The first two years of the coronavirus pandemic had a profound impact on the U.S. housing market as Americans fled expensive, high-population areas to mid-sized cities or adjoining suburbs in lower-cost parts of the country. (See how the cost of housing has skyrocketed in these major U.S. cities.)

Low-mortgage rates and high demand for homes in many markets, coupled with a slowdown in new home construction due to pandemic-related disruptions in the labor force and supply chains, often led to intense bidding wars over available homes among prospective buyers.

Though prices have slowed considerably in many markets in 2023 thanks to inflation and higher mortgage rates, they remain elevated and out of reach for the typical household. Still, across the country, there are cities where housing is affordable to a broader range of budgets -- at least relative to the state's broader housing market.

Of the 21 cities in Oklahoma with available data from real estate market website Realtor.com, Miami is the least expensive place for homebuyers. As of April 2023, the median list price in the city was $147,000, compared to the median list price of $315,000 across the state as a whole.

All metro area and state level listing price data in this story is from Realtor.com, a real estate market website, and is for April 2023.

Cheapest city to buy a homeMedian list price in city, April 2023 ($)Median list price in state, April 2023 ($)Cities considered in each stateAlabama: Selma75,500330,00025Alaska: Fairbanks349,900415,0004Arizona: Safford302,500495,00011Arkansas: Hope119,000289,90021California: Susanville308,950750,00034Colorado: Sterling245,000639,92517Connecticut: Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown399,900559,9005Delaware: Dover409,500494,9001Florida: Sebring-Avon Park295,000467,99029Georgia: Thomaston183,700395,40037Hawaii: Hilo645,000852,5004Idaho: Mountain Home375,000574,90013Illinois: Macomb69,900310,00026Indiana: Marion92,500299,90038Iowa: Fort Madison-Keokuk125,000315,00023Kansas: Atchison120,000314,82519Kentucky: Maysville92,500299,95021Louisiana: Minden140,000289,25018Maine: Bangor265,000425,0004Maryland: Cumberland139,900420,0007Massachusetts: Springfield369,000759,0006Michigan: Saginaw149,000280,00031Minnesota: Marshall186,185400,00022Mississippi: Clarksdale55,000279,90022Missouri: Kennett102,200300,00025Montana: Butte-Silver Bow373,000660,0007Nebraska: Scottsbluff254,950371,90012Nevada: Fallon386,780475,0009New Hampshire: Berlin249,991549,0006New Jersey: Vineland-Bridgeton269,900518,0004New Mexico: Deming189,000375,00019New York: Olean125,000639,94527North Carolina: Laurinburg209,450419,72037North Dakota: Jamestown179,900332,0608Ohio: Portsmouth129,500249,90042Oklahoma: Miami147,000315,00021Oregon: Hermiston-Pendleton355,000569,90020Pennsylvania: Johnstown98,500290,00035Rhode Island: Providence-Warwick529,900525,5001South Carolina: Bennettsville127,170359,92516South Dakota: Vermillion199,900369,90011Tennessee: Union City187,000444,90027Texas: Vernon109,250384,90071Utah: Price414,000619,9009Vermont: Rutland275,000447,2504Virginia: Big Stone Gap154,500449,00012Washington: Moses Lake383,700649,00020West Virginia: Mount Gay-Shamrock105,000229,90013Wisconsin: Marinette222,400374,90023Wyoming: Rock Springs291,000459,0009

(The Center Square) – A group of 20 attorneys general want the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a lower court's restrictions on local governments enforcing homeless camping bans.

In their petition regarding Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, the attorneys general wrote that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong to prohibit state and local governments from enforcing laws that bar public spaces from being used as homeless encampments.

“The Constitution nowhere strips States of the power to regulate use of public spaces,” the attorneys general wrote. “It empowers States and guarantees an inviolable sovereignty meant to address local issues like homelessness.”

Meanwhile, the attorneys general said the 9th Circuit “relied on this Court’s ‘evolving standards of decency’ jurisprudence,” something they said “lacks textual, historical, or structural support.”

“The Court should put that troublesome jurisprudence to bed once and for all,” they added.

In 2018, the 9th Circuit ruled that the Eighth Amendment allows for the right to sleep and camp in public spaces. Earlier this year, the appeals court held that the amendment also prevents fines for people “engaging in involuntary, unavoidable life-sustaining acts.” However, the attorneys general argue that cities – especially those across the western U.S – are having a difficult time combating homelessness because of the ruling.

