Author: Steve Lewis

Oklahoma’s booms, busts, and tax cut déjà vu (Capitol Update)

The state received more good revenue news last week. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) reported on Friday that the General Revenue Fund collections for fiscal year 2025 totaled $8.7 billion — $224.7 million (2.6 percent) above the… Read more [More...]

George Nigh’s legacy wasn’t just in policy, but in people (Capitol Update)

After a long life of service, former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh died last week. He served as governor for six of the years that I was a member of the Legislature. I could share many of the experiences I had… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma legislators to examine child well‑being in 2025 interim studies (Capitol Update)

Last week Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, released the list of approved interim studies for this year’s interim session. With Oklahoma ranking 46th overall for child well-being in the 2025 Annie E. Casey KIDS COUNT Databook, this could be… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Highway Patrol withdrawal sparks legal and legislative pushback (Capitol Update)

Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton announced that, beginning November 1st, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol will stop patrolling interstate highways in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas. According to Tipton, the change is intended to enhance statewide… Read more [More...]

Senators request interim study to rethink how Oklahoma cities are funded (Capitol Update)

A couple of freshmen senators from Oklahoma’s two largest metro areas have made a bipartisan request for a legislative interim study to look for ways to “stabilize” municipal funding in Oklahoma. Sen. Christi Gillespie, R-Broken Arrow, and Sen. Mark Mann,… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s “failure to protect” law under scrutiny in new interim study (Capitol Update)

Last week, Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, announced that senators had requested 90 interim studies to be conducted while the legislature is out of session. In the Senate, interim studies are assigned to various standing committees, and the… Read more [More...]

Lawsuit challenges constitutionality of new business court law (Capitol Update)

It didn’t take long for a challenge to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s new business courts to be filed in the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The lawsuit, filed last week,  asked the court to declare the law — which is scheduled to go… Read more [More...]

Cash bail doesn’t make us safer, but pretrial reform can (Capitol Update)

It may be time for the legislature to take another look at pretrial release reform in Oklahoma. Cash bail bonds are typically based primarily on the charges filed and include little, if any, evidence-based assessment of flight risk or danger… Read more [More...]

SB 870 establishes strict liability for failing to report misconduct in youth detention (Capitol Update)

A new law passed this session will establish stringent new reporting requirements for any employee, contractor, volunteer, or third party “working in or around” (1) a state-run juvenile facility, (2) a private contractor or group home under the supervision of… Read more [More...]

SB 1168 expands liability for government-caused injuries and property damage (Capitol Update)

One of the more positive results of the leveraging between policy and budget issues at the end of the legislative session was the passage of SB 1168, which deals with the perplexing issue of sovereign immunity [More...]