In addition to a lengthy primary ballot, Oklahoma voters will decide on June 16, 2026, whether to approve or reject a permanent and annually escalating increase in the minimum wage in Oklahoma. Oklahomans should reject this job-killer that is being pushed by socialists and other economic ignoramuses. As economist Thomas Sowell says, the real minimum wage is always zero. If the economic benefit of a job is less than a mandated minimum wage, that job simply won't exist. The passage of higher state and local minimum wages has led to an increase in automation and elimination of jobs that provide young people a first step into the job market. From Sowell's Basic Economics:

Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker's productivity worth that amount -- and if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed. Yet minimum wage laws are almost always discussed politically in terms of the benefits on workers who receive those wages. Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force.

Pay for entry-level jobs has already been on the rise, above the statutory minimum wage, as employers face a shrinking labor pool. And an entry-level job is not meant to support a family. It's meant to be a place where you learn the basic habits needed to work with other people and for other people, and to begin to learn and improve skills so that your labor can become valuable enough to support a family. Oklahomans should vote no but probably won't, because a lot of money has been and will be spent to put sob-stories on TV commercials. Raising the minimum wage sounds like the "nice" thing to do, as long as you don't think about the people who will spend more time with no job at all, because employers (particularly the many small businesses that give young people their first shot at a job) will have to cut costs to stay in business, and because many small businesses just won't make it. If you actually want to understand the harm SQ 832 will do, read OCPA's articles on the topic or visit their website dedicated to the issue, www.sq832killsjobs.com. We don't have to guess about this effect. The State of Washington's youth labor participation rate dropped as its minimum wage was on the same kind of inflation-indexed escalator created by 832. A targeted increase for fast-food workers in California killed jobs in that industry and stressed related industries. Now to the details you won't see in the ads or on the ballot. Here is what voting yes on SQ 832 means in legal terms. SQ 832 is a statutory initiative petition. Because a statute can be amended without a vote of the people, the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot is lower than for a constitutional amendment. If SQ 832 passes, it will amend Oklahoma's existing minimum wage law, originally passed in 1965, 40 O.S. 197.1-197.17. Specifically, passage would amend section 197.2, which currently sets the Oklahoma minimum wage equal to the Federal minimum wage, and section 197.4, which defines who is and is not covered under the law. SQ 832 would also repeal 197.5. After the jump, you can see exactly what language will be added and what will be deleted. You might wonder why Oklahoma has a minimum wage law at all, given the existence of a federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage only applies to businesses engaged in interstate commerce, under the constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce, the definition of which has been stretched to include just about every possible activity. The Oklahoma law acts as a backstop, covering any business that is outside the Federal Government's vast reach. There is currently a provision exempting employers who are covered under federal law, so that there is no potential conflict; that provision would be eliminated under 832. There are exemptions under the existing law, many of which would be eliminated under 832. If SQ 832 passes, farm workers and feed-store employees, domestic servants (e.g. nannies, housekeepers), paperboys, part-time employees (less than 25 hours per week), high school students under 18 and college students under 22 would no longer be exempt from the state minimum wage. Exemptions would remain for federal employees, volunteers for charitable, religious, and non-profit organizations, truck drivers (regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission), reserve deputy sheriffs, anyone in an executive, managerial, or professional job, and outside salesmen. There will remain an existing exemption for businesses who have 10 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees at any one location and generate gross revenues of $100,000 or less, but that exemption level will not be indexed to inflation. Under SQ 832 the Oklahoma minimum wage would immediately increase from $7.25 to $10.50 per hour, then to $12 in 2027, $13.50 in 2028, and $15 in 2029. From that point forward, it would be indexed to CPI-W, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, a measure that, according to the US Department of Labor, reflects the spending of about 30% of the US population. The proponents could have chosen an inflation index that better reflects Oklahoma's economy. They chose the option that increases the fastest. A broader measure, CPI-U, reflects about 90% of the US population. Here's an article from 2014 explaining the distinction between CPI-W and CPI-U and why both measures are maintained. CPI-U is also calculated for Census Bureau regions. CPI-U for the West South Central region (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana) has been tracked since 2017. Over the last 8 years, CPI-U West South Central has increased by 27.470%, while CPI-W has increased by 31.800%. But any indexing strategy risks an inflationary doom loop: Increasing prices trigger increased wages which increase business costs which increase prices. There's no provision to stop the escalator in response to a local recession. After the link, the changes to the law that will be enacted if 832 passes.
- April 19, 2026 at 04:54PM
SQ 832: Vote no on the infinite minimum-wage escalator
Click the headline to read the full story.

In addition to a lengthy primary ballot, Oklahoma voters will decide on June 16, 2026, whether to approve or reject a permanent and annually escalating increase in the minimum wage in Oklahoma. Oklahomans should reject this job-killer that is being pushed by socialists and other economic ignoramuses. As economist Thomas Sowell says, the real minimum wage is always zero. If the economic benefit of a job is less than a mandated minimum wage, that job simply won't exist. The passage of higher state and local minimum wages has led to an increase in automation and elimination of jobs that provide young people a first step into the job market. From Sowell's Basic Economics:

Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker's productivity worth that amount -- and if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed. Yet minimum wage laws are almost always discussed politically in terms of the benefits on workers who receive those wages. Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force.

