Tag Archives: OCPA

OCPA: Send Medicaid Expansion to Vote

By Staff Report

With the cost of Medicaid expansion exploding, lawmakers should send two state questions to voters that would allow for financial adjustment when needed, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) President Jonathan Small said yesterday.

“Medicaid expansion’s cost overruns came close to a half-billion dollars this year and could easily hit $1 billion per year in the near future, which will force massive cuts across the rest of state government and hold back progress and economic growth in Oklahoma,” Small said. “Given financial reality, Oklahomans should be given the opportunity to bring some stability to state government by passing state questions that reform this out-of-control system.”

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Parents Praise School-Choice Program

By Ray Carter, Center for Independent Journalism, OCPA

March 16, marked the beginning of the enrollment period for the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program, which allows families to obtain refundable tax credits to pay for private-school tuition in the coming 2026-2027 school year. Enrollment will remain open until June 15, 2026.

“In Oklahoma, we trust parents to make the best decisions for their children’s education, and this program helps eligible families choose private school for their kids,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt. “We’re proud to expand educational freedom and give all Oklahoma families more options.”

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Credit Card Debate False Assumptions

By Jonathan Small

“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”

Those are the words of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. Oklahomans are seeing this lack of belief in freedom firsthand as out-of-state interest groups seek to raise the minimum wage. Not to be outdone, lawmakers in Washington share the same unbelief in freedom as they seek to pass the poorly named Credit Card Competition Act.

The CCCA attempts to push down interchange fees—or “swipe fees”—for credit card users by prohibiting banks from requiring merchants to use a specific network like Visa or Mastercard. The purported reason for doing so is to increase competition among payment networks. But market competition isn’t achieved through government mandates, and the CCCA primarily serves to expand the role of the federal government—and worse, the Federal Reserve—in the credit card market.

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