“When it comes to public encampments, States have significant land interests,” the attorneys general said. “States regulate public encampments to protect natural resources, prevent wildfires, preserve the value of recreation, and maintain an area’s dignity and public value.

The petition was filed by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom also submitted a brief for the Supreme Court to review the case.

The number of Americans who relocate each year has been trending downward for decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 28.2 million people moved to a new home in 2022, down from 41.1 million 20 years earlier. Of those who did move in 2022, the vast majority - an estimated 78% - stayed within the same state.

When Americans do decide to move, many do so to improve their standard of living. Climate, health considerations, taking or finding a new job, buying a better or more affordable home, and living in a safer neighborhood are all commonly cited reasons. But for those who are not prepared to move across the country, within every state, there are cities and towns that stand out for the higher overall quality of life they can offer.

Based on a weighted index of 22 key measures from government sources, related to community, the economy, and quality of life, Oklahoma City ranks as the best place to live in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City, home to about 673,180 people, has a median household income of $59,679 and a median home value of $168,900. According to the 2023 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, 93.8% of the local population have easy access to places for exercise, like parks. Census data also shows that there are about 21.3 recreational and entertainment venues, such as movie theaters, museums, sports clubs, libraries, and restaurants for every 10,000 businesses in the area.

We considered all places in the U.S. with sufficient data and populations of at least 5,000. Our list includes cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and unincorporated communities. Click here to read our full methodology.

Best place to liveTotal populationMedian household income ($)Median home value ($)Population with access to exercise opportunities (%)Entertainment and recreation venues per 10,000 businessesAlabama: Mountain Brook22,180150,268697,80080.024.3Alaska: Juneau32,24090,126358,200100.027.1Arizona: Paradise Valley12,670203,6591,778,00092.725.6Arkansas: Fayetteville92,07052,111255,60082.416.9California: Orinda19,500248,9841,538,40098.227.0Colorado: Aspen7,02089,625N/A94.6N/AConnecticut: Old Greenwich6,930234,1521,444,80097.557.2Delaware: Hockessin13,460158,036460,80093.533.2Florida: Key Biscayne14,530167,9901,246,70098.518.1Georgia: Druid Hills8,610137,576698,00088.512.4Hawaii: Laie6,440101,011937,00097.333.4Idaho: Boise City231,54068,373322,30086.027.7Illinois: Glencoe8,820212,1321,101,20099.324.6Indiana: Carmel98,140119,772372,10089.825.4Iowa: Iowa City74,24051,925230,70089.623.4Kansas: Leawood33,750159,540498,90096.722.0Kentucky: Lexington-Fayette321,35061,526216,80099.220.1Louisiana: Oak Hills Place9,20090,347363,60096.915.9Maine: Portland68,06066,109341,70085.173.2Maryland: Chevy Chase9,890207,971999,20099.821.8Massachusetts: Wellesley29,370226,2501,251,80094.731.6Michigan: Ann Arbor122,73073,276366,60087.841.7Minnesota: North Oaks5,200220,861696,80099.838.9Mississippi: Madison27,460119,662282,60081.224.0Missouri: Fort Leonard Wood15,63061,913N/A66.1N/AMontana: Bozeman51,57067,354466,40083.232.4Nebraska: Chadron5,38050,363132,70089.6N/ANevada: Incline Village9,440131,9141,042,70088.314.8New Hampshire: Lebanon14,32080,619274,40084.9113.5New Jersey: Rumson7,290239,1881,309,20096.042.9New Mexico: Los Alamos13,270118,293342,00099.3N/ANew York: Rye16,460207,9301,529,40099.642.6North Carolina: Chapel Hill60,92077,037454,30083.315.0North Dakota: Grand Forks58,87053,611215,90088.036.9Ohio: The Village of Indian Hill6,020194,643918,80096.933.6Oklahoma: Oklahoma City673,18059,679168,90093.821.3Oregon: Portland647,18078,476462,80099.539.1Pennsylvania: Merion Station5,370233,340693,80096.438.7Rhode Island: Newport25,32077,092529,90092.9129.3South Carolina: Mount Pleasant88,900106,216499,60089.843.8South Dakota: Vermillion11,51047,920169,50085.5N/ATennessee: Brentwood44,350165,948711,90081.911.2Texas: University Park25,030247,0451,380,60096.720.4Utah: Summit Park8,410156,200814,90095.122.2Vermont: Middlebury7,19065,050332,20064.026.2Virginia: McLean49,310242,6101,102,10099.714.8Washington: Mercer Island25,510170,0001,504,50098.030.4West Virginia: Cheat Lake10,19099,656305,00074.720.8Wisconsin: Mequon24,810135,425402,90097.364.2Wyoming: Jackson10,73083,289836,30097.751.2

(The Center Square) - One in four Oklahomans are spending over 30% of their income on rent, lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Tuesday.

