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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.
Oklahoma News
Left Behind: People Deported by ICE Leave Behind Families of Citizens and Lasting Trauma: Since March, the number of Oklahoma law enforcement agencies with 287(g) agreements has more than doubled, from 30 to 77, an increase of 47 in under four months. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol was one of the earliest adopters and uses the task force model, which was previously shelved under President Barack Obama amid criticism it was used for racial profiling. [Oklahoma Watch]
Any future minimum wage increase will face several legislative hurdles: After Oklahoma voters rejected State Question 832, groups hoping to raise the minimum wage are watching a key court decision to decide their next move. Organizers see two narrow paths to increase the rate: through another ballot initiative or through a new state law. [The Oklahoman]
- From OK Policy: What you need to know about the minimum wage in Oklahoma
State Government News
OU, OSU coaches make top state salaries, including those fired: College sports coaches dominate the state’s highest 20 salaries, far outnumbering university health science professionals and administrative leadership. But several people on top of that list still receiving paychecks don’t work for university athletics programs anymore. [The Oklahoman]
Collaborative effort can help bolster Oklahoma workforce, state agency head says: The state’s Workforce Transformation initiative seeks to bring government, private business, education and nonprofits together to help people find jobs. [Tulsa World]
Opinion, This Week in Oklahoma Politics: ICE nomination, Stitt political influence, new laws and more (podcast): The panelists talk about the nomination of an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper to lead ICE, a new report adding details to alleged political influence by Gov. Kevin Stitt in regard to a friend and donor’s drunk driving sentence and an Oklahoma City Democrat taking the Oath of Office after winning a special election. The trio also discusses an internal dispute in the Oklahoma Republican Party and new laws taking effect July 1. [KOSU]
Opinion: In Oklahoma Trump country, locals say no to the president’s deal to build a foreign-owned smelter: President Donald Trump’s dream of opening a massive, foreign-owned aluminum smelter in Oklahoma is in jeopardy. Ironically, the Republican leader’s plan to erect an enormous, superheated, pollution-producing, industrial complex in a rural area isn’t imploding because of his usual perceived enemies: the liberal, radical left. His plan is on the brink of failure, this time, because of fellow Republicans. [Janelle Stecklein / Oklahoma Voice]
Federal Government News
Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention: Gilberto Pacheco was driving to work for a construction job in California when he was pulled over in what court papers called a “traffic stop” in January. He was not accused of any crime, not even a traffic infraction, but he was imprisoned without bond for months because he arrived illegally in the United States more than 30 years ago from Mexico. [Oklahoma Voice]
Feds encourage public housing authorities to impose work rules, time limits: Dozens of public housing authorities, tribes, property owners and community groups have joined a new coalition organized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote work requirements and time limits for people who receive federal housing help. [Oklahoma Voice]
USDA’s finalized rule could boost adoption of regenerative farming practices: Farmers growing corn and soybeans for biofuels can now quantify the carbon intensity of crops grown with certain regenerative agriculture practices, due to a recently finalized federal rule. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma receives millions in FEMA grants to cover disaster response, recovery: Oklahoma communities will receive nearly $13 million in federal grants to cover costs from disasters dating back nearly a decade. [KOSU]
D.C. Digest: Lankford, Mullin celebrate OBBB’s first birthday: Saturday was the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, but a few days earlier Oklahoma’s all-Republican congressional delegation celebrated the first birthday of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — also known as the Working Families Tax Cut Act. [Tulsa World]
Voting and Election News
The Oklahoma Freedom Caucus wanted to take over the Legislature. Then came the primaries: The Oklahoma Freedom Caucus announced its debut in September 2024 with an ambitious goal: to pull one of the nation’s most conservative Legislatures even further to the right. The June Republican primary served as a major political test for the group. And the Freedom Caucus flopped. [The Frontier]