Pay for entry-level jobs has already been on the rise, above the statutory minimum wage, as employers face a shrinking labor pool. And an entry-level job is not meant to support a family. It's meant to be a place where you learn the basic habits needed to work with other people and for other people, and to begin to learn and improve skills so that your labor can become valuable enough to support a family. Oklahomans should vote no but probably won't, because a lot of money has been and will be spent to put sob-stories on TV commercials. Raising the minimum wage sounds like the "nice" thing to do, as long as you don't think about the people who will spend more time with no job at all, because employers (particularly the many small businesses that give young people their first shot at a job) will have to cut costs to stay in business, and because many small businesses just won't make it. If you actually want to understand the harm SQ 832 will do, read OCPA's articles on the topic or visit their website dedicated to the issue, www.sq832killsjobs.com. We don't have to guess about this effect. The State of Washington's youth labor participation rate dropped as its minimum wage was on the same kind of inflation-indexed escalator created by 832. A targeted increase for fast-food workers in California killed jobs in that industry and stressed related industries. Now to the details you won't see in the ads or on the ballot. Here is what voting yes on SQ 832 means in legal terms. SQ 832 is a statutory initiative petition. Because a statute can be amended without a vote of the people, the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot is lower than for a constitutional amendment. If SQ 832 passes, it will amend Oklahoma's existing minimum wage law, originally passed in 1965, 40 O.S. 197.1-197.17. Specifically, passage would amend section 197.2, which currently sets the Oklahoma minimum wage equal to the Federal minimum wage, and section 197.4, which defines who is and is not covered under the law. SQ 832 would also repeal 197.5. After the jump, you can see exactly what language will be added and what will be deleted. You might wonder why Oklahoma has a minimum wage law at all, given the existence of a federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage only applies to businesses engaged in interstate commerce, under the constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce, the definition of which has been stretched to include just about every possible activity. The Oklahoma law acts as a backstop, covering any business that is outside the Federal Government's vast reach. There is currently a provision exempting employers who are covered under federal law, so that there is no potential conflict; that provision would be eliminated under 832. There are exemptions under the existing law, many of which would be eliminated under 832. If SQ 832 passes, farm workers and feed-store employees, domestic servants (e.g. nannies, housekeepers), paperboys, part-time employees (less than 25 hours per week), high school students under 18 and college students under 22 would no longer be exempt from the state minimum wage. Exemptions would remain for federal employees, volunteers for charitable, religious, and non-profit organizations, truck drivers (regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission), reserve deputy sheriffs, anyone in an executive, managerial, or professional job, and outside salesmen. There will remain an existing exemption for businesses who have 10 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees at any one location and generate gross revenues of $100,000 or less, but that exemption level will not be indexed to inflation. Under SQ 832 the Oklahoma minimum wage would immediately increase from $7.25 to $10.50 per hour, then to $12 in 2027, $13.50 in 2028, and $15 in 2029. From that point forward, it would be indexed to CPI-W, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, a measure that, according to the US Department of Labor, reflects the spending of about 30% of the US population. The proponents could have chosen an inflation index that better reflects Oklahoma's economy. They chose the option that increases the fastest. A broader measure, CPI-U, reflects about 90% of the US population. Here's an article from 2014 explaining the distinction between CPI-W and CPI-U and why both measures are maintained. CPI-U is also calculated for Census Bureau regions. CPI-U for the West South Central region (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana) has been tracked since 2017. Over the last 8 years, CPI-U West South Central has increased by 27.470%, while CPI-W has increased by 31.800%. But any indexing strategy risks an inflationary doom loop: Increasing prices trigger increased wages which increase business costs which increase prices. There's no provision to stop the escalator in response to a local recession. After the link, the changes to the law that will be enacted if 832 passes.
- April 17, 2026 at 09:54PM
SQ 832: Vote no on the infinite minimum-wage escalator
Click the headline to read the full story.

Postdated to remain at the top of the page until the polls close on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Tuesday, April 7, 2026, is general election day for K-12 school board seats in Oklahoma. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Seats on technology center boards (what we used to call vocational-technical, or vo-tech, schools) are also on the ballot. Some cities (Sapulpa among them) have city council runoffs, and there are some municipal and school district propositions up for a vote as well, including four school bond propositions in Tulsa and seven general obligation bond issues and a sales tax increase in Broken Arrow. The Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter tool will let you know where to vote and will show you a sample of the ballot you'll see. Not everyone will have a reason to go to the polls today, but TPS, Broken Arrow, and Tulsa Tech District 7 cover a lot of area and a lot of voters between them, so double-check, just to be sure. The following are my recommendations in the April 7, 2026, election, for races and propositions in the Tulsa and nearby cities and school districts. The name of the office links to the article I wrote on that race or proposition; the candidate's name leads to the candidate's website. Although party affiliation doesn't appear on the ballot for school and most municipal elections in Oklahoma, I've noted it below for those candidates I'm recommending. School board elections: Tulsa Public Schools, Office No. 4: E'Lena Ashley (R)(i) Tulsa Public Schools, Office No. 7: Michael Phillips (R) Tulsa Technology District, Office No. 7: Jim W. Baker (R) (i) Justus-Tiawah Public Schools, Office No. 1: Ted King (R) Liberty Public Schools, Office No. 1: Timothy Brown (R) Mannford Public Schools, Office No. 1: Clayton Paslay (R) Verdigris Public Schools, Office No. 1: Alicia Nees (R) School propositions: Tulsa Public Schools, Propositions 1 through 4 (Bond Issues): No Inola Public Schools, Propositions 1 & 2 (Bond Issues): No Central Tech, Proposition (2 mill permanent increase): Yes Municipal elections: Bixby, City of, Ward 4: Brad Girard (R) (i) Sapulpa, City of, Ward 1, Seat 1: Mike Harris (R) Sapulpa, City of, Ward 3, Seat 1: Alexander Hamilton (R) (i) Sapulpa, City of, Ward 5, Seat 1: Davood Mortazavi (R) (i) Municipal propositions: Broken Arrow, City of, Propositions 1 through 7 (Bond Issues): Yes Broken Arrow, City of, Proposition 8 (0.5%, five-year sales tax increase): No Oologah, Town of, Proposition (5% hotel tax increase): No
- April 7, 2026 at 08:00PM
2026 Oklahoma School Board general election: BatesLine ballot card
Click the headline to read the full story.

