Press Releases

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in PDF format, click on the title: Corporate Welfare Directory: Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate

Dental Assistant Licensing In Oklahoma – March 3, 2021 – The 1889 Institute has published a new paper that summarizes Oklahoma dental assistant licensing requirements, describes the profession, and concludes that there is no public interest justification for such licensing. It is recommended that dental assistant licensing be immediately repealed.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in PDF format, click on the title: Dental Assistant Licensing in Oklahoma.

What States Can Do to Improve Health Savings Account Incentives – February 17, 2021 – The 1889 Institute has published a new paper that explains how HSA incentives (meant to battle the third-party payer problem) are undermined by insurance companies. It proposes actions states can take, including requiring insurance companies to count self-pay claims toward a consumer’s deductible. It also recommends that the federal government liberalize HSA policy in order to revolutionize how health care is financed.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in PDF format, click on the title: What States Can Do to Improve Health Savings Account Incentives.

Plumber Licensing in Oklahoma – January 6, 2021 – The 1889 Institute has published a new paper that argues that there is no justification for plumber licensing in Oklahoma. In fact, the onerous licensing requirements have created an artificial shortage of contractors in a time when demand is high. In its stead, this paper recommends private certification as the ultimate solution.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in PDF format, click on the title: Plumber Licensing in Oklahoma.

The Inadequacy of Attorney General Oversight as a Guard against Antitrust Liability of Oklahoma Licensing Boards– December 21, 2020 – The 1889 Institute has published a new paper that argues that Oklahoma’s approach to protecting state licensing boards from federal antitrust liability is inadequate and creates a conflict of interest within state government. It recommends that licensing board members be prohibited from also being practitioners of the licensed occupation, although private certification is the ultimate solution.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in PDF format, click on the title: The Inadequacy of Attorney General Oversight as a Guard against Antitrust Liability of Oklahoma Licensing Boards.

Liberate Oklahoma from Public Sector Union Domination – November 23, 2020 – The 1889 Institute has published a new paper that argues allowing government
to collectively bargain with public employees “robs the people of their sovereignty over government,” which happens because unions can hold the public hostage by denying essential, government monopolized services when they strike.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in PDF format, click on the title: Liberate Oklahoma from Public Sector Unionization.

America’s Legal Tradition of Allowing Risk-Taking, Even in a Pandemic – November 18, 2020 – An 1889 Institute paper demonstrates how many local governments’ restrictive policies in response to COVID-19 fail to fit into the long American legal tradition of allowing individuals to weigh risk and reward for themselves. It specifically examines how Oklahoma’s largest cities have deviated from that tradition.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: America’s Legal Tradition of Allowing Risk-Taking, Even in a Pandemic

Make Social Distancing Restrictions Voluntary – November 16, 2020 – An 1889 Institute paper argues that states should form policy according to rational risk assessment in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. State and local policy-makers should create a framework that focuses on protecting the most vulnerable. They must also repeal all universal social distancing mandates.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Make Social Distancing Restrictions Voluntary.

Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the Case of Oklahoma v. Johnson & Johnson – October 26, 2020 – 1889 Institute filed an amicus (or friend of the court) brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision of a trial court that essentially functions as legislation. In this case, the court identified a broad, complex societal problem facing the state, levied a tax on the industry alleged to have contributed to the problem, and then appropriated the proceeds of the tax to a cornucopia of government agencies and programs in an attempt to ameliorate the problem. The judgment of the court construes Oklahoma’s public nuisance statute so broadly that it leaves no limits to future policymaking by litigation.

To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Oklahoma v. Johnson & Johnson Amicus Brief

Professional Teacher Charter Schools: Proposal with Model Legislation – October 21, 2020 – Free teachers to act as true education practitioners. An 1889 Institute paper explains why teachers should have the same freedom to start and run their own practice as other professionals do. The paper also provides model legislation to accomplish that end.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Professional Teacher Charter Schools: Proposal with Model Legislation.

Policymaker’s Guide to Evaluating Corporate Welfare – September 30, 2020 – Oklahoma is a top-ten state in handing out corporate welfare. An 1889 Institute paper provides a guide for how policymakers can identify corporate welfare. The paper also provides suggestions for eliminating corporate welfare altogether and competing with other states.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Policymaker’s Guide to Evaluating Corporate Welfare.

Real Estate Agent Licensing: Fake Consumer Protection – August 5, 2020 – Real estate agent licensing may well be the worst example of a licensing law designed to protect practitioners from consumers rather than the other way around that the 1889 Institute has reviewed so far. While real estate salesmen in Oklahoma are actually brokers, without an agent’ usual fiduciary duties to buyers, the law explicitly allows these brokers to use the term, “agent.”

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, clock on the title: Real Estate Licensing in Oklahoma.

A Vision for Transparency – July 15, 2020 – Government transparency has not had the impact it could have had due to how it has been implemented. An 1889 Institute paper lays out a roadmap for how to make transparency work for everyone, especially citizens who are entitled to know who governs them and how their money is being spent.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: A Vision for Transparency.

Covid-19 Facts and Statistics – July 10, 2020 –  The 1889 Institute has published a new webpage on its website explicitly about Covid-19 (https://1889institute.org/covid-19). Its purpose is to provide the best current information for dealing with the pandemic to the general public and policy makers. It also tracks official new daily positive tests and daily deaths, showing trends in the data. 

Another Foul Out with Recreational Therapy Licensing – June 17, 2020 –  1889 Institute intern Luke Tucker asks why Oklahoma would be one of only four states to license recreational therapists, requiring a four-year degree for a profession that only requires patience and good health since recreation therapists do not diagnose, prescribe, or do any invasive procedure.  

