OKPOLICY.ORG
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
Grand jury: Gov. Stitt helped free friend from prison just weeks into 8-year sentence: An investigation by the state’s multicounty grand jury found that a close friend of Gov. Kevin Stitt got out of prison in just 73 days of an 8-year sentence after Stitt “made multiple calls” on her behalf to the top official at the Department of Corrections. Grand jurors said in their 14-page report that Sara Polston was given special treatment. The investigation, however, did not result in any criminal charges. Stitt denied wrongdoing. [The Oklahoman]
Fraud allegations raised against nonprofit using USDA funds to feed Oklahoma kids: State Superintendent Lindel Fields is asking that a McAlester organization be investigated for potential fraud. In a letter dated Thursday, Fields advised Gov. Kevin Stitt, State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd, and Attorney General Gentner Drummond about possible fraud by Feed the Kids Inc., including allegations of inflating operating costs and meal counts. [Tulsa World]
State Government News
Gov. Stitt vetoes bill extending life of Oklahoma’s public television, two dozen other measures: Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill Wednesday that would extend the life of Oklahoma’s Educational Television Authority, or OETA, to 2031. It’s among the latest of about two dozen vetoes so far. [KOSU]
- Stitt vetoes OETA, objects to publicly funded broadcasting [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma governor vetoes OETA extension, putting public TV at risk [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma House swaps resolution language with proposal to change Medicaid expansion: Oklahoma representatives shucked a Senate resolution and replaced it with language that would send Medicaid expansion back to voters during a Thursday meeting. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said it was the only way to get a sought-after state question on the ballot before they adjourn sine die, after the Senate abruptly gaveled in and out for the week on Wednesday. [StateImpact Oklahoma via KGOU]
- Oklahoma House GOP pursues new method to control Medicaid expansion [The Oklahoman]
- Oklahoma House vote opens door to Nov. 3 vote on changing Medicaid [Tulsa World]
House wraps its head around tradition-shattering legislation: Decomposing human remains and marriage for adults only tested the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ sensibilities on Wednesday as it labored alone in the Capitol long after its Senate comrades had vacated the building without so much as a pledge to the flag. Working late into the night, the House sent to the governor dozens of measures, most relatively mundane, but a few challenging long-standing traditions were not. [Tulsa World]
- Voting in state Senate shuts down as Republican infighting boils [Tulsa World]
- Lawmakers plan for early departure from Capitol [Tulsa World]
State Government Roundup
- Stitt vetoes open meetings measure, axes sunset law reform [Tulsa World]
- House gives final passage to bill aimed at internet abortion searches [Tulsa World]
- Plan for temporary Oklahoma mental health department leadership passes House [Oklahoma Voice]
- Child marriage ban narrowly advanced by Oklahoma Legislature [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma House swiftly overrides Stitt veto of out-of-state travel notification bill [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma signs memorandum with Hitachi amid power grid pressure [The Journal Record]
- Former state employee charged with stealing $2 million from assistance fund [Tulsa World]
- Session Watch: Week 14 [Oklahoma Watch]
Opinion, This Week in Oklahoma Politics: Drummond versus Stitt, 2026 legislature ending, cellphones in schools and more (podcast): The panelists talk about Attorney General Gentner Drummond refusing to approve a contract for an investment advisor with ties to Gov. Kevin Stitt, Stitt and Drummond clashing over legislation to strengthen Oklahoma’s Open Meeting Act and state lawmakers planning to end the 2026 legislature two weeks early. The trio also discusses legislation to expand the school year for some institutions, a permanent ban on cellphones in schools and an audit of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and it’s managed care program to privatize Medicaid. [KOSU]
Editorial: What rules? The Legislature sneaks one by the people: In an action that threw out the window all the fancy talk about modifying the rules to promote “legislative transparency,” the Oklahoma Senate ignored them. Instead of giving members and the public adequate notice and opportunity to discuss important changes in the law, they rushed through in a single afternoon last week an abortion bill that had been sitting around for nearly a year. [The Oklahoman Editorial Board]