Three municipalities in the Tulsa metropolitan area have council seats and a proposition on the April 7, 2026, ballot. Here is a brief account of each with my recommendations. Oologah, Town of, Proposition (5% hotel tax increase): No. There is nothing about this election on the town's website or Facebook page, which suggests an intent to slide this past the voters unawares. The town has an existing lodging tax, but no hotels or motels. Taxes shouldn't be on an April ballot where voters have no other reason to go to the polls, and for that reason alone it should be defeated. City of Bixby, Ward 4: Brad Girard (R) (i). I haven't found any complaints about eight-year incumbent Girard, currently the councilor serving as mayor. His opponent is Jake Rowland, also a registered Republican, who has filed for state representative and school board in the past. Rowland has posted about running for office, but hasn't posted anything about his reasons for running. Sapulpa City Council: Sapulpa has elections for three seats on its City Council. In Ward 1, appointed incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Reeder-Nicolas is challenged by Republican Mike Harris, pastor of Beams of Light Church in Sapulpa. There was a third candidate, Brandon Mull, owner of Water Street Tattoo, but he was eliminated in the February primary, just 10 votes behind the second-place candidate. (Nicolas got 74 votes, Harris 71, Mull 61.) Mull has endorsed Nicolas. In Ward 3, Republican incumbent Alexander Hamilton faces Republican challenger Charlie Leroy Harrison, owner of Beverly Fine Jewelry. In Ward 5, Republican incumbent Davood Mortazavi, owner of Steak & Eggs restaurant, has a Republican challenger in Kent Glesener, a professional engineer, owner of Paradigm Construction and Engineering and co-founder of Shofar International Foundation. Sapulpa Firefighters IAFF Local 194 has endorsed Nicolas and Mortazavi. The Sapulpa FOP has also endorsed Nicolas and Mortazavi. They did not make any endorsements in Ward 3. There has been a huge ruckus in the Ward 5 race. A troublemaker printed off copies of an article about sharia law by Christie Glesener, co-founder of Shofar International Foundation, and then stapled a slip of paper to it calling attention to Mortazavi's exotic name, implying that there was a danger that he might impose Islamic law on Sapulpa. (Here is a four-page, text-only version of Christie Glesener's article on sharia law from 2011.) Mortazavi came to America from Iran as a child in 1983, one of many Iranian families that came to the United States after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to take refuge from the tyrannical regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Steak and Eggs restaurant, owned by Davood and his brother Jerry, features Veterans Hall, a separate dining room decorated with portraits of local veterans and available for free as a meeting place for local civic groups. Christie and Kent Glesener have denounced the distribution of the article and insist that they were not involved in any way. Christie Glesener directly denied involvement in response to a Facebook post by a relative of Mortazavi. Micah Choquette of the Sapulpa Times reported on the controversy in the Monday episode of the newspaper's podcast, but also reported on the recent final determination in a U. S. Department of Labor case against Paradigm Construction and Engineering, the firm owned by the Gleseners. The company has been debarred from federal contracts for three years because of violations of the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage act, misclassification of employees, and failure to pay overtime. The Gleseners made a final appeal to refer the case to the Secretary of Labor for review, but that appeal was denied on March 6, 2026. The DOL Wage and Hour Division (WHD) case number is 16-01093/94, and the Office of Administrative Law Judge case number is 2017-DBA-00010, and the Administrative Review Board case number is 2023-0054. Running a case search with any of those numbers will turn up a docket report tracing the case's history from 2017 to 2026. Here are links to the Administrative Law Judge's denial of summary judgment from August 27, 2020, the Administrative Law Judge's Decision and Order from August 28, 2023, Administrator's Response Brief from May 10, 2024, and the Decision and Order from January 30, 2026. However much one may disagree with the Davis-Bacon Act, if you're going to be a federal contractor, you had better obey the law and adhere to all the federal regulations that apply and are spelled out in your contract. If you screw up, best to admit fault and bring your practices into compliance. Sapulpa Times has a playlist of interviews with candidates for Ward 1 and Ward 5. (Ward 3 candidates declined to be interviewed.) Included in the playlist is an interview with Central Tech Superintendent Kent Burris discussing the proposed permanent millage increase for the Career Tech district, which also appears on the April 7 ballot. Here is a map of Sapulpa council districts. Ward 1 is the oldest section of Sapulpa, mainly between Main and Mission. Ward 3 is the southernmost district. Ward 5 covers mainly newly annexed areas east of Polecat Creek or north of Hilton Road. I can appreciate the frustration that many Sapulpans have, particularly Sapulpans with businesses on Dewey Avenue (Route 66), with city decisions that have blocked access to their businesses, and the feeling that city government cares more about a few blocks of downtown while neglecting the rest of the city. My recommendations: Sapulpa, City of, Ward 1: Mike Harris (R) Sapulpa, City of, Ward 3: Alexander Hamilton (R) (i) Sapulpa, City of, Ward 5: Davood Mortazavi (R) (i)
- April 7, 2026 at 12:39AM
Oologah, Bixby, and Sapulpa 2026 municipal elections
Click the headline to read the full story.