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Recreation Therapy Licensure in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Mayors Acted Unlawfully with COVID-19 Orders – May 27, 2020 – The 1889 Institute’s Legal Fellow lays out a legal argument for why the mayors of Oklahoma’s three largest cities acted unlawfully, exceeding their legal authority under state law, when their shutdown orders during the COVID-19 outbreak exceeded those of the governor’s in severity. 

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: An Argument that Oklahoma’s Mayors Acted Unlawfully During COVID-19

More Education Reforms to Make a Difference – May 13, 2020 –  This new publication proposes additional fundamental education-system reforms along the lines of those from a January publication. Past education reforms have shattered on education’s iron triangle of selfishly-interested parties interested in preserving the system from which they profit. Only more fundamental institutional reforms that weaken the triangle have a chance of improving educational outcomes. Six reforms are recommended.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: More Education Reforms to Make a Difference

Implement Effective Education Reform – April 22, 2020 –  Past education reform efforts have not succeeded due to their top-down nature. Instead, a new paper argues what is needed is to take account the efforts of those who are actually doing the work, teachers. It proposes a reform to publicly reimburse the best teachers who can show the financial wherewithal to establish their own educational practices as professional education practitioners.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: America’s War for Effective Education Reform.

End Used Car Dealer Licensing – April 8, 2020 – As with other licensing regimes, though the regulation is ostensibly for the purpose of protecting the general public, it is the profession’s insiders who do the regulating. Consequently, consumers are more likely to be taken advantage of by the regulation than to be protected.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Used Car Dealer Licensing in Oklahoma 

Dump ABA Accreditation of Law Schools – March 25, 2020 – The ABA is joined by only 14 percent of lawyers, but because 47 states require individuals to attend ABA-accredited law schools to be licensed as attorneys, the ABA exercises outsize influence over our government. The is paper recommends dropping the accredited law school requirement and increasing the relevance and rigor of the bar exam.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Breaking the ABA’s Law School Cartel: A Proposal to Make Oklahoma Top-Ten in Innovative Lawyer Education 

Statement Regarding School Closures in Response to Covid-19 – March 24, 2020 – Stop the madness. Only the most vulnerable should shelter in place. See our blog.

Brief on Government’s Right to Order Businesses Closed – March 19, 2020 – Unfortunately, government’s police power grants a great deal of power under the right circumstances. See our brief and blog.

New Tax and Spending Comparison – March 11, 2020 –  Using federal data, the Institute compares states by looking at the percentage of personal income collected in state and local government revenues and spent in six broad spending categories: higher education, public education, public welfare, hospitals, highways, and corrections. The state could save $2 billions just be becoming 10 percent more efficient.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Oklahoma Government Revenues and Spending in Perspective – Update.

“Food Deserts” Are Not a Crisis – March 2, 2020 – Tulsa and Oklahoma City have passed measures intended to encourage full-line grocery stores to locate in certain areas. These regulations are not only ineffective, but are detrimental and are based on policymakers’ dislike of choices people voluntarily make about their choice of food.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: “Food Deserts” – Health Crisis or Mere Inconvenience?

End Private Investigator Licensing – February 5, 2020 – This study makes the case for ending the licensing of private investigators in Oklahoma, a practice that only began in 1988, and makes recommendations for alternative training for armed private investigators.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Private Investigator Licensing in Oklahoma

Sell Unneeded State Assets to Reduce Obligations – January 22, 2020 – A new 1889 Institute study makes the case for the sale or lease of assets owned by the State of Oklahoma as a way to fund important items like underfunded pensions, infrastructure, and bonded indebtedness. The paper identifies almost $6 billion in assets the state could liquidate and lays out a process to ensure maximum returns and protection for taxpayers. 

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Leveraging State-Owned Assets to Fund Pensions and Meet Other Long-Term Funding Challenges

Education Reforms to Make a Difference – January 8, 2020 – A new 1889 Institute publication argues that education reforms in the past have shattered on education’s iron triangle of selfishly-interested parties interested in only preserving the system from which they profit. Therefore, only more fundamental institutional reforms that weaken the triangle have a chance of improving educational outcomes. Seven reforms are recommended.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Education Reforms to Make a Difference

Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the Case of Fleck v. Wetch – January 2, 2020 – 1889 Institute filed an amicus (or friend of the court) brief urging the Supreme Court to consider the case of a North Dakota attorney who has been forced to fund political causes he opposes through mandatory membership in the state bar association. This also occurs in Oklahoma, where attorneys are forced, by law, to join the Oklahoma Bar Association if they wish to practice in the state, violating first amendment principles.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Fleck v. Wetch Amicus Brief

The Case for Ending New Car Dealer Licensing – November 13, 2019 – A study of new car dealer licensing in Oklahoma shows why the licensing law should be repealed, since it is of, by, and for car dealers and not about protecting Oklahomans in general. “There may not be a clearer example of naked protectionism in the laws of Oklahoma than the protection afforded to car dealers.”

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Fully Loaded: Oklahoma’s Car Dealer Licensing Cartel 

Reforms Needed to Tame Oklahoma’s Overreaching Courts – October 23, 2019 – As promised in an earlier paper on the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s violations of the separation of powers, this new publication suggests a dozen reforms the Oklahoma Legislature can enact on its own to help tame the courts so that they perform their constitutionally limited role as a coequal, not superior, branch of state government.

To download a copy of the press release, click here. To read the paper in pdf format, click on the title: Taming Judicial Overreach: 12 Actions the Legislature Can Take Immediately.