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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
Policy Matters: Without proof, efficiency is just politics dressed up like progress: Lately, the overused buzzword in political circles is “efficiency.” Politicians say they want to cut waste and save taxpayer money. But here’s the catch: being efficient isn’t the same as being effective. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Oklahoma News
Standridge’s homeless shelter bill stalled in House committee: An Oklahoma House committee on Wednesday “laid over,” or postponed until next year a bill that would effectively limit the construction of homeless shelters in all Oklahoma towns but Tulsa and Oklahoma City. [The Norman Transcript]
- House committee cold-shoulders controversial homeless bill [Tulsa World]
State Government News
After Walters endorses union alternative, Pogemiller requests AG opinion, files ethics complaint: Despite State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ recent settlement agreement for an ethics violation case involving how he uses social media, his subsequent endorsement of an alternate organization to “woke teachers’ unions” on official state letterhead has spurred Rep. Ellen Pogemiller to request a legal opinion from Attorney General Gentner Drummond and to file another complaint with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. [NonDoc]
- First Watch: Stuff You Should Know [Oklahoma Watch]
Stitt pitches legislative agenda in Broken Arrow: As Gov. Kevin Stitt laid out his agenda for this legislative session, he glanced at his audience and said: “I wish these things were more sexy.” Tax cuts, business courts, behind-the-meter (and off-the-grid) electric generation are the priorities Stitt has been selling to chambers of commerce and other civic groups across the state this spring. [KOSU]
- Opinion, House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson: The math behind Stitt’s half and a path plan does not add up [Rep. Cyndi Munson / Oklahoma Gazette]
- From OK Policy: Governor’s costs for his proposed income tax cut have quietly increased. Here’s why lawmakers should prioritize targeted tax credits to help working families.
Governor Stitt blasts record number of Democratic bills passing Oklahoma House: On Wednesday, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt expressed dismay at the amount of Democratic-authored bills that have made it out of the House of Representatives. “Wow. Disappointing!” Gov. Stitt posted on X, while sharing a screenshot of an Oklahoma Voice article with the headline, “Record number of Democratic bills advance out of Oklahoma House”. [News Channel 8]
As forestry controversy grows, Stitt and Hilbert feud over firefighters’ letter: The controversy surrounding Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s firing of the state’s forestry chief and his loud − but short − call to eliminate the entire forestry division got bigger this week, when both Stitt and his staff claimed that one legislative leader forced large organizations to sign a letter that questioned the governor’s call. [The Oklahoman]
New Stitt executive order seeks number of contract workers at Oklahoma agencies: Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order Wednesday designed to determine the number of independent contractors working with state agencies and to learn if agency officials are using those contractors to try and skirt Stitt’s call for flat executive-agency budgets. [The Oklahoman]
Stitt boasts ‘Texodus’ to Oklahoma: Dallas Morning News columnist Dallas Cothrum coined the term in a March opinion piece about migration from Texas to Oklahoma, noting that in 2023, Oklahoma had a net gain of 2,000 people. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Vape regulation bill advances in Oklahoma Legislature: An Oklahoma Senate bill adding requirements for manufacturers of vapor products advanced to an oversight committee Wednesday. [The Journal Record]
Disagreements over regulating wind turbines continue between Oklahoma House, Senate: Differing ideas of how to create residential setbacks for wind turbines have advanced through the Oklahoma House and Senate, but the chambers have yet to find a compromise on bill language. [Oklahoma Voice]
House committee discards bill requiring potty training before pre-K: The House Common Education Committee struck down Senate Bill 382 by vote of 8-3 on Wednesday. The bill would have permitted public schools to temporarily withdraw a student after three or more soiling incidents until the child is toilet trained. [Oklahoma Voice]
Roundup: OSDE wins lawsuit, files another; Supremes take up Norman TIF; OK County land swap on tap: In this roundup, learn about a city councilor’s no contest plea to embezzlement, updates on the controversial arena TIFs and a dissident’s legal future after being arrested for criticizing the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office. Outside of Norman, read about two lawsuits involving OSDE, a legal battle between the Choctaw Nation and Flincto Construction, possible new land for the Oklahoma County Jail and the loss of three Oklahoma public servants. [NonDoc]
Federal Government News
National Weather Service pauses alert translations in other languages: A change at the National Weather Service could put half a million Oklahoma lives at risk. For now, the weather service will no longer translate weather alerts for non-English speakers. [KFOR]
Trump tariff threats raise budget concerns in Oklahoma City: If the tariffs remain in place, they will likely raise costs and uncertainty for businesses, potentially reducing hiring, investment and expansion, AP reports. About 70% of the city’s general fund comes from sales and use tax revenue, meaning spending levels directly impact city services. [The Journal Record]
- Markets revive after Trump sets 90-day pause on many tariffs, hikes China to 125% [Oklahoma Voice]
- China slams US with 84% tariff after new wave of Trump levies [USA Today]
Cuts to federal health care grants could have ‘substantial’ impact in Oklahoma: Oklahoma has some of the highest rates of mental illness and substance use disorders in the country. But nonprofits, state agencies, lawmakers and dedicated Oklahomans have been working to change the stats. Hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for those efforts has come directly from the federal government. [KOSU]
Oklahoma nonprofits face uncertainty amid potential federal funding cuts: Marnie Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, can only think of a few times when Oklahoma’s nonprofit sector faced the kind of challenges and uncertainty that it is presently facing in the wake of federal funding cuts being ushered in by the Trump administration. [The Oklahoman]
Trump signs orders targeting revival of ‘beautiful, clean coal’: In wide-ranging comments in front of a phalanx of coal miners at the White House, Trump said the orders would revitalize an industry pushed to the brink by Democratic policies that encourage renewable energy. [Oklahoma Voice]