Broken Arrow voters will face eight propositions on the Tuesday, April 7, 2026, ballot. The first seven are 20-year general obligation bond issues which will be repaid by higher property taxes. Proposition No. 8 is a half-cent, five-year sales tax for sports facilities. Here is the sample ballot. All seven bond issues are for 20-year terms. Below are the amounts and purposes listed in the gist for each proposition as listed on the ballot, stripped of the bond issue boilerplate: Prop 1, Transportation Projects, $205,000,000: constructing, reconstructing, repairing, improving, and rehabilitating streets, roads, bridges, and intersections in the City (including lighting, sidewalks/bikepaths, landscaping, related drainage improvements, driveway reconstruction, and other related improvements). Prop 2, Public Safety Projects, $65,000,000: acquiring, constructing, expanding, renovating, repairing, and/or equipping public safety buildings, facilities, and equipment, all to be owned exclusively by the City. Prop 3, Quality of Life Projects, $74,000,000: constructing, expanding, repairing, which may also include improving, renovating, acquiring and equipping parks and recreational facilities, all to be owned exclusively by the City, or in the alternative to acquire all or a distinct portion of such property pursuant to a lease purchase arrangement. Prop 4, Public Facilities Projects, $65,000,000: acquiring, constructing, expanding, renovating, repairing, and equipping municipal buildings, facilities, and equipment, all to be owned exclusively by the City. Prop 5, Stormwater Projects, $6,000,000: constructing, expanding, repairing, which may also include improving, renovating, acquiring and equipping stormwater facilities on property owned exclusively or in part by the City. Prop 6, Drainage Projects, $5,000,000: drainage improvements to property owned exclusively or in part by the City. Prop 7, Library Project, $4,000,000: economic and community development including a new South Broken Arrow library. Prop 8, Sports Facilities Sales Tax, 0.5% for 5 years: sports facilities benefitting the City, including but not limited to Indian Springs Sports Complex, Arrowhead Softball Complex, Nienhuis Sports Complex, and Challenger Sports Complex. The Bond Transparency Act of 2017 (God bless State Rep. John Paul Jordan and State Sen. Nathan Dahm for getting this in the statute book) disclosure lists the specific projects for each bond proposal, along with an estimated cost for each. Unlike the "district wide" fudge in the Tulsa Public Schools' list of bond projects, Broken Arrow names specific intersections and subdivisions. For example:

Widen and/or improve Tucson Street (121st Street) from Aspen Avenue (145th E. Avenue) to Olive Avenue (129th E. Avenue) including, but not limited to, design, construction of required appurtenances, and acquisition of easements and right-of-way. $15,600,000

The biggest single item in the seven bond propositions is $42 million for a new community center at Elam Park, near Aspen and Florence behind Aspen Creek Elementary, plus an additional $4 million for outdoor facilities at the park. That money is in Proposition 3. Proposition 4 for Public Facilities includes renovation and expansion of the Senior Center, Rose District Plaza, the BA History Museum, and Arts@302, and moving the Military History Museum to near Veterans Park. The Bond Transparency Act disclosure goes all the way back to the 2004 Bond Issue, listing projects funded with past bonds, percent complete, and which bonds are still outstanding. The bond issue vote-yes website states that bonds will be sold over an 11-year period as current bonds expire to keep the overall millage rate from rising. If the bond issues fail, property taxes on a home worth the median value in Broken Arrow of $229,300 will drop gradually, reaching a savings of $110.98 per year by 2030 and $324.37 per year for 2038 and thereafter (if no other bond issue is approved). So well done to Broken Arrow officials for listing specific projects and grouping them according to subject matter, unlike Tulsa Public Schools and Inola Public Schools. That earns them some trust. If I lived in Broken Arrow, I would be inclined to vote for most or all of the first seven propositions. On the other hand, putting the propositions on the ballot in April, when there is nothing else on the ballot for most Broken Arrow residents, is a bad-faith move. It indicates an intention to minimize turnout in order to allow those who have a direct interest in passage to dominate the electorate. Even worse is putting a significant sales tax increase for questionable sports facilities expenditures on the same ballot as far less controversial bond issue proposals that won't raise tax rates over current levels. Proponents have been careful to avoid mentioning that Proposition 8 raises the sales tax rate, and in the Wagoner County part of the city, the total rate (state, county, city) will be over 10%. You have to be tuned in to the fact that they don't give the usual reassurance that your sales tax rate won't go up, as when one temporary tax replaces another. It looks like they're hoping that voters won't distinguish between the propositions, and they'll keep voting yes out of momentum. The package of propositions has generated some opposition. Fox 23 (or 8.2 or whatever it actually is now) covered Thursday night's protest by Taxed Enough Already (TEA), and Brent Watson has posted his reasons for opposing Proposition 8:

Why TEA opposes the Broken Arrow 2026 Sales Tax Increase EXTREME

• If passed this increase will place us in the top 1% of sales tax rates imposed on citizens. The combined tax rate for Broken Arrow citizens living in Wagoner County would be 10.1%. There is something very wrong with a double-digit sales tax rate! This is higher that most folks tithe to their churches.
• The ONLY major ***cities in the US with higher rates are Chicago at 10.25% and Seattle at 10.35%. Citizens of BA do not want to live in Chicago, and we don't want to be taxed like that! Don't Chicago our Broken Arrow! ***Population >500,000
• For those living in Tulsa County, the combined rate will be nearly 9% - 8.917% This is far above the average US sales tax rate of 7.53.

EXPENSIVE

• For a family of four, this tax will cost over $1,760. This regressive, anti-family tax would cost approximately $441 per person over the 5-year life. Styling this as a "half-penny" is disingenuous.

UNNECESSARY

• This is an unnecessary tax to replace sports facilities. This is not for necessary provisions like roads, police, or fire protection. The City should live within its budget. Alternate funding, including raising user fees, redirecting other spending or obtaining private donations can be used to make improvements.