The committee is holding an interim study on affordable and safe rental housing.

Dr. Bryce Lowery, an associate professor of regional and city planning at the University of Oklahoma, said someone spending more than 30% of their income on housing is a “warning sign.”

“If you’re paying more than 30% of your income for your rent, it makes it very difficult for you to afford groceries, pay for child care. A simple medical emergency can put your family into a serious financial state,” Lowery said.

More and more of Oklahoma’s workforce is struggling to find housing within their price range. The average salaries for teachers, dental assistants, truck drivers, and fast food workers cannot keep up with housing costs, Lowery said

It doesn’t help that Oklahoma has one of the highest eviction rates in the country, according to Executive Director of Community Cares Partners Ginny Bass Carl. In Oklahoma County, the rate of eviction is higher than pre-pandemic levels, Carl told the committee.

In July, there were 1,593 evictions filed just in Oklahoma County. Of those, 754 resulted in eviction, said Shelterwell CEO Amy Coldren. Those evictions are costing taxpayers, Coldren said. Considering the average stay in emergency shelters, emergency medical care, foster care services, and other services used by people displaced by eviction, the taxpayer burden from just the 754 July evictions in Oklahoma County could be as high as $4 million, according to Coldren.

“They are placing a tremendous burden on our taxpayers and our economy,” Coldren said, adding one day of homelessness costs taxpayers about $96 a day.

She told the committee Oklahoma’s eviction process needs a hard look.

“We know that evictions are sometimes necessary, we’re certainly not advocating for Oklahoma to move in the direction of some states that have made it nearly impossible for a landlord to evict a tenant. But the current process is just simply too cheap, it’s too fast, it’s too easy. Currently a landlord in Oklahoma can evict a tenant for as little as $45 in as soon as five days without having to prove anything,” Coldren said.

A high eviction rate is not Oklahoma’s only housing problem. Lowery said. Changing family size and a disparity between supply and demand is another chunk of the state’s affordable housing issue.

Carl and Coldren’s recommendations took on the eviction side of the issue, including extending the eviction timeline and increasing eviction filing fees. They also suggested looking at expunging eviction records since a survey found that 56% of landlords said they would not rent to a tenant with a prior eviction filing, even if the filing did not result in an eviction judgment.

Katie Dilks, executive director of the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation, recommended creating anti-retaliation laws to ensure predatory landlords cannot trap tenants in unsafe living conditions and clarify the law for tenants and landlords defining “written notice.”

Committee members heard diverse policy recommendations to tackle affordable housing problems.

Lowery said aside from housing supply and diversity, lawmakers should take into account transportation costs, education and job availability, childcare, and landlord engagement.

During the last legislative session, lawmakers approved a $215 million investment in housing programs through the Oklahoma Housing Stability Program.

(The Center Square) - Oklahoma sheriffs told the Senate Public Safety Committee they are losing deputies to agencies that pay more.

Rep. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, led an interim study on deputy salaries, which are considerably lower in rural areas.

Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett told the committee he pays his deputies, on average, about $3,300 or $39,600 a year. Jailers make about $2,700 a month.

Other nearby agencies are paying more than $47,000 a year, Garvin said. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol pays more than $51,000 a year.

"I am tired of losing my good people that I train to another agency because I cannot compete," Mullett said.

Weaver. the former director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, said the interim study shows how little deputies in some counties are paid.

"One sheriff revealed that his budget only allows him to compensate jailers, dispatchers, and other essential employees at around $10 an hour, with deputies only slightly above that," Weaver said in a news release. "That is simply not enough for these dangerous and taxing jobs.”

Lawmakers are looking to Texas as an example of how to help rural sheriff's offices. This year, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 22, which grants sheriff's offices between $250,000 to $500,000 a year, depending on the county's population.

