The shift in rural communities has sure happened in Oklahoma. Kids leave, go to college, get careers in urban centers. They don’t return to the farm. Corporate ag buys up farmland, brings in immigrant labor, culture changes, old rural white folks are in despair. Trump promised to bring back the world they knew in the 1950s when the kids were in FFA and 4H, everyone in town was white, grain elevators were the only tall buildings, everyone was Baptist, Lutheran, or Catholic and those were the social circles for everyone - church.

Arguing it restricts classroom discussion without educational justification, a group of educators and students announced that they have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s so-called “critical race theory” ban, HB1775. @tulsaworld The plaintiffs say House Bill 1775, which Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law last year, is unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Attorney General John O’Connor said he looks forward to defending the law against "activists who do not share our Oklahoma values."

Amnesia has gripped the Oklahoma Legislature as lawmakers approved a series of tax-cutting measures without knowing where to make up the lost funding. A wave of bills passed out the House and Senate on last week that would cut the corporate franchise tax, suspend grocery taxes, reduce personal income tax and give property tax relief to higher-income older residents.

Labor force participation rate is an important indicator of an economy’s health, with a higher participation rate usually being a sign of a healthier economy. More people participating in the labor force means more people supporting those who are unable to work. @OKPolicy Labor force participation also has fiscal implications. As more people work, more people pay taxes, broadening the tax base. If fewer work, govt must either raise taxes to maintain spending levels or make funding cuts, hurting many of the core services upon which we all rely.

Countless Oklahomans rely on access to high-quality, affordable child care in order to work. However, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the child care industry, impacting parents’ ability to work and businesses’ ability to recruit and retain a reliable workforce. Due to underfunding, Oklahoma’s child care system was in crisis before the first COVID case at a child care center was reported on March 18, 2020. Since then, countless providers across the state have closed their doors; the ones that remain are spending 47% more to provide care.

. @MummoloNews I understand you are asking folks for a grade for Oklahoma leadership on its COVID response. As a nurse and healthcare lawyer who works with hospitals and providers all over Oklahoma, I say a solid F-. I’m not sure if they could have done worse if they’d tried. First, @GovStitt spent $2M on useless HQN. He hired a nitwit no one to buy masks that never appeared, losing more money. Stitt and #OKleg were reluctant to follow any medical advice, participated in #TrumpRallyFail in Tulsa that, despite few attendees, those present were exposed.