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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.
New from OK Policy
What Oklahoma got right with tobacco lawsuit settlement money (Capitol Update): Looking at how other states have handled their funding from the Master Settlement Agreement, what Oklahoma has done through the constitutional trust is a point of pride. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
State Government News
Oklahoma lawmakers hope to balance better education outcomes and potentially massive tax reforms: State lawmakers have filed thousands of bills ahead of Oklahoma’s 2026 legislative session. Threaded among those bills are two priorities that seem to be at odds: cutting property taxes and improving education outcomes for Oklahoma schoolchildren. [KOSU]
- Capitol Insider: Bill filing completed for 2026 Oklahoma Legislative Session [KGOU]
- Capping rent and tax-free diapers: These bills could impact Tulsa’s cost of living [Tulsa Flyer]
- From OK Policy: Eliminating property taxes would devastate crucial local services
Oklahoma lawmaker proposes open legislature initiative: The Oklahoma Legislature, notably one of the exemptions to the Open Meeting Act and Open Records Act with the most governing power, could soon be brought to heel if one state representative has his way. Before the 4 p.m. general bill filing deadline on Thursday, Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, filed House Bill 3842, which he calls “the Open Legislature Initiative,” a measure he deems “necessary to restore public trust.” [The Journal Record]
Oklahoma lawmakers to pursue permanent school cellphone ban: Rep. Chad Caldwell’s tagline last session when passing a one-year statewide cellphone ban in schools was “try it before you buy it.” Now, Caldwell, R-Enid, and the law’s Senate author, Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, are ready to buy. Both have filed bills that would permanently ban student cellphone use during the school day. [Oklahoma Voice]
Legislator proposes bill to refine Oklahoma DUI law for marijuana users: An Oklahoma legislator has proposed a bill that he says would fix an oversight in the state’s new DUI law, which, in its current form, unintentionally impacts marijuana users. [The Oklahoman]
Why OBN says millions of pounds of marijuana is ‘unaccounted for’: After hearing the state’s top drug enforcement agent speak to Congress, you might be excused for thinking that 98% of marijuana grown in Oklahoma has reached the black market. [The Oklahoman]
Poll Reveals Overwhelming Support for the Right to Sue Insurance Companies: On Monday, as proposed insurance law makes its way toward the legislative session scheduled to begin February 2, the Oklahoma State Medical Association released a poll saying 88% of respondents voiced support for legislation that would allow consumers to sue insurance companies. [Oklahoma Watch]
Opinion: OK Supreme Court ‘rubber stamps’ denial, rules OU misconduct reports privileged: The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s majority wrote Tuesday how it was “undisputed” that OU “received allegations of university personnel misconduct concerning (1) fraudulent reporting of alumni information to news organizations, and (2) sexual misconduct.” But the seven-justice majority stopped far short of the ethical, moral and legal responsibility Oklahoma’s third branch of government is expected to provide, instead ruling OU’s two investigatory reports can be kept private under an attorney-client privilege the court extended into perpetuity. As a result, it’s been a sad week for truth and transparency in Oklahoma. [Tres Savage / NonDoc]
Opinion: Oklahoma bill raises the question: Are lawmakers champions of local residents or developers?: I’ve been watching with considerable interest as hundreds of Broken Arrow residents fight against a plan that would rezone a parcel of agricultural land to make way for a proposed mosque and retail development in their community. It’s not the project itself that’s captured my interest. It’s the fact that this is the second such high profile fight pitting developers against residents in just a few months. [Janelle Stecklein / Oklahoma Voice]
Federal Government News
One year of Donald Trump: Alarms sound over relentless expansion of presidential powers: President Trump’s actions, coupled with a cooperative GOP Congress, have created an unprecedented shift away from the United States’ democratic tradition and founding principles that establish a system of checks and balances, States Newsroom was told in extensive interviews over recent months. [Oklahoma Voice]
Trump rolls out framework on health care costs that’s silent on ACA tax credits: President Donald Trump outlined his health care proposals to Congress on Thursday, asking lawmakers to approve several broad policy changes “without delay” — but left out any mention of enhanced tax credits whose expiration has left some Americans with skyrocketing costs. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma lawmaker sounds alarm over proposed ICE processing center in Oklahoma City: Oklahoma lawmaker raises concerns after ICE reportedly proposed converting a southwest Oklahoma City warehouse into a 1,500-bed processing center as part of a nationwide plan to detain thousands of immigrants. [News 9]
- Oklahoma City ICE detention center plans detailed in document [The Oklahoman]
