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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
Oklahomans will vote on minimum wage state question, but not in November: A state question proposing to raise the minimum wage in Oklahoma will be put to a vote of the people. When the vote will be held hasn’t been determined, but it won’t be on Nov. 5, the date of the presidential election. [Tulsa World]
First Watch: Stuff You Should Know: Small towns whose economies rely on fossil fuels — and there are one or two of these in Oklahoma — are on a path to financial woes. That’s the contention of an Obama administration economist, Noah Kaufman, who is now a senior research scholar in climate economics at Columbia University. [Oklahoma Watch]
State Government News
Investigation into state Education Department to continue despite leading lawmaker’s election loss: An investigation into the Oklahoma State Department of Education will proceed despite the House lawmaker overseeing it losing his reelection bid. The Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency already started its review of Education Department funds and intends to continue the inquiry. [Oklahoma Watch]
Opposition grows to proposed hydroelectric plant in southeast Oklahoma: A controversial plan to build a hydroelectric power plant in Pushmataha County is drawing opposition from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a handful of state lawmakers and tribal leaders, including some who say the proposal could run afoul of a previous legal agreement between the state and the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma’s economic health: A look at the state’s tax revenue in August: Oklahoma tax revenue rose in August by $24.2 million compared to the same month last year, despite downward trends overall in annual gross receipts, according to the latest report. [The Oklahoman]
- From Oklahoma State Treasurer: Gross Receipts to the Treasury Report, August 2024
Opinion: Pushback on mental competency consent decree is about taxes and power: The standoff over a consent decree to settle a federal class-action lawsuit has nothing to do with mental health treatment, restoring civil rights to criminal defendants or reforming a floundering state agency. It has to do with taxes and political power. [Ginnie Graham / Tulsa World]
Editorial: Incoming Republican leaders need to realize Education Department is on fire: Administrators can’t do it alone; Walters has proved that he’ll attack them. Lawmakers must step in, whether with legislation, investigation or simply speaking up. That can be done only with the support of top Republican leaders. We urge the new leaders to take bolder positions in providing education funds and local control of schools. [Editorial / Tulsa World]
Federal Government News
Oklahomans lend voices ahead of DEA cannabis hearing: More than three months after President Joe Biden called for a relaxation of cannabis restrictions, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced a hearing would be held by the end of the year on rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act to a less restrictive Schedule III drug, similar to Tylenol with codeine or testosterone. [NonDoc]
Voting and Election News
Dutton remains District 3 council winner, mayoral election recount underway: After a Tulsa judge tossed a claim of voting irregularities, the winner of District 3’s City Council race will remain the same. The largest recount in Tulsa County history moves forward. A recount for the Aug. 27 mayoral election is underway. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office re-count did not change outcome: After seven hours of re-counting, there was no change in the 35-vote victory for Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliott over Tyler Cooper on Thursday. [Wagoner County American-Tribune via Tulsa World]
Opinion: Democrats are ensuring the 2024 presidential race is not your Granddaddy’s campaign: The last month of American politics has been a whirlwind, but the Democratic National Convention in Chicago has proven to be a monumental shift in electoral politics going forward. [Emily Stacey / Oklahoma Voice]
Editorial: Election recounts should not become political weapons: Tulsa mayoral candidate Brent VanNorman lost by a narrow margin, but not so narrow a recount is likely to change the outcome. Oklahoma’s election process is considered one of the nation’s most secure for a reason. Post-election audits from the June primaries confirmed the state’s election accuracy with a 100% match of the certified results. A recount may be a right but ought not become a political strategy. [Editorial / Tulsa World]
Education News
Report: Vast majority of Oklahoma college students stay in state once they graduate: More than 87% of students who attend an Oklahoma state college or university were employed in the state one year after graduation, and more than 75% of those were employed in the state five years after graduation, according to a report issued Thursday by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma higher education officials post rules on controversial gender, race law: Oklahoma’s higher education officials posted rules that prevent public colleges and universities in the state from requiring student participation in mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling. [Oklahoma Voice]
- State regents take public comment on new rule on gender, sexual diversity training [Tulsa World]
- Degree programs approved, deleted by Oklahoma higher education officials [Oklahoma Voice]
Langston University Secures Nearly $6 Million in Additional State Funding for 2024-25: Langston University President Ruth Ray Jackson announced the university received almost $6 million in additional state appropriation funding for the 2024-25 school year during her State of the University address at the Opening Convocation Ceremony on Aug. 29. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Lankford explores energy, cybersecurity efforts during TU campus visit: The University of Tulsa showcased some of its initiatives to Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator on Thursday. Sen. James Lankford toured TU’s north campus to learn about research involving hydrogen blending, a process integrating hydrogen with natural gas to reduce carbon emissions. [Public Radio Tulsa]
