, revealing broader regional trends. Oklahoma (with 6 companies within the Fortune 500) came out on top with a massive $1.2 million profit per employee.

Continue reading →

OK JNC Meeting Upcoming

By Ryan Haynie. OCPA

The Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) will conduct interviews for the Oklahoma Supreme Court vacancy on March 11, 2025. (Click here to urge your state legislators to demand three good candidates be sent to Governor Stitt.) According to a press release issued by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) on February 4, 2025, the JNC plans to conduct its interviews for the position of Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice on March 11, 2025.

Because the JNC is not subject to the Open Meetings Act or the Open Records Act, it can be difficult to know how the meeting will be conducted or how its members will conduct the vote. Concerned citizens can look to two resources to provide a peek into the process. The first is the rules set by the JNC itself. Although the rules have no enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance, they are the best thing the public has to assess the process. The second resource is a House interim study held last October. 

Continue reading →