The bill requires salary minimums of $75,000 for sheriffs, $45,000 for road deputies and $40,000 for jailers.

Texas Sen. Drew Springer told the committee the cost was about $380 million, about .1% of the state's budget. Not all of the money goes to the sheriff's department, Springer said.

"About 35 to 40% goes to our prosecutors because we know when law enforcement catches bad guys, you got to have someone to prosecute," Springer said.

The issue is jeopardizing public safety, the sheriffs told the committee. Mullett covers 890 square miles with 32 deputies. He said sometimes deputies respond to domestic violence calls alone.

“Oklahomans should be able to call their county sheriff’s department and receive the assistance they need in a timely manner," Weaver said. "That’s not always possible when there is only one or two officers covering hundreds of square miles at a time."

The Legislature will consider the interim study during the 2024 session.

On a single night in 2022, 582,462 people experienced homelessness in the United States, and numbers are on the rise. Since 2017, there has been a 6% increase in homelessness.

About six in 10 of the people experiencing homelessness in 2022 had access to emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens, while the remainder were unsheltered. Rates of unsheltered homelessness -- which includes those sleeping on the streets, in abandoned buildings, and in wooded areas -- are also on the rise.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were an estimated 3,754 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in Oklahoma in 2022. Adjusting for population, this comes out to about 9.4 people for every 10,000 state residents, the 21st fewest among the 50 states.

Of those experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma, a reported 35.1% were unsheltered, the 25th highest share among states.

All data in this story is from the 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

RankStateHomeless population per 10,000 state residents, 2022Total residents experiencing homelessness, 2022Homeless population without shelter, 2022 (%)1California43.7171,52167.32Vermont43.12,78098.43Oregon42.317,95961.74Hawaii41.45,96762.75New York37.474,1785.46Washington32.625,21150.27Maine32.14,4113.78Alaska31.72,32015.49Nevada24.27,61846.810Delaware23.62,3696.511Massachusetts22.215,5077.312Arizona18.613,55340.813Colorado17.910,39769.614Louisiana15.97,37316.815South Dakota15.51,38924.616Tennessee15.110,5675817Montana14.41,58518.518Rhode Island14.41,57715.719Minnesota13.97,91722.320New Mexico12.12,56021.621Florida11.925,95945.222New Hampshire11.61,60520.623Nebraska11.42,2469.624Wyoming11.264890.125Utah10.73,55724.526Idaho10.51,99844.427Georgia9.910,68948.228Pennsylvania9.812,69112.729Missouri9.75,99273.330New Jersey9.48,75288.831Oklahoma9.43,75435.132Ohio9.010,65481.733North Carolina8.99,38238.634Kentucky8.83,98427.235Maryland8.75,34983.336Texas8.324,43244.937Kansas8.22,39729.138Michigan8.28,2061139Arkansas8.12,45952.740Connecticut8.12,9301041Wisconsin8.14,7756.342Indiana8.05,44914.743North Dakota7.961013.644West Virginia7.71,3752945Iowa7.62,41983.246Virginia7.66,52910.547Alabama7.43,75242.148Illinois7.39,21220.649South Carolina7.03,60865.850Mississippi4.11,19663.6

(The Center Square) - Oklahoma is projected to fall short of the state’s housing needs in the next several years, according to a new report discussed by lawmakers Wednesday.

Oklahoma will need over 173,000 new homes by 2028, according to Census Bureau data included in the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency’s evaluation of the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency.

The report said the state will fall short by just under 16,000 homes at the current build rate.

While OHFA’s programs focus on low-income multi-family housing, the state faces a shortage of affordable housing of all types, LOFT Executive Director Mike Jackson told lawmakers on the LOFT Oversight Committee.

Since 2015, 99% of all new housing developments subsidized with tax credits were designed for low-income households, according to the report.

“My constituents that are not in Section 8 housing are crying out because they have nowhere to rent and nowhere to live,” said Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, adding rising rents are hurting people of all levels of income. “Is there any solution that doesn’t, at a bare minimum, include ‘we need to build more houses?’ Because houses that could qualify for Section 8 pre-pandemic don’t. The rent’s too high.”

Echols said Oklahoma needs to see housing developments for all kinds of starter and affordable homes.

Jackson agreed workforce housing was just as crucial as low-income housing.

