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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: True patriotism means speaking up: Patriotism isn’t passive. It isn’t blind loyalty, a bumper sticker, or a red-white-and-blue wardrobe. And it doesn’t belong to one party or worldview. True patriotism is about loving your country enough to ask hard questions. It’s showing up, speaking out, and pushing this country to live up to its promises. That’s what the people who built this democracy did. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Oklahoma News
‘They would potentially die’: Hospital CEO, advocate slam Big Beautiful Bill’s impact for Oklahomans: Ahead of the U.S. House vote on President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, a top Oklahoma hospital official and Tulsa-based maternity care advocate slammed its potential consequences to Medicaid coverage and the very existence of hospitals in rural areas. [2 News Oklahoma]
- Senate megabill marks biggest Medicaid cuts in history [KFOR]
- Medicaid cuts will impact Black children the most [The Black Wall Street Times]
Opinion: The impact of Medicaid changes for rural Oklahomans: Over a million people in our state — many in rural communities — rely on Medicaid to access essential care. That’s why as a rural hospital administrator, I am especially concerned about the budget bill proposing billions in Medicaid cuts, which would roll back federal support for Medicaid. [Wagoner Community Hospital CEO Jimmy Leopard / Tulsa World]
- Opinion: Rural Oklahomans will pay the price of the not-so-beautiful spending bill [Esther Houser / The Oklahoman]
State Government News
LOFT cites poor budgeting practices in Oklahoma mental health agency’s financial shortfall: Several poor budgeting practices within the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services contributed to the agency’s financial crisis, said the legislative fiscal oversight agency in a report. [The Oklahoman]
An effort to expand access to a state scholarship to more Tulsa Race Massacre descendants stalls: For decades, funding for a state scholarship program memorializing the 1921 burning of Black Wall Street was limited, and students related to massacre victims weren’t prioritized in the selection process. [The Frontier]
SNAP benefits the focus of several proposed Oklahoma House interim studies: Oklahoma lawmakers are submitting proposals for interim studies, where they’ll take a deeper dive into specific issues they want to learn more about. [Fox 25]
Oklahoma charter schools seek study to improve facility funding through longer contracts: A study is being proposed to find more ways for Oklahoma charter schools to secure better facilities. [Fox 25]
PSO warns of utility representatives scam: Public Service Company of Oklahoma, the Tulsa metro area’s main electricity utility, warned of ongoing scam attempts from people posing as utility representatives. [Tulsa World]
Federal Government News
US House GOP struggles to advance megabill against Freedom Caucus resistance: U.S. House Republican efforts to pass the “big, beautiful bill” hit a roadblock Wednesday, when leaders left the chamber in a holding pattern for hours before sending members back to their offices. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Live updates: Did House pass sweeping tax bill? Trump is closing in on ‘big win’ [USA Today]
- Republicans rewrote the US Senate megabill in its last moments [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma senators support the ‘big beautiful bill’, representatives at the ready for vote [The Oklahoman]
20 states sue after the Trump administration releases private Medicaid data to deportation officials: The Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials last month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleged on Tuesday, saying he and 19 other states’ attorneys general have sued over the move. [AP]
- Medicare & Medicaid Service suffers data breach [News 9]
ICE breaks into OK man’s car to send him to a country he hasn’t seen in decades: An Oklahoma man is facing deportation after I.C.E. officials broke into his car and took him away Saturday. Noe Chavez has lived in Oklahoma for over two decades. He has tried for several years to become legal. [KFOR]
Trump administration freezes over $70 million in Oklahoma federal education funds: The Trump administration is indefinitely withholding more than $70 million in federal education programs meant for Oklahoma students and educators, including money for teacher development, English learners, after-care programs and migrant children. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Almost $80 million for Oklahoma schools blocked by Trump administration [KOSU]
- Trump administration tells states it’s freezing $6.8 billion for K-12 school programs [Oklahoma Voice]
This program was getting more counselors into rural Oklahoma schools. Then Trump pulled funding.: A program promising much-needed mental health professionals for rural Oklahoma schools is on the chopping block of funding cuts from the Trump Administration. [StateImpact / KGOU]
Tribal Nations News
Among 5 Choctaw constitutional amendments on ballot, one would lessen ‘Bill of Rights’: Choctaw Nation citizens will vote on five potential amendments to the Choctaw Constitution during their July 12 general election, including one that asks voters to eliminate some of their own legal protections from the nation’s Bill of Rights. [NonDoc]
Vickie McClure, Regina Mabray vie for District 12 seat on Choctaw Nation Tribal Council: Two candidates, Regina Mabray and Vickie McClure, are running for the open District 12 seat on the Choctaw Nation Tribal Council. District 12 spans the northwest corner of the Choctaw Nation Reservation, covering parts of Coal, Hughes and Pittsburg counties and the communities of Coalgate and Calvin. [NonDoc]
Tulsa Indian Health Care Resource Center opens clinic expansion: On Wednesday morning, city, tribal and community leaders officially opened the clinic’s 62,000-square-foot addition along Peoria Avenue, more than doubling the size of the outpatient facility. [Tulsa World]
Chickasaw attorney leaves lasting legacy: A groundbreaking attorney from the Chickasaw Nation who became the first Native American to lead the powerful American Bar Association has died after a decades-long career fighting for diversity in the legal profession. William “Bill” Paul died June 24, 2025, in Oklahoma City at age 94. [ICT]