Opinion: Stories on immigration crackdown aren’t the whole picture: Visas of legal immigrants are being snatched away with no explanation or due process. Immigrants are being nabbed off the streets by masked immigration agents. Tourists are being detained and harassed. Some of those deported or detained have been U.S. citizens. [Ginnie Graham / Tulsa World]
Tribal Nations News
Bill addressing tribal toll collections falls in House committee; governor reacts: The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s inability to collect tolls from some motorists who have vehicles tagged by Native American tribes won’t be addressed by legislation that crashed and burned during a House committee meeting on Wednesday. [Tulsa World]
Cherokee Nation donates $7.6M to Oklahoma schools: An annual tradition, the Cherokee Nation handed out checks to school districts across the reservation using funds from tribal car tag sales. [Cherokee Phoenix]
Other tribes allowed to join lawsuit against area district attorneys over jurisdiction: A judge Wednesday granted requests by other tribal nations to join in federal lawsuits filed by the Muscogee Nation and the federal government against two Oklahoma district attorneys. [Tulsa World]
Education News
University of Oklahoma students express concerns about student visa revocations: Visas for international college students are being revoked nationwide and here in our state. An international student from OU spoke to News 4 about her concerns regarding the revocations. [KFOR]
- How many Oklahoma students have had their visas revoked? What we know [The Oklahoman]
Proposal to create in-state college athletic conference advances: Rogers State University, Northeastern State University and other smaller universities in Oklahoma could make a jump into a new in-state athletic conference envisioned in a bill that has scored support at the Capitol. [Tulsa World]
Health News
How one group is educating Oklahomans on reproductive health care amid state abortion ban: Since Oklahoma’s near-total abortion ban went into effect, providers and thousands of people who have left the state to receive care have experienced its impacts. The group repro46 hopes to educate Oklahomans on those continued effects by bringing people from all walks of life together to have conversations about reproductive health care. [KGOU]
Criminal Justice News
As Prison Phone Call Caps Take Effect, Focus Shifts to Tablets: To comply with a new FCC regulation capping prison and jail phone call rates, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and Securus Technologies agreed to lower the state’s phone call rate from 14 cents per minute to 6 cents per minute. Some content on the devices, such as library books and educational materials, is free. Features such as e-messaging, music and movie streaming are behind a paywall. [Oklahoma Watch]
Five things to know about The Frontier’s reporting on police surveillance in Tulsa: Flock Safety’s marketing materials portray Tulsa as a national success story and “a beacon for what modern, data-driven policing can achieve.” But crime data tells a different story. [The Frontier]
Pawnee woman accused of laundering of $1.5M from elderly women in online romance scam: The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office filed charges Monday against a Pawnee woman for allegedly laundering an estimated $1.5 million in funds through online romance scams. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma man charged with insulting Thailand’s royal family: U.S. citizen Paul Chambers, 58, is a political science lecturer at Naresuan University and has lived in Thailand for decades. Police reportedly came to his workplace on Friday, April 4, and served him with an arrest warrant, according to The Associated Press. He was accused of insulting or defaming Thailand’s monarchy, which is a charge also known as lèse majesté. [The Oklahoman]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Report projects 8% increase in Oklahoma home insurance: A new report shows Oklahoma is the third most expensive state for home insurance. This year, the report projects that Oklahomans will see an 8% increase, which is also the national average. [KFOR]
Community News
Tulsa launches second round of genealogy workshops to help residents trace family roots: The initiative is part of the city’s broader effort to empower residents—particularly those in North Tulsa, Greenwood, and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre—to explore their family histories using genealogical tools and expert guidance. [The Black Wall Street Times]
The 30th anniversary of the OKC bombing is almost here. See the events leading up to it: On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, resulting in the deaths of 168 people in what is still the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the United States. Each year since, a solemn ceremony has marked the anniversary to honor those who were killed and the more than 600 people who survived. [The Oklahoman]
- How the nation reacted: See newspaper front pages after the Oklahoma City bombing [The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- OKC’s NBC Corp. joins Equity Bank in $87M deal [The Journal Record]
- New OK County Commissioner Jason Lowe gets a taste of the routine at first board meeting [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“Are they really trying to provide tax relief for hardworking Oklahomans or only the wealthiest insiders who have access to the governor?”
– House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson (Oklahoma City) asked in an op-ed questioning the governor’s tax cut plan, which would result in tax reductions for the wealthiest Oklahomans while decimating state revenue and risking significant cuts to vital services. [Oklahoma Gazette]
Number of the Day
56.1%
Federal Medicaid funding accounted for 56.1 percent of all federal funding included in state budgets last year. [National Association of State Budget Officers]
Policy Note
Shifting Federal Costs for Food Assistance, Health Care, Other Priorities to States Would Cause Widespread Harm: House and Senate Republicans are working overtime to rush through a federal budget plan that would cut off large portions of federal funding for food assistance, health care, and other vital programs while requiring states and localities to pick up more of the tab. If adopted, the plans — which also include trillions of dollars in tax cuts heavily tilted toward the wealthy — would in effect force states to take health care and food assistance away from millions of people. The plans also threaten cuts to other state-supported services that people count on, especially people with low incomes. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
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