ENDURING

• This will probably become a permanent tax. Despite the City's assurance that this is a 5-year tax, history shows that most temporary taxes are rolled over into other permanent taxes - as was the Vision 2025 tax. Also, all 7 bond proposals are rollovers of previously imposed property taxes - just now designated for other usages. This is how temporary taxes become permanent taxes.

IMPROPERLY PURSUED

• City leaders scheduled this as a special election instead of placing it with a primary or general election. Special elections are often decided by less than 20% (sometimes less than 5%) of registered voters. Officials know that they can count on those with vested interests to vote for these taxes. This is how our taxes continue to be raised incrementally to very high rates. Additionally, the City has spent a huge amount of money on billboards and expensive mailers promoting this tax increase. They have omitted disclosing the true cost per person and family and that this would raise part of Broken Arrow to a sales tax rate over 10%. This would mean that every time someone spends $100 at WalMart, they would pay over $10 in tax.

SUMMARY: We are taxed enough already. In the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, we are rising to oppose oppressive taxes. Please vote for family and common sense values and vote NO April 7 to this tax grab. We need to tell our city leaders: "Don't Chicago my Broken Arrow!" NOTES: As of early 2026, the nationwide population-weighted average combined state and local sales tax rate in the United States is approximately 7.53%. Tax Foundation Calculation of cost per capita: The City states collections will total about $53M, divided by current population of 120,000 = $441.67/person.

If I lived in BA, I would vote Yes on Propositions 1 through 7 (bond issues), NO on Proposition 8 (sales tax).
- April 3, 2026 at 11:11AM
Broken Arrow 2026 bond issues and sales tax increase
Click the headline to read the full story.

Some information on other school board races and school propositions in the Tulsa area. Keep in mind that I don't live in these communities, and so my information is limited, but what I've found, I present below, and hopefully you'll find it helpful. I'd welcome any additional information readers could offer. I will tell you how I would vote based on what I've presented, but treat it as a very tentative recommendation, particularly in the school board races. Inola school bond issue: Inola Public Schools has two propositions, each for $29,900,000, over 18 years, with very similar lists of specific projects on each. The Bond 2026 page has a pretty detailed explanation and a response to Frequently Asked Questions, such as the impact of the expansion Sofidel facility on the Net Assessed Value of property in the district, which is the basis for calculating property tax increases to repay the bonds. They acknowledge that property taxes will increase if either or both propositions pass, while a more recent 2023 bond issue will expire in 2028. The Sofidel plant expansion will not benefit the school district for 7 years because it is in a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district and any taxes resulting from the increase in property value will be captured for TIF district improvements. Proponents state that the taxes are necessary to address overcrowding in schools, as new housing developments are being built and modular buildings are already being used to house the 1st Grade. The expansion would also allow 5th graders to move out of the middle/high school campus and back to elementary school. The Inola Bond Transparency Act statement lists the spending on the much smaller 2023 bond issue propositions, $2,075,000.00 for building improvements and materials, and $510,000.00 for vehicles for pupil transportation. As in Tulsa, the Inola bond propositions are a hodgepodge of different types of projects. There's no way to vote for air conditioning for the secondary gym or additional elementary classrooms without also voting for giving out Chromebooks to all the students. Districts and municipalities consistently violate the state constitution's single-subject rule, and they get away with it, because someone would have to pay for the lawsuit to enforce it, with no guarantee that a judge would handle the suit fairly. I noticed a few Vote No signs around Inola, including the two planted at the intersection of Broadway and Commercial next to two Vote Yes signs (photo above). One of the signs claims that 37% of the money raised by the property tax increase will leave the district to pay banks and investors. Given the amount being raised and the long term of the bonds, that is not surprising. My inclination would be to vote no and then ask the board to try again, with different propositions to allow voters to pick and choose which spending they deem necessary (more classrooms, air conditioning for the old gym) and which (Chromebooks) they deem harmful. Whittling the propositions down to the most essential would also make it easier and less expensive to finance the projects. Central Tech 2-mill property tax increase: Central Tech is the Career Tech district covering nearly all of Creek County, plus parts of Osage, Pawnee, Payne, and Lincoln Counties. The district is seeking a permanent tax increase of 2 mills, to be added to the current levy of 10 mills for general fund and 3 mills for the building fund. The district has no bonded indebtedness. The website for the tax increase says, "Many long-term career programs are at capacity, and there are more than 400 students currently on wait lists." The district's Estimate of Needs lays out Central Tech's revenues and expenditures from 2024-2025 and the forecast numbers for 2025-2026. The additional 2 mills would generate an estimated $3.3 million per year in addition to the roughly $22 million in taxes currently generated. An extra 2 mills is an extra $20 per year on a $100,000 house with a homestead exemption. That would be 15 mills total; compare that with 13.33 mills for Tulsa Technology Center. A yes or no vote would depend on how confident I was in the stewardship of the Central Tech board and administration. I could see where a district with a lower net valuation would need a higher millage than Tulsa Tech to generate sufficient revenue to meet program demand. You can read the most recent two years' audits on the State Auditor's website: 2023-2024, 2022-2023. I don't see any adverse findings. I'd lean towards voting yes. After the jump, a look at school board races in Liberty, Verdigris, and Mannford.
- April 1, 2026 at 11:19PM
Oklahoma school election 2026: Inola, Liberty, Mannford, Verdigris, Central Tech
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Tulsa Public Schools is asking voters to approve four bond issue propositions, totalling $609 million, on the April 7, 2026, ballot. Every voter registered within the boundaries of Tulsa Public Schools is eligible to vote, regardless of party registration, whether or not you have children in TPS, whether or not you directly pay property taxes. The breakdown and ballot language is here. Proposition No. 1: $200,985,000, due in 5 years, "to provide funds for the purpose of purchasing or acquiring textbooks, library books, electronic media content, computer software, perpetual or continuous district software license agreements and web-based software subscriptions, along with programs and facilities for early childhood, Montessori, stem labs, post-secondary readiness, fine arts, and athletics including the construction, equipping, repairing and remodeling of those facilities, acquiring and improving school sites, and purchasing or acquiring school furniture, fixtures, and equipment...." Proposition No. 2: $276,000,000, due in 15 years, for "repairing, remodeling, constructing and equipping school buildings, purchasing or acquiring school furniture, fixtures and equipment and acquiring and improving school sites...." Proposition No. 3: $104,785,000, due in 5 years, for "purchasing or acquiring technology equipment including computer hardware and software and web-based software subscriptions along with repairing and remodeling school buildings to accommodate technology equipment...." Proposition No. 4: 27,230,000, due in 5 years, for "purchasing or acquiring transportation equipment...." There's a further "breakdown" of each proposition into "specific projects" at the link, but it doesn't get into specifics as to which school sites will receive the specified improvements. The term "district wide" gets used a lot. The grouping is puzzling, and there seems to be overlap between Prop 1 and Prop 3 when it comes to computer equipment. The phrase "including but not limited to" applies to each list of spending line items. There really isn't a way for a voter to choose traditional bond issue items like building repairs, without also voting for computer software. It's a violation, in spirit, of the single-subject rule in the Oklahoma Constitution. The biggest line items in the breakdown, everything over $10 million, in descending order:

• $119,095,000 in Prop 2: Remodeling of various school facilities district wide; furniture purchase or acquisition for school facilities district wide; painting flooring service contracts for school facilities district wide; window repair and replacement for school facilities district wide; foundation and paving repairs for school facilities district wide; and LED lighting replacement for school facilities district wide.
• $68,324,000 in Prop 3: Student & Teaching Technology
• $67,760,000 in Prop 2: HVAC repair and replacement for school facilities district wide
• $61,292,000 in Prop 1: Instructional learning materials; textbooks; instructional electronic media content and software; exceptional and special needs equipment and curriculum
• $42,192,000 in Prop 2: Safety and Security, Entries, Fencing and Radios including secure entry and security improvement for school facilities district wide; fencing at school facilities district wide; radios district wide and alarm panels and sensor replacements for school facilities district wide
• $40,900,000 in Prop 1: Post-secondary readiness and career academies district wide
• $40,567,000 in Prop 1: Wellness and physical education equipment purchase or acquisition; and constructing, equipping, repairing and remodeling school facilities district wide including sports fields, turf, and facilities
• $33,730,000 in Prop 3: Cybersecurity, data storage, and network systems and software
• $22,000,000 in Prop 2: Roof replacement or repair for school facilities district wide
• $14,020,000 in Prop 4: Buses
• $12,804,000 in Prop 1: Fine arts facilities district wide including improvements to auditorium stage, sound, and lighting; fine arts uniforms, equipment, and instruments
• $12,250,000 in Prop 2: Dining, kitchen improvements and kitchen equipment purchase or acquisition for school facilities district wide
• $11,550,000 in Prop 1: Site project funding for repairing, remodeling, constructing, and equipping school facilities district wide along with the purchase or acquisition of equipment
• $10,860,000 in Prop 1: Early childhood and Montessori programs district wide

The money for "post-secondary readiness and career academies" and "early childhood and Montessori programs" looks like mission creep. Is this money for new buildings? It can't be used to pay salaries. Will it be used to pay consultants? Are these projects that the philanthropocrats are pushing for? Former Tulsa City Councilor and financial analyst Jayme Fowler urges a no vote on all four propositions. He points out that the TPS cost per student is 25% more than the cost of private school and has increased 56% since 2018, with a 73% increase in non-instructional costs and a 21% drop in student achievement in that same time frame. Fowler notes that TPS had about 80,000 students and 9 high schools in 1969. 57 years later, TPS still has 9 high schools but only about 34,000 students. (Granted, TPS opened a high school, Mason, and closed it a few years later in the 1970s.) Fowler wants TPS to consolidate programs to fewer campuses and sell off surplus properties. TPS Per Pupil Expenditure is $14,415.28. That's twice the amount per student spent by Tulsa Classical Academy ($7,115.67) and higher than the state average of $11,962.54. Fowler writes:

This $609 Million bond package is business as usual on auto-pilot. The bonds continue the long history of zero accountability and the inevitable waste of tax-payer money. But far worse, they rob our children of the future they deserve and reward the system and the people responsible for that theft. The proposals are entirely out of sync with the TPS 5-year plan. The Pathways to Opportunity plan is a commitment made to students and families that TPS must keep.

Fowler reminds us that TPS was audited on a small portion of their spending, and the audit found massive fraud:

[The State Auditor] Investigated $37.7 million in spending, 2015 - 2023. Only included 90 vendors and 900 invoices. That's less than 1% of the $4.1 Billion spent by TPS in that timeframe. [The audit] Uncovered wire fraud, misappropriation of funds, illegal no-bid contracts & payments, and coordinated attempts to hide spending related communications in violation of the open records act. A single person, Devin Fletcher was charged for misappropriating $824,000. TPS Illegally paid over $500,000 in bonuses to 35 administrators and 5 other employees through a third-party, Foundation for Tulsa Schools. It's time to audit the other 99% of TPS spending!

