When Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) first attempted to shift the cost of plant updates to consumers rather than to shareholders VOICE-OKC fought back, urging the utility commission to stop the plan and leveraging the Attorney General's support for a lower charge. In 2016, OG&E proposed a rate increase of $92.5 million ($7 per month) to cover the expenses, but they again found themselves up against dogged VOICE leaders.

This year, Elise Robillard declared on behalf of VOICE-OKC, "It's time to stop protecting profits for major corporations like OG&E and start protecting the families of Oklahoma, people who are going to have to choose between buying groceries and paying their electric bill." Finally succumbing to organized campaigns of weekly calls to address the issue, the utility commission ruled, permitting OG&E an $8.9 Million rate increase (only 72 cents per month). Furthermore, the commission will claw back $50 Million in back charges to residential users, inappropriately charged by OG&E prior to the ruling.

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When Angela Basse, a youth coordinator and leader with St. Charles Borromeo Catholic, was a pre-teen she saw firsthand the toxic effects of payday lending on family life. "At the time they were made to look simple," she said, but "we missed out on book fairs in schools, field trips at school, because we didn't have the income. Because we knew that we were having to pay back loans."

She was joined by other leaders of VOICE in support of legislation that would curb the worst effects of the payday lending industry in the state including caps on interest rates and limits to the number of times a loan can be rolled over.

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Even on Superbowl Sunday, over two hundred adult leaders of VOICE participated in an accountability assembly for school board candidates. Three candidates for the position of Board Chair of Oklahoma City Public Schools participated in the assembly, which highlighted personal stories from VOICE leaders and pointed questions about what candidates plan to do.

VOICE to Hold OKCPS Board Chair Candidates Accountability Session, The City Sentinel

The press conference began with a dark story: teacher's union president Elise Robillard, and single mother, was cash strapped and only "one flat tire or one sick kid away from a financial emergency." She took out a payday loan, thinking it a quick fix. Ultimately, it drove her into bankruptcy.

In response to stories like hers, religious leaders of VOICE-OKC, including Rev. Lori Walke of Mayflower Congregational Church and Rev. Tim Luschen of Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, are now calling for payday lending reforms. According to The Oklahoman, Oklahomans pay $52 million in fees charged by payday lenders, paying an average annual interest rate of 391 percent.

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Talking to someone in jail costs a lot of money -- and the people footing the bill are families. Says Sundra Flansburg of VOICE, the state of Oklahoma is "trying to fund the criminal justice system on the backs of these inmates and their families."

VOICE is siding with the FCC in the implementation of a rule passed last year reducing phone call charges to inmates by 40%. Fighting the new rule is the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Oklahoma County Sheriff and the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Association.

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When Oklahoma Gas & Electric attempted to pass on the cost of updating a gas plant to consumers, rather than to the shareholders who benefited from a 50% increase in dividends while the utility delayed environmental compliance through lawsuits, leaders from VOICE-OKC urged the utility commission to reject the utility's plan. They additionally called on the Attorney General to get involved in the $1.1 Billion case to better protect residential consumers; this is the largest case ever presented to state regulators.

Rev. Jonalu Johnstone, a minister at the First Unitarian Church of OK City, argued, "It falls to you, the corporation commissioners, to stand for the consumers in this case, many of whom barely make it now from paycheck to paycheck."

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After Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin unveiled an online dashboard / barometer of health, crime and education -- a measure she says will help "hold government accountable," VOICE-OKC leaders were called on to respond.

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At a fundraising gala put together by VOICE-OKC, leaders awarded the former Speaker of the House with the "Lifetime Civic Engagement Award" in recognition of his collaboration on the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, designed to direct taxpayer resources towards programs for supervision and rehabilitation of offenders.

Steel, a conservative Republican, argued to loud applause that "it's immoral for a private business to make money off of people who commit crime...it's wrong for ...governments to make money off people who commit crimes..."

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