Voting and Election News
Black Votes Matter documentary shows how to build people power: A new documentary from Black Voters Matter highlights how a grassroots movement was able to build enough power in Georgia to support two new Democratic Senators in the South and President Biden during the 2020 elections. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Education News
Higher education fuels $14.6B in Oklahoma economic impact: Oklahoma’s higher education system, comprised of 25 public colleges and universities, contributed $14.61 billion to the state’s economy in fiscal year 2024, directly and indirectly supported over 111,000 jobs, and generated $461.8 million in tax revenue for state, county and local governments, according to an economic impact study. [The Journal Record]
Education Watch: The Latest Legal Challenge to the Social Studies Standards: A group of parents, faith leaders and teachers brought the legal challenge, filed Tuesday in the Oklahoma Supreme Court. They alleged the standards violate religious freedom by favoring and promoting Christianity and contain inaccuracies by presenting Bible stories as literal, historical facts and by including unfounded claims about the 2020 elections and the origins of COVID-19. [Oklahoma Watch]
Health News
Title X funding returns to Missouri nonprofit that helped coordinate Oklahoma reproductive services: A Missouri nonprofit that coordinated Title X federal family planning services in Oklahoma after the state lost its funding has had its Title X dollars restored following a three-month delay. [StateImpact / KGOU]
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientists discover genetic link to Crohn’s disease: The discovery, made by researchers Sathish Srinivasan, Ph.D., and Xin Geng, Ph.D., could pave the way for new treatments — or even prevention — of Crohn’s disease, pending further research. [The Journal Record]
Criminal Justice News
State’s Prison Food Contract Canceled Over Nutritional Deficiencies: Oklahoma’s $74 million deal to privatize food service in state prisons was canceled because the selected vendor failed to meet nutritional standards. Aramark, the sole competing bidder, alleged that Trinity Services Group was able to offer a lower price because its proposed menu was low in protein and high in fat and sodium. State officials did not flag the deficiencies during the bidding process. [Oklahoma Watch]
Oklahoma death row inmate died of bleeding pancreas, autopsy shows: Death row inmate Byron James Shepard died in January from a bleeding pancreas, an autopsy found. [The Oklahoman]
More charges filed in shootings during Tulsa’s Juneteenth event: Prosecutors on Wednesday filed a second case in Tulsa County District Court related to shootings that left one man dead and several others injured during Juneteenth celebrations in Greenwood last month. [Tulsa World]
Tulsa Police: First week of youth curfew successful: City council last week passed a curfew from 9 p.m.-6 a.m. Thursday to Saturday for anyone under the age of 18. The curfew was in response to a rash of shootings involving youth and young adults. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Opinion: Cash bail doesn’t keep Oklahoma safe. It just keeps people down.: Oklahoma has a decision to make: Will we continue clinging to a pretrial system that punishes poverty and fails to deliver public safety? Or will we move toward a smarter, fairer, and actually effective alternative? [Cameron Pipe / Oklahoma Voice]
Economy & Business News
Online shopping is up, but brick-and-mortar drives most commerce: American consumers are five times more likely to shop in stores than online, according to the latest research from Capital One Shopping. Shoppers spent $5.9 trillion in retail stores and $1.3 trillion online in 2024. [The Journal Record]
Community News
Oklahoma bipartisan nonprofit relaunches to advocate for LGBTQ+ issues: The Equality Network which launched last week aims to change the narrative surrounding LGBTQ+ legislation in an environment that has become “a form of tribalism and partisanship that we’ve never seen,” said Troy Stevenson, executive director of the network. [Oklahoma Voice]
A curated list of fireworks displays, Independence Day celebrations across Oklahoma: Across the country, Americans will celebrate the 249th birthday of the United States this weekend. Here’s how you can join the festivities right here in Oklahoma. [KOSU]
Opinion: What is the state of leadership?: Lately, I find myself asking: What exactly are we calling leadership today? Because what I see in the world around me isn’t leadership—it’s posturing. Meanness presented as decisiveness. Defensiveness mistaken for strength. Division used as a strategy. [Aaron Fulkerson / The Journal Record]
Quote of the Day
“One in four Oklahomans depend on Medicaid. Prior to expanding and bringing down these federal dollars to our state, less people had access to care. And we have made great progress…These people deserve health care.”
– Stillwater Medical Center President & CEO Denise Webber, on how impending cuts to Medicaid included in congressional Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill” will erase the steady progress Oklahoma has made in the years since voters expanded the program. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates as many as 169,000 Oklahomans will lose health care coverage altogether, with millions more affected by hospital closures and other barriers to care. [2 News Oklahoma]
Number of the Day
220%
The projected size of the national debt compared to the economy in 2055 if the 2017 tax cuts are extended — 63 percentage points higher than current estimates. That means the federal government would owe more than twice what the entire U.S. economy produces in a year, putting long-term pressure on interest rates and essential public services. [Congressional Budget Office]
Policy Note
Don’t expect much growth from the One Big, Beautiful Bill: While the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” extends Trump-era tax cuts and offers targeted incentives, economic growth generated by the bill would be modest and insufficient to offset its projected deficit increase over the next decade. Despite claims that the bill will spur “extraordinary growth,” any growth effect would be small, leaving public debt significantly elevated and fiscal sustainability unresolved. [The Brookings Institution]
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