- ICE detention center proposal in OKC raises transparency concerns for state lawmakers [News 9]
As immigration agents police Minneapolis protests, experts warn of training gaps and the rising risk: Federal immigration agents deployed to Minneapolis have used aggressive crowd-control tactics that have become a dominant concern in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of a woman in her car last week. [Associated Press]
- These are the arrests you’re not seeing [Oklahoma Voice]
Tribal Nations News
Indigenous leaders in Oklahoma raise concerns, advise tribal citizens on ICE encounters: Amid growing mass deportation efforts across the U.S., Indigenous leaders in Oklahoma are warning tribal citizens to be prepared if they are stopped in Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps, especially after multiple incidents in other states. [KOSU]
- United Indian Nations of Oklahoma urges tribal citizens to carry ID amid ICE enforcement [The Journal Record]
Cherokee Federal companies win missile defense agency contracts: Cherokee Federal, the federal contracting division of Cherokee Nation Businesses, announced that 12 of its companies have been awarded contracts for the Missile Defense Agency‘s Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling of $151 billion. [The Journal Record]
Choctaw Nation building network of medical delivery drones: Imagine a day when unmanned drones crisscross rural Oklahoma, delivering both urgent and routine medical shipments to tribal clinics in the Choctaw Nation. That day is coming soon. [The Oklahoman]
Voting and Election News
Election and Transparency Bills to Watch in 2026: With two weeks to go before the legislative session kicks off, lawmakers have proposed dozens of measures affecting your rights to vote and be informed about your government. Here’s a look at five election and transparency bills I’ll be following during the second session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature, which kicks off on Feb. 2. [Oklahoma Watch]
OKC mayor voices support for SQ 836 at signature drive: In the weeks leading up to OKC’s mayoral election, Mayor David Holt showed his support for State Question 836 by chatting with voters and even snapping some selfies with their pets at a signature drive event on Saturday. [The Oklahoman]
Candidate announcement round-up
- Kevin Hern announces re-election bid, ending TU speculation [Tulsa World]
- Former House Speaker jumps into lieutenant governor’s race [Oklahoma Voice]
- Russell Ray enters Corporation Commission race [Tulsa World]
- Former energy journalist launches bid for seat to fix ‘broken’ commission [Tulsa World]
Education News
#oklaed roundup: Epic investigation, PTPLA termination, trial continuation and retention legislation: As school returns for the spring semester, concerns that administrators punted to the new year are coming back around. Some have reached apparent resolutions, while others hit checkpoints. [NonDoc]
Oklahoma Jewish groups speak out against proposed charter school: Organizations representing Jewish communities in the state’s two largest metropolitan areas have expressed concerns about a proposed Jewish charter school, and one of the groups is urging the Statewide Charter School Board to reject the proposal. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma program connects hundreds of schools with local agriculture products: Several hundred Oklahoma schools have signed on to participate in a new state program that aims to put fresh meat, fruits and vegetables on students’ lunch trays. [Oklahoma Voice]
Opinion: No ‘miracle’ will quickly fix Oklahoma’s education system. It’s going to take a marathon: Oklahoma’s legislators are, once again, seeking a silver bullet to solve our complex education problems. It doesn’t exist, and their annoying habit of trying to take shortcuts to solve complicated, intertwined problems and repeating lobbyists’ popular talking points, continue to undermine teaching and learning. No “miracle” is going to quickly fix our sagging literacy rates and restore reading for comprehension or simply increase our testing outcomes. It will take a marathon to do that. [John Thompson / Oklahoma Voice]
Health News
Advocates say grants for rural hospitals won’t make up for Medicaid cuts: Health care advocates say new federal grants for rural hospitals will fail to make up for the hundreds of millions of dollars every year the state is losing from Medicaid cuts. [The Oklahoman]
Criminal Justice News
Trust hears positive reports on life and death in the OK County jail: No one has died in the Oklahoma County jail in the past six months, a welcome statistic for the 35-year-old, 13-story “tower of terror” also known as one of the “deadliest jails in America.” [The Oklahoman]
Group investigating claims of religious conversion at Oklahoma jail: A Cleveland County office was accused of coercing detention center inmates into converting to Christianity, but the sheriff in charge of the jail said there is no truth to the claims. [The Oklahoman]
‘Teaching us how to grow with our babies’: How prisons allow mothers and infants to nest for months: As more women enter state prisons while pregnant, some lawmakers and corrections officials are expanding prison nursery programs, betting that keeping mothers and infants together can reduce trauma and recidivism — even as critics question whether any prison can ever be an appropriate place for a child. [Oklahoma Voice]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
