In 2016, Oklahomans made clear they are tired of being the incarceration capital of the world, approving two state questions aimed at reversing decades of punitive, tough-on-crime policies and refocusing criminal justice on rehabilitation,

The 2020 Oklahoma Legislature tentatively waved so long to the Capitol on May 15, hoping its in-session work was complete two weeks before the constitutionally mandated 5 p.m. May 29 deadline. There was drama galore in the pandemic-shortened session: l...

The Oklahoma Legislature has approved the FY 2021 budget – but not without considerable statehouse intrigue. Like many past state budgets, next year’s $7.7 billion spending blueprint is replete with smoke and mirrors.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed huge holes in Oklahoma’s safety net. Whether it was unequal access to distance learning for our school kids or unequal access to emergency health care, state government proved itself remarkably unprepared for an emergency....

The Oklahoma Legislature’s No. 1 job – crafting the annual state budget – is typically the stuff of palace intrigue: A small group of elected insiders gathers in secret, choosing fiscal winners and losers … which are then not revealed until the final h...

Last week, Gov. Kevin Stitt took steps to begin reopening Oklahoma, confident the state can manage the coronavirus that already has infected 3,280 Sooners and killed 197. The governor’s plan – which includes opening restaurant dining rooms,

Oklahoma is at a pivotal moment. A global pandemic has claimed the lives of 143 Sooners in little more than a month. Oil prices plunged into negative territory for the first time in history, meaning it costs more to store oil right now than to refine i...

Last month, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Oklahoma shuttered its public schools for the rest of the academic year. Suddenly, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister and her State Department of Education team found themselves with a Herculean tas...

When it comes to state services, you get what you pay for. That reality came into sharp focus in recent days as the coronavirus tightened its deadly grip on Oklahoma. Not only was an already stressed health care system driven closer to the brink,

In the 1990s, Oklahoma went all-in on the nation’s get-tough-on-crime movement, cracking down on law-breaking whether it involved violence or not. In just one generation, Oklahoma emerged as the world’s per capita incarceration leader.