Who are Oklahoma lawmakers backing in August runoff elections?: Several hopeful political newcomers are gearing up for runoff primary elections in August, and public campaign reports show who current lawmakers want working alongside them. [The Oklahoman]
Newcomer Gabriel set to join Legislature after unusual primary: Kristina Gabriel won’t officially become a new member of the Oklahoma Legislature until November, but winning an unusual primary on June 16 set up the Tulsa Democrat to become the next state representative from House District 77. [Tulsa World]
Political notebook: Republican runoffs still taking shape: The campaigns of Republican gubernatorial candidates Mike Mazzei and Gentner Drummond remained relatively quiet more than two weeks after the primary that sent them to the Aug. 25 runoff. Meanwhile, the arguments about the state superintendent race have gotten pretty heated among people who care about public schools and Republican purists. [Tulsa World]
Education News
New recess law, state policy change causing surprise challenges for Oklahoma schools: A recent state law doubling children’s recess time could have unexpected consequences for Oklahoma public schools. Some districts announced they are lengthening their school day while others are weighing whether to add days to their school calendars to accommodate the new law. Further complicating the matter is a recent notice from the Oklahoma State Department of Education that it will phase out a policy of allowing recess to count toward a school’s instructional hours. [Oklahoma Voice]
Edmond Schools Renewed Administrator Contracts, Then Eliminated Their Jobs, Leaving Taxpayers to Cover the Settlements: Edmond Public Schools renewed employment contracts for all of the district’s top brass, only to turn around and tell many of them that their jobs are being eliminated. [Oklahoma Watch]
Oklahoma scholarship program sees spike in demand: Applications to an Oklahoma scholarship program from the 2026 graduating class have increased nearly 50% from the previous graduating class. Over 10,200 students from the 2026 graduating class applied to Oklahoma’s Promise. [Oklahoma Voice]
Opinion: Oklahoma aims to align academic offerings, workforce demand: To remain a worthwhile investment for families and for our state, higher education cannot stand still. Oklahoma college students aren’t just choosing a career path; they’re placing a bet on their future. That future depends not only on expanded access to higher education, but on the relevance of the degrees students earn. [Courtney Warmington / The Oklahoman]
Health News
Medicaid again to cover non-abortion care at Planned Parenthood as GOP ban ends: Republicans celebrated last year when they barred Medicaid payments from going to Planned Parenthood for one year, predicting the financial impact would hollow out the organization. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma researchers seek new options for treatment-resistant depression: When depression proves resistant to traditional treatments, patients may fear they have exhausted their options, and those with the disease experience higher incidences of suicidality. In Tulsa, researchers at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research are pursuing what they hope could become a new treatment for those who have not responded to therapy, medication or other interventions. [NonDoc]
Medicare Assistance Program can help people navigate options: People need to not only make wise decisions about when and how to sign up for Medicare as they approach 65, but they need to review where they’re at with Medicare and make judgments each ensuing year about how to go forward based on how plans or their health or finances might change. [Tulsa World]
Letter to the Editor: Oklahoma must face its maternal health crisis: The United States remains one of the few developed nations where maternal mortality rates are rising rather than falling. When mental health is factored into this crisis, the picture becomes even more troubling — and disparities along racial and socioeconomic lines become impossible to ignore. [Nerissa Desireé Crisostomo / NonDoc]
Justice System News
Oklahoma County has a program to help poor people get out of jail. Prosecutors rarely support it: Supporters of a county pretrial release program say thousands of people who pose little public safety risk remain jailed because they can’t afford bail. Prosecutors frequently oppose release, even though the program is designed to help people show up to court. [The Frontier & KOSU]
Brent Swadley moved to new jail in latest twist in Oklahoma fraud case: Restaurateur Brent Swadley is now being held at a different jail as he awaits sentencing in his high-profile fraud case. [The Oklahoman]