- Governor signs Oklahoma bill criminalizing providing abortion-inducing drugs [Oklahoma Voice]
Federal Government News
Mullin reportedly eyeing Tulsa County sheriff for ICE director: Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado declined to comment Thursday on a Substack post stating that he is in the running to become the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. [Tulsa World]
Voting and Election News
Attack ads are flooding Oklahoma primary elections: We checked the facts: Super PACs are paying for a new wave of attack ads on candidates in the Oklahoma gubernatorial and attorney general’s races ahead of the June Republican primary. These independent groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money in elections as long as they don’t coordinate directly with candidates. [The Frontier]
From Norman to the State GOP: How the Abolitionist Movement is Capturing Oklahoma’s Republican Party: The abolitionists, a fast-growing splinter group now assuming control of Oklahoma’s Republican Party, is pushing anti-abortion legislation to further extremes. [Oklahoma Watch]
Donald Trump endorses Jackson Lahmeyer in key Oklahoma primary race: President Donald Trump has endorsed a Tulsa pastor in the highly contested race to represent Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District. Trump endorsed Jackson Lahmeyer over 10 other Republican candidates in a Truth Social post on Thursday, May 7. [The Oklahoman]
- Trump endorsement of Lahmeyer doesn’t deter CD 1 opponents [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma judge races: 188 file for 152 judicial offices, 138 elected unopposed: More than 100 of Oklahoma’s elected judges won reelection April 3 by virtue of being the only person to file for the job, with even a few open seats decided by default. [NonDoc]
Opinion: GOP goes from unity to mutual fire: Now that Republicans dominate – and winning the party’s nomination is oft-tantamount to election in November – GOP-on-GOP sniping is surging, overshadowing where candidates stand on important issues and how they would attempt to govern if elected. [Arnold Hamilton / The Journal Record]
Opinion: GOP can keep America First and still be a welcoming party: My positive foundations eventually led me to share a vision for a more inclusive party in The New York Times with the op-ed, “I’m the child of immigrants. I’m not giving up on the Republican Party.” This served as a transformative first step, teaching me that true leadership is built on a shared commitment to a unified goal. [Diego Cifuentes / The Oklahoman]
Education News
Hacker group breaches Canvas, locking out students at OU, OSU, area school districts: Students and faculty at universities and school districts across the world — including Oklahoma’s two largest universities and at least three area school districts — were locked out of their main online learning platform ahead of final exams following a massive data breach. [KFOR]
Another battle is brewing over public funds for religious schools. Oklahoma Jewish leaders are uneasy: A push to expand Oklahoma’s Jewish education options has drawn criticism from members of the same community it intends to serve. That push comes from the proposed Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School, a would-be virtual school serving K-12 students that is seeking establishment in Oklahoma. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Opinion: Class size is an important element in Oklahoma education: House Bill 3019 should have been voted on by all of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and not just the members of the Appropriations and Education Budget Committee. The bill is now “dead,” but it could have the chance to be revived or at least rewritten with another chance of survival next legislative session. [Brooklyn Mills / The Oklahoman]
Health News
How Ariel Faulk turned motherhood into a support group for Black moms in Tulsa: Black Moms of Tulsa has grown into an exclusive online community with over 2,500 members who also take part in offline gatherings. The group also maintains a baby supply closet stocked with donated books and clothes. [The Oklahoma Eagle]
Opinion: We need more than Mother’s Day. We need postpartum care: Over 80 percent of maternal deaths in the United States are preventable, many occurring after delivery. Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. Unlike our counterparts, the postpartum period—the fourth trimester—is shaped by dismissal, delayed care, preventable complications, medical racism, and a lack of meaningful support after leaving the hospital. [Danielle Atkinson and Shawnee Benton Gibson / Oklahoma Voice]
Justice System News