Not all conservatives are opposed to the bond issues. Bob Jack, former Tulsa County Republican Party chairman, served on the TPS Bond Development Committee and urges voters to support it. He claims that concerns of lack of financial control are outdated. "...[U]nder the leadership of a new CFO and the addition of internal auditor, patrons of TPS can be assured that the problems of the past are no longer an excuse." Oklahoma's use of long and rotating board terms, with elections happening at an odd time of year, mean that our public school boards don't have much in the way of effective accountability from the voters. Unfortunately, at most two Tulsa board members are up for election every year, and it takes four years for each seat to come up in turn. Voting down bond issues are an excellent way for voters to get the attention of the board and the administration. I could make an argument for voting for Propositions 2 and 4, which are more in line with traditional bond issues for facilities and transportation, but against 1 and 3, which includes new programs and more money for non-facility items. Even so, TPS's record of financial irresponsibility makes me wonder about how much fluff and padding is in the numbers for those "non-controversial" line items. It would be reasonable to expect the board to commit to truly specific projects, naming the schools that will receive new roofs or the specific sports and fine arts facilities that will be upgraded. That would also be a way for the voters to ensure that there isn't favoritism in the allocation of improvement money to schools. Without those specifics, there's nothing to hold TPS to. I encourage TPS residents to vote no on April 7, 2026, on all four Tulsa Public School bond issues. MORE: The Bond Transparency Act of 2017 requires public school districts to report annually on their outstanding bond issues -- how much was approved, how much has been bonded, how much has been spent and on what specific items. These reports do delve into which specific school buildings received which upgrades and at what cost.

• 2015 Tulsa Public Schools Bond Transparency Report
• 2021 Tulsa Public Schools Bond Transparency Report
• Tulsa Public Schools 2021 Bond Website

- March 31, 2026 at 12:54PM
Tulsa Public Schools 2026 bond issues: No on all four
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Conservative author and journalist Ted King is running for the Office 1 school board seat in the Justus-Tiawah School District in Rogers County, east of Claremore. Justus-Tiawah is a PK-8 district, with no high school. It serves 460 students from two campuses, Pre-Kindergarten to 2nd Grade in Tiawah and 3rd through 8th Grades on Highway 20 near Will Rogers Downs. Like all elementary districts, Justus-Tiawah has only three school board members. The election will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Early voting at the Rogers County Election Board, 415 W. 1st St., Claremore, will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 2-3, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. King is the author of Cowboy Bethlehem: The Story of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, published in 2025, and The War on Smokers and the Rise of the Nanny State, published in 2009. I've known Ted King for many years and am proud to call him a friend. When the United Kingdom officially "Brexit-ed" the European Union, Ted and I met at the White Lion pub to toast the happy event with a celebratory pint. He and I both had the opportunity to meet the head of the Reform UK Party, Nigel Farage, before his 2021 Tulsa speech; Farage is on track to be elected Prime Minister in 2029 or sooner. Ted King was urged to run by Mary Alice Nelson, a fellow rural Rogers County resident, Cal-Berkeley graduate, horse trainer, and frequent caller to the Pat Campbell Show on KFAQ. Mary Alice, who passed away last November at the age of 91, believed that more people should step up and take leadership in their communities. Ted shares Mary Alice's commitment to a "back to basics" approach to education that celebrates the founding principles of America and provides our young people with a solid foundation of truth. While the Justus-Tiawah District administration is proud of being above the state average, there's plenty of room for improvement. Only 31% of its students tested as proficient or better in English Language Arts and only 38% tested as proficient or better in math. The district has about 3,100 voters, 70% of whom are, like Ted King, registered Republican. Incumbent Pamela Chandler is registered as an independent. Neither appear to have a campaign website, but here are their Facebook profiles: Pamela Chandler, Ted King. In last year's election, only 181 votes were cast. All voters in the school district are eligible to cast a ballot in this election. I hope you'll vote for my friend Ted King and put a thoughtful conservative Christian, committed to educational excellence, on the Justus-Tiawah school board.
- March 30, 2026 at 11:51PM
Ted King for Justus-Tiawah school board
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There are two Tulsa school board seats up for election on April 7, 2026. Voters on the southern edge of the Tulsa Public Schools district have the opportunity to elect an experienced educator to become the second conservative Republican on the board to push for accountability, transparency, and real education. Michael Phillips, running for Tulsa Public Schools Office 7, is retired from twenty-two years as a high school math teacher in Tulsa Public Schools. Phillips's assignments included Central and Edison High Schools. He is also a founder of and leader in the Tulsa County Republican Men's Club. On his website, Phillips explains his reasons for running and his goals for his work as a board member.

Michael and his wife have attended virtually every school board meeting in person starting the summer of 2022. Michael observed that the vast majority of the agenda items (including spending hundreds of millions of dollars) were passed with little or no public discussion. Thus, the public remained unaware of the pluses and minuses of how the money was being used. It looked like the board was simply rubber stamping what the administration had already decided to do. That worried Michael. The worry grew and he decided to run for a seat at the table. If elected he pledges to press for: (1) options the board can openly discuss (2) agenda items that allow the board to fulfill its duty of setting the vision for the district (3) the ability to temporarily postpone portions of the agenda to a date certain so that the board can investigate the usefulness of the items for educating children He pledges to serve his constituents by soliciting and reporting their input, making the successful education of children the primary concern, and using his judgment when voting.