City of Tulsa sees 24% boost in housing the homeless in 2025: A Way Home for Tulsa, the community’s continuum of service providers for the homeless, secured housing for 1,064 people in 2025, up 24% from the previous year, according to data published Friday by Housing Solutions. [Tulsa World]
Economy & Business News
Energy activity declines sharply in last quarter; further contraction expected: The region’s energy business activity — including drilling — fell sharply in the last quarter of 2025 with further contraction expected, Oklahoma economists at the Federal Reserve in Kansas City say. [Tulsa World]
- Experts consider Venezuela’s impact on Oklahoma’s energy-based economy [Tulsa World]
Community News
Tulsa’s MLK Day Parade celebrates a ‘New Day. Same Dream.’: Tulsa’s 47th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade was held Monday in the Historic Greenwood District. The motto for this year’s event was “New Day. Same Dream.” [Tulsa Flyer]
Tulsa’s growing Latino community finds voice — and representation — on city commission: Amairani Torres-Chamu knows firsthand how hard it is to feel represented as an immigrant, especially when she could not yet cast a vote. Being part of the Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic/Latinx Affairs Commission allowed her to build a bridge between community members who have felt similarly and city officials. [Tulsa Flyer]
Opinion: The Price of Being Black in America’s “Stable” Economy: If inflation were truly “stable,” Black America would not have felt poorer at the end of 2025 than it did at the beginning. Yet across kitchen tables, grocery aisles, and gas stations, Black families know something the national headlines keep missing: a so-called stable economy can still be devastating when the math starts unequal. [James S. Bridgeforth / The Black Wall Street Times]
Opinion: MLK gave us a clear path forward we should follow today: It’s a good thing on a regular basis to consider the content of our own characters and ask ourselves whether we’re treating everybody we encounter with kindness and fairness. Certainly that includes people whose skin color is different from our own. But it also includes people who have different opinions than we do. The more antagonistic we are toward people who are “different” in one way or another, the more difficult it will be to solve problems that affect us all. Members of Congress are not the only people who find fault with everyone outside their own “club.” [William C. Wertz / The Oklahoman]
Opinion: On MLK and Gen Z: In Oklahoma, school is not a place students can turn to fill their knowledge gaps about the King era. Few if any public institutions of learning in Tulsa or anywhere in the state offer courses in the politics and culture of the civil rights era that King helped lead. It’s up to families now. [Judd Slivka / Oklahoma Eagle]
- OKC MLK Alliance celebrates 46 years of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [KFOR]
- Annual MLK Day parade powers through cold weather, celebrates legacy [The Oklahoman]
- Tulsa’s MLK Day Parade celebrates a ‘New Day. Same Dream.’ [Tulsa Flyer]
Local Headlines
- EPS bond election seeks funding for east Edmond schools, buses [NonDoc]
- Oilman says existing wells make proposed Edmond project dangerous [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“(The Absentee Shawnee Tribe) has recently been informed that the federal government, in its attempt to deport undocumented migrants, has begun to approach, question and even detain Tribal members in Oklahoma. It appears that these Tribal Members were accosted by officers using unconstitutional racial profiling techniques.”
-Absentee Shawnee Governor John Raymond Johnson, writing in a letter published on social media last week, saying Tribal citizens in Oklahoma are being caught up in the federal government’s push to deport undocumented migrants. [KOSU]
Number of the Day
25%
Fully 25 percent of households in the bottom of half of the income distribution report experiencing food insecurity or not being able to pay their rent, mortgage, or utility bill compared to 8 percent of households in the top half. This is because households with incomes in the bottom half of the distribution (less than $70,000 in 2023) spend almost 90 percent of their incomes on basic items: utilities, groceries, health care, transportation, and shelter. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
Policy Note
A Record of Historic Harm in the First Year of Trump’s Second Term: The Trump Administration and congressional Republicans advanced one of the most radically regressive policy agendas in our nation’s history during the first year of President Trump’s second term. As a result, tens of millions of people will be less able to meet the growing cost of their basic needs — whether it’s affording groceries, seeing a doctor, keeping the power on, or paying the rent — even as the wealthiest households get a windfall of more tax breaks. At the same time, President Trump and his Administration have undermined and corrupted many basic functions of government, including the proper and timely allocation of funds approved by Congress, leading to more disruption and harm. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
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