Two Oklahoma newsrooms take the Department of Corrections to court over ICE records: Two local newsrooms, including The Frontier, are suing the Oklahoma Department of Corrections after the agency denied requests for records related to its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. [The Frontier]
Edmond Police Department makes arrest in Arcadia Lake shooting, ‘at least’ one other suspect sought: Edmond Police Chief J.D. Younger held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce the arrest of a suspect in Sunday night’s Arcadia Lake shooting, though police are still investigating “at least” one other suspect. [NonDoc]
New details emerge in deaths of pair who disappeared in southern Oklahoma in 2013:A medical examiner’s report offers new details in the cases of Chickasaw Nation citizen Molly Miller and her friend Colt Haynes, who disappeared in Love County nearly 13 years ago. The pair was last seen alive with a man recklessly driving in southern Oklahoma. [KOSU]
Inside Operation Hope: Meet a former inmate helping Tulsa’s formerly incarcerated find help and hope on the outside: Operation Hope is a Christian-based nonprofit in Tulsa helping incarcerated people reenter society. They provide nearly a dozen services, from handing out backpacks with clothes and food to obtaining identification documents. Other gaps, like housing, are filled by their partner organizations. [Tulsa Flyer]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Oklahoma food banks face new challenges, leader says: The Skyline food pantry is busy every weekday that it is open, but its chief executive officer, Katy Leffel, expects even bigger crowds as modifications in SNAP (the federal Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program once called food stamps) begin to affect more and more people. Those changes just took effect in March. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma families find dignity at food bank during hard times: As part of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, letter carriers leave Stamp Out Hunger plastic bags at residents’ mailboxes, hoping to return to find the plastic bags, or any plastic bag, filled with nonperishable food items that the food bank will distribute to individuals and families in need. [The Oklahoman]
Economy & Business News
A shortage of livestock vets is disrupting Oklahoma farms, driving up food prices: Once a common sight in the agricultural landscape, the number of large-animal veterinarians has plummeted for decades, as the vets who do graduate choose to practice in urban areas, driven there by the need to pay crushing student loans or by the attraction of higher pay and less labor-intensive work at traditional pet practices. [The Oklahoman]
Community News
Angel Spears lost her son to gun violence at Tulsa Juneteenth festival. She wants the city to do more in 2026: A mother whose son was shot and killed during the 2025 Juneteenth Festival in Tulsa is calling on city officials to take more security measures at this year’s festival. [The Oklahoma Eagle]
Quote of the Day
“What’s the point of a rule, if you can ignore it whenever it suits you?”
-The Oklahoman Editorial Board, writing about the Oklahoma Senate modifying its rules in order to rush through in a single afternoon an abortion bill that had been sitting around for nearly a year. [The Oklahoman]
Number of the Day
$3.3 million
In 2025, Oklahoma passed HB 1460, which eliminated several criminal justice fees that saddled Oklahomans with debts they were unable to pay, including an electronic monitoring fee, a nonrefundable application fee for defendants requesting legal representation by the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, and more. This reform prevents at least $3.3 million in court-related costs from being imposed on defendants each year, helping reduce financial barriers that can keep families trapped in cycles of debt and instability. [Fines and Fees Justice Center]
Policy Note
The Cost We No Longer Pay: How Fine and Fee Reform Delivered Billions in Relief for Families: Our criminal justice system is rife with fines and fees that state and local governments impose in order to generate revenue. Individuals and families saddled with fines and fees face severe consequences if they cannot afford to pay them, including additional financial penalties, driver’s license suspensions, arrest, and jail. People living paycheck-to-paycheck and communities of color are disproportionately impacted, but anyone who misses just one payment can be trapped in an endless cycle of debt and punishment. When these fine and fee policies are reformed or eliminated, the ensuing financial relief helps stabilize families, address racial wealth disparities, and increase opportunities. [Fines and Fees Justice Center]
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