On his campaign Facebook page, Michael Phillips addresses a number of issues in short videos, including the importance of respect for teachers from administration and students as a factor in teacher retention and why the board needs to direct more money to the classroom and less to administrative overhead. Phillips has been walking his district since before the new year, through all kinds of weather, and with the help of supporters like State Sen. and legendary TU football coach Dave Rader. Congressman Kevin Hern has endorsed Michael Phillips's run for school board. Phillips is running to unseat Democrat incumbent Susan Lamkin, who has been a rubber stamp for the TPS administration and TPS's rampant and wasteful spending on consultants at the behest of the local philanthroparchy, who use strings-attached "donations" to dictate school policy. Lamkin has received three reported donations: $3,500 from Lynn Schusterman; $1,000 from Steve Mitchell, CEO of Argonaut, George Kaiser's private equity fund (remember Solyndra?); and $500 from Fred Dorwart, attorney for George Kaiser's network of businesses and organizations. The same bunch funded her very pricey 2022 campaign. A vote for Lamkin is a vote to let these left-wing philanthropocrats continue to use Tulsa Public Schools as a guinea pig for their social experiments. (Campaign contribution and expenditure reports can be found by searching on the Oklahoma Ethics Commission local campaign filings page. Sorry, no permalinks.) I'm grateful to have had E'Lena Ashley on the school board these past four years, and I'm hopeful that she will be re-elected. If we also get Michael Phillips elected, we'll have two conservative Republicans on the board who can collaborate and support one another as they seek to hold the TPS administration accountable and begin to align the district with sound fiscal and educational policy.
- March 30, 2026 at 10:58PM
Michael Phillips for Tulsa school board District 7
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We have exactly one conservative, one Republican, on the school board of one of the largest school districts in Oklahoma. Her name is E'Lena Ashley. In 2022, she defeated the incumbent to win Office 4 to represent east Tulsa on the Tulsa Public School board, where she has been a constant and often lone voice for wisdom and accountability. E'Lena Ashley is up for re-election on April 7, 2026, and TPS taxpayers and parents need her back on the board. Since taking office, E'Lena Ashley has held monthly community meetings where she has communicated news from the school district, listened to the concerns of the community, and invited speakers on a variety of topics related to TPS, including Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson. On the board, she has been a constructive critic of the administration and the board majority. In 2025, Ashley and then-board member Dr. Jennettie Marshall held a press conference to spotlight the findings of the State Auditor's report on TPS financial mismanagement, complaining that, although the leadership at the top had changed, the administration was still not providing board members with the information they requested. Ashley and Marshall also joined forces in a lawsuit challenging the board majority's lack of transparency and move to hire interim Superintendent Ebony Johnson without following the board's written policy requiring a nationwide search. Ashley has been blamed for the money the district spent to defend against the lawsuit, but surely the expense could have been avoided by the board following its policies and striving for transparency. Although the lawsuit was unsuccessful, I admire Ashley's willingness to take a stand for transparency on behalf of the taxpayers and parents of the district. Four years ago, we briefly had some hope of a majority of Tulsa school board members committed to financial responsibility and accountability. Jennettie Marshall and Jerry Griffin had been advocates for transparency on the board, and E'Lena Ashley was running to defeat an incumbent while former District Attorney Tim Harris was running for the open seat in Office 7. Harris was narrowly defeated in a very expensive campaign, but with Ashley's election there was a substantial minority of three reformers on the board. With a rubber-stamp member missing from a July 2022 board meeting, Ashley, Griffin, and Marshall were able to block a consent agenda packed with controversial items, including accepting Chinese Communist funding for "Confucius Classroom" at Booker T. Washington High School. In the end, Ashley was the only vote against accepting the Confucius Classroom grant. And now, with Griffin and Marshall deciding not to run for re-election out of frustration with administration stonewalling, Ashley is the lone voice for transparency and fiscal sanity. The administration continues to waste money on consultants and outside vendors, continues to be driven by unaccountable philanthropocrats. When the administration tries to smuggle questionable spending and controversial proposals into the consent agenda, E'Lena Ashley uses her seat at the table to pull those items aside for scrutiny. Despite her willingness to stand alone on many issues, E'Lena manages to remain gracious in her questions and her interactions with the administration. If we lose her, we lose that lone voice. We need E'Lena Ashley back for another four years, and we need to elect conservative Republican Michael Phillips, who is running against incumbent Democrat Susan Lamkin for Office 7. Ashley's opponent is former Tulsa City Councilor Connie Dodson. Dodson was defeated for re-election in 2022 by Christian Bengel. As a councilor, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dodson advocated for drive-thru private dances to keep strip-club dancers employed:

An enterprising owner of a Tulsa "gentlemen's club" wants to go all Las Vegas and offer drive-thru service. So City Councilor Connie Dodson -- ever responsive to the needs of her constituents -- has asked city legal the question everyone is wondering but no one will say out loud: In these grave times of economic peril, deadly disease and social distancing, can we do the same thing here in Tulsa? "When the owner reached out to me, I said, 'I applaud your efforts to be creative,'?" Dodson said. "I mean, that is what everybody is trying to do now ... be creative so that they can stay in business and keep people employed."... "Set up one of those large white tents that you can drive through, so the patron would literally drive into the tent, pay their money, get a private show or a private dance, and not get out of their car," she said.... Dodson said what she's heard is that the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has hit dancers particularly hard. "So they are trying to be real creative in keeping their businesses running, and this was something that came up, and I thought, I'll reach out," she said.

After I endorsed Bengel over Dodson, I received an irate and bizarre Facebook message from D. Richard Dodson, who appears to be Connie Dodson's husband. Mr. Dodson accused me of being full of "donkey bullsh[**]." This person's Facebook "likes" revealed a great deal of interest in strip clubs, sex toy shops, BDSM, and barbecue, which might explain Councilor Dodson's legislative concerns. The profile has since been taken over by a Vietnamese spammer, but those "likes" are still there. (I have screenshots of the state of the profile as it was at the time of Mr. Dodson's unhinged complaint.) My suspicion is that Dodson was asked to run because she can be counted on to be a rubber-stamp and not to ask uncomfortable questions. Having just one board member who asks questions is too many for the people pulling the strings, because it exposes their plans to public scrutiny. I'm proud to endorse E'Lena Ashley for re-election and urge east Tulsans to vote for her on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
- March 29, 2026 at 09:33AM
Re-elect E'Lena Ashley to Tulsa school board District 4
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