Oklahoma's Stitt Opts Into the Federal §25F Credit by Executive Order and Orders a School Choice Hub

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) marked National School Choice Week by signing Executive Order 2026-03 on January 27, 2026, announcing that the state would participate in the federal §25F scholarship tax credit for the 2027 tax year. The same order directed the creation of an Oklahoma School Choice Hub within 90 days, a digital portal designed to help families compare public, charter, and participating private schools in one place. The move put Oklahoma on the early-mover side of a national rollout that has seen governors across the country signal their intent through 2026 (see our national opt-in map).

The federal §25F credit, created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is a dollar-for-dollar federal income tax credit of up to $1,700 per individual taxpayer for contributions to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations, effective January 1, 2027. Scholarships flow to families earning up to 300% of their area median income. The credit only operates where the governor has opted the state in and the state has submitted its list of qualified SGOs to the IRS, which is why early announcements like Stitt's matter for the organizations that will eventually distribute the funds. We walk through the mechanics in our explainers, including why the per-taxpayer cap is $1,700 and not $3,400 (the statute already settles this).

Stitt's January executive order announced participation and stood up the School Choice Hub, but it did not by itself complete every formal step of the federal election. That came later in the session: Oklahoma HB 3704 passed the House 73 to 20 on March 23, cleared the Senate 38 to 8 on April 15, and was signed by Stitt on April 17, 2026. The bill directs the governor to formalize the state's federal election and names the Oklahoma Tax Commission as administrator, converting the executive announcement into durable statute. Oklahoma's path of executive signal followed by legislative codification echoes the executive route taken in Alaska, and contrasts with the veto-override path that carried other states across the line.

For SGO operators, Oklahoma is now a live market. The IRS confirmed Oklahoma on its official participating-states list in IR-2026-76 on June 8, 2026, one of 27 states recognized at that point (see our coverage of the IRS list). States were able to begin signaling participation as early as January 1, 2026, using the advance-election procedure under Rev. Proc. 2026-6 and IRS Form 15714, which lets prospective SGOs start organizing before a state submits its final SGO roster. Organizations preparing to operate in Oklahoma can find peers in our SGO directory and can run their programs on software purpose-built for §25F intake, eligibility, and donor receipting.

The next milestone to watch is Oklahoma's submission of its qualified SGO list and the standup of the School Choice Hub, the 90-day deliverable from the January order. Both steps will determine when Oklahoma families can actually direct §25F-funded scholarships and when SGOs can begin accepting contributions for the 2027 tax year. As more governors join the program, from Virginia and Florida to later entrants, Oklahoma's combination of an early executive announcement and a same-session statutory backstop offers a template other states are likely to follow.