Author: Steve Lewis

Oklahoma should not deny transgender people medically necessary care (Capitol Update)

Senate Bill 904, a carryover bill from 2025 that started as amendments to an incentive reimbursement program for long-term care facilities, was plucked from obscurity recently, gutted, and turned into a bill denying Medicaid (SoonerCare) coverage “for any gender transition… Read more [More...]

Lawmakers fund rural prosecutor recruitment, leave defense behind (Capitol Update)

Legislators’ favorable view of the state’s district attorneys is evident in the passage of a couple of measures requested by the District Attorney’s Council (DAC) to attempt to address the shortage of attorneys willing to serve as assistant district attorneys… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s property tax cap proposal raises equity concerns (Capitol Update)

Property taxes are unpopular in Oklahoma. And an ill-advised initiative petition proposal, State Question 843, would eliminate property taxes on homesteads without replacing the funding for schools, cities, and counties. So, it’s not a surprise that House Speaker Kyle Hilbert,… Read more [More...]

The evolving limits of government liability under Oklahoma’s Governmental Tort Claims Act (Capitol Update)

Sovereign immunity was a common law doctrine brought to the United States from England that stood for the axiom, “the King can do no wrong,” meaning generally that a state and its political subdivisions cannot be held liable for the… Read more [More...]

Competing education proposals set the stage for legislative debate (Capitol Update)

The contours of the debate on how much the Oklahoma Legislature can accomplish this year for education are beginning to take shape in the House and Senate. The Senate took the initiative early when Education Chair Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, and… Read more [More...]

Senate plan would shift $254 million to schools by capping teacher retirement funding (Capitol Update)

Senator Adam Pugh, R-Edmond — with the support of Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle — made an interesting proposal for increasing common school funding by $254 million next year . Pugh is a candidate for State Superintendent.  The… Read more [More...]

Culture war and ethics bills stall in House committee (Capitol Update)

The meeting last week of the House Civil Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Collin Duel, R-Guthrie, was somewhat unusual — three of the 29 bills on the agenda were voted down. It’s surprising these days to see much controversy in… Read more [More...]

OIDS budget request signals new focus on diversion and rural defense (Capitol Update)

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Public Safety and Judiciary Subcommittee — chaired by Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville — held budget hearings from several agencies, including the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS). Executive Director Debbie Maddox, on the job for less… Read more [More...]

Three new bills target rising home insurance costs in Oklahoma (Capitol Update)

Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, has introduced three consumer-focused insurance reform bills aimed at responding to the recent significant increases in property insurance rates across Oklahoma. The first is Senate Bill 1435, which was passed out of the… Read more [More...]

Agency budgets are a piece of a larger state fiscal puzzle (Capitol Update)

First, a correction: Last week, I mistakenly reported the Office of Juvenile Affairs had requested an additional $7 million in their proposed budget for next fiscal year for level E group homes . The level E group homes are for… Read more [More...]