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In The Know is your daily briefing on Oklahoma policy-related news. OK Policy encourages the support of Oklahoma’s state and local media, which are vital to an informed citizenry. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Some stories included here are behind paywall or require subscription. Subscribe to In The Know and see past editions.
Oklahoma News
City discovers first grave of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victim: After years of speculation and work, the city of Tulsa says it’s located for the first time a grave of a missing man who died in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. [Public Radio Tulsa]
- Tulsa Race Massacre’s first identified victim from unmarked burials is a WWI veteran [Tulsa World]
- First victim of Tulsa Race Massacre identified through DNA genealogy as WWI veteran [The Oklahoman]
- The Search for Tulsa Massacre Victims Finally Reveals a Name [New York Times]
State Government News
Oklahoma Senate to convene for special session Monday, elect next Pro Tem: Oklahoma senators will return to the Capitol Monday for another special session to elect the next Republican Senate leader and to approve a nomination to the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents. [The Oklahoman]
- Oklahoma Senate to convene for special session Monday, elect next Pro Tem [Oklahoma Voice]
Legal shift could transform tribal online gaming. But what about in Oklahoma?: A recent move by the U.S. Supreme Court could reshape what’s possible for tribal gaming and mobile sports betting. Experts caution, however, that massive changes could be years away for Oklahoma, one of a dozen states where sports betting remains illegal. [The Oklahoman]
Federal Government News
D.C. Digest: Cole remains optimistic about appropriations bills: Fourth District Congressman and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said the funding process is still on track, or at least ahead of last year, despite the unexpected defeat of legislative branch appropriations. [Tulsa World]
Tribal Nations News
Supreme Court tells IHS to pay its bills: On June 6, the justices ruled 5 to 4 in favor of San Carlos Apache Tribe and Northern Arapaho. The question: should the Indian Health Service have to reimburse overhead costs, often referred to as contract-support costs, for billing insurance companies — like Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers — at tribally-run health programs known colloquially as 638 hospitals? The answer is yes. [Cherokee Phoenix]
Citizens of these five Oklahoma tribes can now hunt, fish on reservation lands: Five of Oklahoma’s largest tribal nations will allow their citizens to hunt and fish across each of their reservations under a joint agreement announced Friday. [The Oklahoman]
- Oklahoma tribal nations announce joint hunting-fishing compacts [Oklahoma Ecology Project / KOSU]
Cherokee Nation awarded $971k tribal cybersecurity grant: The Cherokee Nation has been awarded $971,000 from the Department of Homeland Security in a first-ever Tribal Cybersecurity Grant, which designed to empower tribal nations to stay focused on cybersecurity and digital threats. [Cherokee Phoenix]
$120 million in federal funds open as Oklahoma tribes prepare for increased flood risks: Federal funding announced by the Department of the Interior aims to empower tribal nations to overcome environmental threats. [KOSU]
Cherokee Women’s AcceleratHER Fellowship announces second cohort: Cherokee Nation and The University of Tulsa announce the launch of the second cohort of the TU Cherokee Women’s AcceleratHER Fellowship, empowered by the ayana Foundation. The fellowship is designed to empower and accelerate the growth of venture-scalable businesses led by Cherokee women. [Cherokee Phoenix]
Voting and Election News
Despite reelection, charged Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris agrees to resign: Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris, who was recently reelected despite pending charges for felony embezzlement and bribery of a public official, has agreed to remain suspended for the next six months and forego the term in office he just won. [NonDoc]
Raise the Wage Petitioners Set to Turn In Signatures: Petitioners seeking to raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2029 will descend on the Secretary of State’s office in Oklahoma City Monday morning. [Oklahoma Watch]
Legislation doubling pay for election precinct officials takes effect: Effective July 1, precinct officials received a pay increase from $110 a day to $225 a day for inspectors and from $100 a day to $200 a day for judges and clerks. Oklahoma’s 77 county election boards are required to have these three precinct officials. [Oklahoma Voice]
Political notebook: Oklahoma Republicans head to national convention: Oklahoma has 43 delegates, led by state GOP Chairman Nathan Dahm, and 40 alternates at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. All the delegates are pledged to former president and presumptive 2024 nominee Donald Trump and are bound to him by state law. [Tulsa World]
Health News
Oklahoma officials report state’s first West Nile case, death of 2024: A resident of southeastern Oklahoma has died after contracting West Nile virus, state health officials announced Friday. It is the first case, and the first death of 2024. [The Oklahoman]
Grading Oklahoma: After the Dobbs decision in 2022, here’s a look at abortion in Oklahoma: Abortion is banned in Oklahoma, except to save the life of a pregnant woman, but in 2024 several legislators filed bills to further restrict the practice. This week, Grading Oklahoma takes a look at state and national data since the US Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision on abortion. [The Oklahoman]
Criminal Justice News
Feds, police search Tulsa’s juvenile center in ‘multiple’ misconduct probes: Tulsa police are serving a search warrant on the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice as the facility remains under intense scrutiny due to extensive allegations of abuse and neglect. [Public Radio Tulsa]
- ‘One giant game of chicken’: Advocate says law makes passing FCJJ blame easy [Public Radio Tulsa]
Final plans for new Diversion Hub building presented, construction to start in September: Final architectural plans for a new and permanent location for the Oklahoma County Diversion Hub were recommended by MAPS 4 advisers Thursday. The MAPS 4 Diversion Hub facility will serve as the new headquarters for a nonprofit organization partnering with multiple agencies to provide stabilizing services to people navigating the criminal justice system. [The Oklahoman]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Experts Disagree on Cause of Oklahoma’s Rising Rents: Housing shortages and rising rents go hand-in-hand with supply-demand economics. When supply is low and demand is high, one can reasonably assume costs will rise. [Oklahoma Watch]