University of Tulsa named among top colleges for free speech: The University of Tulsa is among the top colleges in the U.S. for free speech, according to a survey released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of Americans to free speech and thought. [Journal Record]
Suspended Shawnee superintendent has ties to other teachers who faced state scrutiny: Officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Shawnee Public Schools are keeping quiet about what led to an investigation by the state agency into the district’s superintendent. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma to receive almost $59 million from student literacy grant, education officials say: Oklahoma will receive millions of dollars in federal support for student literacy programs and teacher training, state and federal education officials announced Thursday. The U.S. Department of Education will provide Oklahoma with $11.2 million this school year for literacy improvement efforts, the federal agency said. Oklahoma is one of 23 states chosen for the grant this year. [Oklahoma Watch]
- Pointing to TPS’ supposed gains, Walters announces $60M statewide grant for reading, tutoring [Public Radio Tulsa]
- $58.9 million federal grant to help students with reading announced in Tulsa [Tulsa World]
Health News
America is trying to fix its maternal mortality crisis with federal, state and local programs: At the site of a race massacre that reduced neighborhoods to ashes a century ago, where murals memorialize a once-thriving “ Black Wall Street,” one African American mother strives to keep others from dying as they try to bring new life into the world. Black women are more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth as white women in Oklahoma, which consistently ranks among the worst states in the nation for maternal mortality. [Associated Press]
OSDH receives millions in federal dollars to expand maternal, child home-visiting services: The Oklahoma State Department of Health has received nearly $8 million in federal funding to expand its maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting services, which support at-risk pregnant people and parents with children up to kindergarten entry. [KGOU]
The 10 states where voters could decide on abortion directly: After legal fights, counter-campaigns and bureaucratic wrangling all year long, as things stand today, abortion questions in 10 states are heading to ballots in November. [States Newsroom via Oklahoma Watch]
Criminal Justice News
Are Oklahoma City police officers really using AI to write reports? What we know: Oklahoma City’s police department is one of a handful in the U.S. experimenting with AI chatbots to produce the first drafts of incident reports, according to The Associated Press. [The Oklahoman]
Economy & Business News
New partnership seeks to tackle Oklahoma’s veterinarian shortage: A new partnership is aiming to address Oklahoma’s large animal veterinarian shortage. The Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture has partnered with the Farm Journal Foundation to assess the lack of access to large animal veterinarians across the state. [KGOU]
Community News
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre graves investigation focuses on ‘The Canes’: The Oklahoma Archaeological Survey deployed its subsurface scanning equipment to an area known as “The Canes” between the Crosbie Heights bluffs and the Arkansas River on Thursday. [Tulsa World]
North Tulsa Neighborhood Revitalization Plan Is Underway: The City of Tulsa in late July awarded $2 million to spur the development of new housing, retail, and office space in north Tulsa. The Tulsa Development Authority (TDA) will use the money to finalize the legal process necessary to begin the development of seventy acres of largely vacant land in north Tulsa. [Oklahoma Eagle]
Opinion: Oklahoma City’s success in attracting talent should be lesson for state leaders to learn: There have been so many recent headlines about Oklahoma’s rankings in terms of quality of life that it is difficult to keep them all straight. Some of these ratings are imperfect, but they certainly are a cause for alarm. A few give reasons for hope, some point to a clear path for improvements, but other headlines, such as the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, reveal a recipe for disaster. [John Thompson / The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“Every day that we have to wait is another day that Oklahomans have to wait for a needed increase in their wages.”
-Amber England, an organizer at Raise the Wage Oklahoma, speaking about the wait for the governor to set a date for a vote on State Question 832, which would increase the Oklahoma’s minimum wage. [Tulsa World]
- From OK Policy: SQ 832 Information and Resources
Number of the Day
14,000
In Oklahoma, a review of criminal charges filed in district courts found that more than 14,000 truancy charges were filed against parents and guardians from 2012-2022, according to data analyzed by Oklahoma Policy Institute for Oklahoma Appleseed. Truancy ranked as the 8th most frequently charged misdemeanor offense in the state, according to a previous analysis by OK Policy. [Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice]
Policy Note
Make Court a Last Resort: Truancy and Chronic Absenteeism in Oklahoma: Oklahoma Appleseed presents a broad overview of Oklahoma’s approach to absenteeism and truancy. Among their key findings is that there is tremendous inconsistency in how the state truancy law and municipal ordinances are applied in practice across the state of Oklahoma. In particular, truancy enforcement is impacted most greatly by the approach taken by district attorneys, and that Oklahoma DAs vary quite substantially in their willingness and eagerness to pursue truancy charges against children or their parents. This inconsistency means that in some jurisdictions and at some times, a student reaching a certain threshold of unexcused absences will be charged immediately with a truancy violation, while in other jurisdictions and at other times, truancy charges are filed very rarely or never. [Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice]
- NOTE: OK Policy’s Research Team contributed to the data analysis for this report.
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