Opinion: Oklahoma County taxpayers will foot bill for jail humanitarian crisis: The slow-motion train wreck at the Oklahoma County jail has pushed the county and its taxpayers to the edge of a financial abyss. Recently, a proposal to impose a half-cent sales tax to fund a new jail failed at the Board of County Commissioners for a second time this year. Commissioners say they’re continuing to study the issue, but time is running out. The decades-long mismanagement of the jail has left taxpayers with only bad options. [Matt Lamki / The Oklahoman]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Recent food drive successful, but hunger concerns persist amid SNAP changes, summer demand: Oklahomans showed up for the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, but needs remain in uncertain times as the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and its partner agencies see increased traffic due to schools being closed and changes to SNAP benefits. [The Oklahoman]
Letter to the Editor: Working full-time is not enough to avoid poverty in Oklahoma: In 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classified 6.4 million people as “working poor,” meaning they worked for most of the year yet still lived below the federal poverty line. These are not people excluded from the workforce — they are the workforce. This reality challenges a deeply rooted belief that poverty is the result of individual failure. In truth, many working families are doing everything expected of them and still cannot keep up with rising costs. [Jessica Phillips / NonDoc]
Economy & Business News
EEOC sues Paycom and Home Creations over alleged discrimination claims: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission targeted two Oklahoma-based companies, Paycom and Home Creations, in federal court on Tuesday, alleging both fired female employees in violation of federal law. [The Journal Record]
- Paycom fired worker because of her onion allergy, EEOC claims [The Oklahoman]
Aging population, slower immigration put U.S. labor force near its peak: An aging population combined with slower immigration flows suggest the U.S. labor force is currently near its peak, according to a new report. But without immigration, the U.S. labor force is expected to decline over the next two decades, it said. [Tulsa World]
Community News
As Fourth of July arrives, Tulsa immigrants share their American stories of freedom, family and belonging: For immigrant families, the Fourth of July can bring up mixed feelings. I spoke with Tulsans who immigrated from other countries about their experiences and what the holiday means to them. [Le Semana via Tulsa Flyer]
Opinion: 250 Years: Before America Knew My Name: When America celebrates its 250th anniversary, I will celebrate with mixed emotions. Like millions of Americans, I am grateful to live in a country that has endured for two and a half centuries. If my ancestors could see me today, I believe they would be proud. But I also believe they would ask America a difficult question. Has this nation truly done the work to repair the harm it has done to Black people? [Nehemiah Frank / The Black Wall Street Times]
Local Headlines
- Gov. Stitt declares disaster emergency for Cleveland, Washington counties [KGOU]
- City of Norman assesses widespread storm damage [KGOU]
- Tulsa earmarked money to demolish 2 abandoned hotels. Neighbors say it’s long overdue. [Tulsa Flyer]
- City of Tulsa announces $150,000 in grants to support local arts organizations, events [Tulsa World]
- Could Edmond sales tax go completely to fixing one stretch of road? [The Oklahoman]
- OKC’s free streetcar rides are ending July 5. Could they become free for good? [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“If Oklahoma is serious about addressing poverty, we must move beyond temporary or punitive solutions and toward policy change. That means raising wages to match the real cost of living, strengthening workplace protections, and ensuring that full-time work leads to stability — not ongoing financial crisis.”
-Jessica Phillips of Stillwater, writing in a letter to the editor about the need for lawmakers and voters to support reforms that strengthen wages, protect workers and ensure that full-time employment provides real economic security. [NonDoc]
Number of the Day
27%
More than 1 in 4 Oklahoma children (258,000) don’t have at least one parent who is employed full time. This includes many parents who want full-time work but are forced to piece together part-time or temporary jobs that do not provide sufficient or stable income. [KIDS COUNT]
- From OK Policy: Oklahoma ranks 44th for child well-being
Policy Note
States Bought Time on Their Budgets, but Hard Choices Remain: State lawmakers entered budget debates for fiscal year 2027 facing a delicate balancing act: respond to constituent calls for relief from rising costs of living while managing states’ own increasing costs—all amid a tricky revenue environment. With reserves still stronger than pre-pandemic levels and tax revenue growth slow but stable, the focus in many statehouses appeared to be on locking in priority policies before it was too late. [Governing]
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