‘Something that is their own’: 15 new tiny homes unveiled for those leaving foster care: On Friday, organizers unveiled 15 new tiny homes constructed to aid young people transitioning out of the foster care system in Oklahoma. The initiative arose from the combined efforts of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, which funded the project, and Pivot, an organization that serves disadvantaged young people. [Fox 25]
- Nonprofit and DHS partner with community to fill new tiny homes with love, hope for youths [The Oklahoman]
$1 million to go toward housing in Ponca City: In the last decade, 121 houses have been built in Ponca City, a municipality of 24,000 people. The Ponca City Development Authority is dedicating $1 million to housing projects over the next three years to fuel the area’s growth and address the city’s housing shortage. [KOSU]
Plans set to revitalize Oklahoma City’s oldest public housing complex, neighborhood: A two-year planning process to revitalize Oklahoma City’s oldest public housing complex and the area surrounding it is six months in. [KOSU]
After Homelessness Ruling, Cities Weigh Whether to Clear Encampments: The Supreme Court decided last month that cities could cite homeless campers. Some say ‘clear them all.’ Others are ramping up outreach. [New York Times]
Economy & Business News
One year since $2 billion theme park announcement: What’s happened?: A year ago this week, more than 800 people packed the Craig County Fairgrounds and Community Center building for the public announcement of a $2 billion Disney-like theme park in Vinita. So what has happened in the past year? Visually, not much, but behind the scenes, much more, Vinita Mayor Josh Lee said. [Tulsa World]
Education News
Drummond to Statewide Charter School Board: AG taking over counsel after inaction on court order: The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office is asserting itself as legal counsel to a state board after two meetings where no action was taken to follow a direct order by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court regarding a proposed new religious charter school. [Tulsa World]
- AG to take over as counsel for charter school board; tells board to rescind St. Isidore contract [The Oklahoman]
Emails tell how creation of library advisory committee led to lawsuit by Edmond schools: Public records surrendered by the Oklahoma State Department of Education after a delay of more than four months reveal the persistent focus of those working for state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters on the issue of inappropriate school library books and the lengthy involvement of an advisory committee whose membership he’s still keeping secret. [The Oklahoman]
Norman Public Schools will not follow Walters’ attempted Bible mandate: Norman Public Schools will not require its teachers to teach from the Bible, despite a recent memorandum from State Superintendent Ryan Walters attempting to require them to do so, according to comments made by the district’s superintendent in a recent report. [KFOR]
- Superintendent: ‘We’re not going to have Bibles in our classrooms’ [Norman Transcript]
Can a Bible mandate get ‘separation of church and state’ overturned? Ryan Walters hopes so: State Superintendent Ryan Walters says he would welcome lawsuits against his mandate requiring Bibles in schools because he hopes those lawsuits would lead to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning previous rulings on separation of church and state. [Tulsa World]
Walters claims Mid-Del is ‘forced to repay’ funds the district already has said it would return: State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters is insisting again that Mid-Del Schools will be forced to repay about $574,000 in federal COVID-era relief funds, although the Oklahoma County school district said two months ago it would willingly return the money. [Tulsa World]
Ryan Walters commits $140K in taxpayer funds for InspireOK, Teacher of the Year event: The Oklahoma State Department of Education has committed up to $140,000 in taxpayer funds for Tulsa’s convention center to host Monday events where Ryan Walters’ administration will be introducing representatives of like-minded political and advocacy groups as instructors and naming the state’s next Teacher of the Year. [Tulsa World]
Capitol Insider: Walters proposes complete overhaul of state social studies standards: State Superintendent Ryan Walters has announced plans to dramatically change social studies standards for state schools and appoints the committee to guide revisions. [KGOU]
Opinion: Oklahoma officials make education look like the ‘Twilight Zone,’ and no one wants to see the twist: Every time it seems like our public school policies can’t get any more bizarre, our education officials manage to up the ante. [Janelle Stecklein / Oklahoma Voice]
Community News
Opinion: Why many of Oklahoma’s youngest children, families are struggling since pandemic: A recent New York Times article titled “The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School and Struggling” confirms what the Potts Family Foundation began hearing three years ago, prompting our effort to secure funding to address this very concern. Fortunately, the Oklahoma Legislature’s Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding found our proposal worthy of awarding $9 million to focus on the developmental delays in children born in and around the time of the pandemic. [Linda Manaugh / The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- OKC may divert $3M in unspent convention center funds to Riversport for 2028 Olympics prep [The Oklahoman]
- Gem Hotel latest ambitious project to come and go at abandoned warehouse on Bricktown Canal [The Oklahoman]
- Opinion: Boathouse District needs transit access [Bennett Brinkman / NonDoc]
- New data center facilities may be coming to Stillwater [KGOU]
Quote of the Day
“We should have some very real conversations about the performance of the State Department of Education, who’s working there, and how our state’s largest appropriated agency is spending its money. But instead, we’re having a conversation about Bibles in the classroom.”
-Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, speaking about the state superintendent’s mandate to require Bibles in public school classrooms. Waldron said he thinks it distracts from larger concerns and questions about the way the superintendent has been operating the State Department of Education and the impact on students. [Tulsa World]
Number of the Day
6.3%
Percentage of household income that Oklahoma’s top 1% of earners pay towards state and local taxes, which is almost half the rate payed by the lowest-income 20 percent of taxpayers. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
Policy Note
Can Taxes Reduce Inequality? What a Study of State and Local Taxes Tells Us: Who pays? Along with its companion question of “who benefits,” “who pays” has long been a central concern of both politics and economics. Earlier this year, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) published Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, its seventh study on the topic since 1996 and its first since 2018. [Nonprofit Quarterly]
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