“The only solution we’ve seen from a state’s response is to look at addressing the supply side of housing,” Jackson replied.

New state programs that present promise, according to the report, include the Oklahoma Housing Stability Program, which was created through the legislature in 2023 and appropriated $215 million in housing programs.

Around $100 million was allocated for home builder subsidies for home ownership, with 75% of the funding set aside for rural projects where the need for flexible housing is the greatest, the LOFT report said.

The Housing Stability Program also includes another housing program that covers a developer subsidy for rental housing and a consumer down payment and closing cost assistance program.

While the state looks for solutions to increase its housing stock, OHFA is seeing market conditions limit the impact of its current housing assistance programs, according to the report.

“Because this program is tied to home prices, which are on the rise, it will assist fewer homebuyers going forward,” said Mike Davis, a legal analyst for LOFT.

While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has increased OHFA’s funding for housing vouchers by 19% over the last decade, the number of units covered by vouchers has decreased by almost 3%, Davis said.

“If federal funding for housing vouchers remains level and market conditions do not ease, fewer vouchers will be available. Additionally, families are staying on the voucher program longer than they used to,” said Davis.

LOFT recommended that OHFA promote awareness of its Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which incentivizes voucher recipients to become independent of the program.

Domestic terrorism and violent extremism are growing threats in the United States. The FBI had 9,049 open domestic terrorism cases in fiscal 2021, up 357% from the number of open domestic terrorism cases in fiscal 2013. Many of the most violent incidents of domestic terrorism in the U.S. today are carried out by individuals who have been radicalized by racist, homophobic, ethnocentric, or anti-government ideologies - ideologies widely propagated by extremist hate groups.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, there were 1,224 active hate and anti-government groups in the U.S. in 2022. These groups include those with distinct chapters in cities across the country, such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Ku Klux Klan, and ACT for America. While specific views vary between these and other groups, they are generally all galvanized by curtailing government power or hatred toward individuals of certain races, religions, ethnicities, or sexual orientations.

The SPLC identified 13 active hate and anti-government groups in Oklahoma in 2022. Adjusting for population, this comes out to about 3.3 extremist groups for every million people, the 16th lowest concentration among states.

The number of hate groups operating in the state climbed by 44.4% since 2021. Active extremist groups in Oklahoma today include nine anti-government groups and one neo-Völkisch group.

All data in this story is from the SPLC report The Year in Hate & Extremism 2022.

RankStateExtremist groups per 1M people, 2022Total number of extremist groups, 20221-yr. change in active extremist groups (%)1Wyoming15.593502Idaho11.0212503Montana10.9122004New Hampshire10.8151505North Dakota10.383006South Dakota8.981007Delaware7.07758Maine6.691259Rhode Island6.47133.310Nebraska6.11233.311South Carolina5.83076.512Oregon5.72414013Pennsylvania5.67214015Alaska5.5430014Hawaii5.5810016Utah5.41880017Arizona5.43977.319Arkansas5.31677.818Colorado5.33172.221Virginia5.04311520West Virginia5.095023Ohio4.75517522Tennessee4.73317.924Vermont4.635025Indiana4.329107.128Maryland4.125127.326Florida4.18967.927North Carolina4.14353.630Iowa3.81250029Nevada3.81233.331Washington3.72952.633Wisconsin3.6217532Missouri3.62229.434Minnesota3.319111.135Oklahoma3.31344.436Connecticut3.11157.137Michigan2.92961.138Illinois2.83552.239New York2.75351.440California2.610358.541Alabama2.613045New Mexico2.4540043New Jersey2.42283.342Texas2.47238.544Mississippi2.47-12.546Georgia2.224047Kansas2.065048Kentucky2.09049Massachusetts1.611-21.450Louisiana1.57-53.3

(The Center Square) - Twenty-four Republican governors said illegal immigration burdens every state and asked President Joe Biden for "honest" and "accurate" information about the situation.

A letter sent Tuesday blamed Biden's policies for a surge in illegal crossings at the southern border.

"States are on the front lines, working around-the-clock responding to the effects of this crisis: shelters are full, food pantries empty, law enforcement strained, and aid workers exhausted," the letter said. "As governors, we call on you to provide honest, accurate, detailed information on where the migrants admitted at the southern border are being relocated in the United States, in addition to comprehensive data on asylum claim timelines and qualification rates, and successful deportations. We ask for this information immediately, but also regularly as the crisis at the southern border continues."

The influx of illegal immigrants places a financial burden on the states, the governors said.

"Analysts estimate the annual net cost of illegal immigration for the United States at the federal, state, and local levels is at least $150.7 billion," the letter said. "States are forced to provide financial, educational, and medical support to migrants entering our country illegally– support that is skyrocketing in cost due to record inflation and the unprecedented influx of migrants into our states."

The governors said more than 5.8 million have crossed the southern border illegally. The problem has also grown at the northern border, where illegal immigration has increased by 850% in some cases, according to the letter. The situation is now a public safety issue as 244 people who crossed the border were on the terror watchlist, they said.

A contact within U.S. Customs and Border Protection has regularly providedThe Center Square with unpublished data categorized as "gotaways," or people who enter illegally but don't' file asylum or immigration-related claims. They are most often men of military age, according to the source, granted anonymity for fear of career reprisal. Of the 8.6 million estimated to have entered the U.S. illegally, 1.6 million are gotaways.

"Absent transparency from your administration, though, we cannot know how many terrorists have evaded capture and are now freely moving about the country," the letter said. "Your administration admitted under oath to Congress that cartels prioritize the southern border as a major corridor and exploit it daily for human and narcotics trafficking."

The illegal immigration issue affects their Democratic colleagues, too, the governors said. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey called illegal immigration a "federal crisis of inaction many years in the making" earlier this month when calling on the Department of Homeland Security to ease the work authorization process.

New York City will house more than 2,000 migrants at a New York City airfield after an agreement was made last week with the Biden administration. Mayor Eric Adams describes the situation as a "financial tsunami" that will destroy the city if it doesn't get more state or federal help.

The letter is signed by the governors of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

(The Center Square) - Oklahoma legislators are studying whether industrial hemp production would benefit rural development in the state.

Growing hemp became legal in Oklahoma after Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act’s classification of marijuana and declassified hemp as a Schedule I narcotic.

While there was a lot of initial interest in 2018, Oklahoma has seen a decline in interest from potential growers since then, according to Kenny Naylor, the director of Consumer Affairs for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.

“Unfortunately our numbers have gone way down,” Naylor told the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Monday. “In 2018, everybody wanted to grow hemp.”

As of this year, Oklahoma has 21 licensed hemp growers and 22 licensed hemp processors.

Aside from a saturation of the CBD market and limited processing ability, which have both cooled the interest in growing hemp, according to Naylor, other factors were a matter of bad timing.

“I think COVID-19 hit right at the wrong time and shut everything down, and that definitely caused problems,” said Naylor. “And then for Oklahoma specifically, people switched to marijuana.”

It was initially cheaper to get licensed to grow medical marijuana, though Naylor said he doesn’t believe that is the case anymore.

Someone who wants to grow hemp in Oklahoma must pay a $500 fee when filling out their application, along with $5 an acre for outside growth and 33 cents a square foot for indoor growth. Applicants also pay a fee of $1,000 to $5,000 to process the license. The amount an applicant pays is based on their estimated annual sales, according to Naylor.

“We use this to basically maintain our program and run it here in the state,” Naylor said of the funds.

Sen. Roland Pederson, R-Oklahoma City, one of the senators who requested the study, said hemp looked like a potential alternative crop that could be easily grown in Oklahoma due to the state’s climate.

“At one time in Oklahoma there was a lot of hemp produced. Even across the nation there was a lot of hemp produced,” said Pederson. “And somehow with its conflicting characteristics with marijuana it was outlawed and it was done away with until the Farm Bill of 2018 came about, and that allowed the growth again of hemp. I think it’s got a great future.”

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture has also been projecting the pendulum to swing back toward hemp.

“We anticipate or at least are beginning to see some things that may look like a switch from medical marijuana back to hemp growing, one of those being cost,” said Naylor.

Sen. Jerry Alvord, R-Oklahoma City, asked where the demand for hemp would come from.

“I’m struggling to understand what void hemp is filling in today’s, especially agricultural product,” said Alvord. “What are we missing that hemp is going to replace?”

Naylor said hemp can serve as a renewable source for plastic, which could help produce more renewable products.

“It’s very durable fiber as well. That’s one of the reasons why I think they liked using it during World War II,” Naylor said.