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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: Community voices lead the way to better policy: The people closest to a problem often have the clearest understanding of what needs to change. Teachers see the challenges facing their classrooms every day. Parents know what their families need to thrive. Workers and business owners understand where our economy creates opportunity — and where it falls short. Across Oklahoma, people know what works in their communities and what doesn’t. Their experiences matter, and our state makes better decisions when we listen. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Oklahoma News
Oklahoma Election officials say declassified documents showing breach of voter rolls misleading: The White House named Oklahoma as one of several states with voter roll data “compromised” by China. Oklahoma’s Election officials say that’s misleading. [KOSU]
- Trump cites potential hack of US elections in speech slammed for stoking voter fears [Oklahoma Voice]
- DHS boss Mullin warns of possible prosecution for election officials over voter roll access [Oklahoma Voice]
- After Trump speech, election board chief defends record on voter rolls, election integrity [Tulsa World]
- State election chief backs Oklahoma voting security after Trump address [The Oklahoman]
- Paul Ziriax, Secretary of the State Election Board, talks about the safety of Oklahoma elections (video) [The Oklahoman]
A loophole leaves Oklahoma data center water consumption largely untracked: While a new state law partly limits data center groundwater use, in reality, data centers avoid water permits entirely by buying water from utilities. Residents are demanding answers in communities like Luther and Yukon. [Investigate Midwest]
House speaker explains State Question 844, calls it a ‘complicated’ issue: Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Kyle Hilbert has a short explanation of State Question 844. “It’s complicated, and there’s no way around it.” Just the fact SQ 844 involves something called the ad valorem reimbursement fund glazes the eyes of most potential voters. But, Hilbert said, it addresses an issue that isn’t going away, regardless of the Aug. 25 vote on the question. [Tulsa World]
State Government News
Gov. Stitt’s comments on food insecurity raises concerns: An article is making national headlines after Governor Kevin Stitt made comments related to food insecurity. Now, Oklahoma organizations say his comments raise concerns about his understanding of hunger in Oklahoma. [KFOR]
Oklahoma governor displays old state flag with questioned past: The governor prefers the red flag (the so-called 46 Flag) as a background for videos when addressing constituents, despite one-time concerns that it could be associated with communism. But today it has taken on another association in some circles, as a symbol linked to white supremacy. [The Oklahoman]
Marijuana Testing Hampered by Lack of Consistency, Lab Shopping: Disputes over inconsistent results, laboratory oversight and the scope of required testing have raised questions about whether the system is delivering the reliability patients expect. [Oklahoma Watch]
Political notebook: ‘Orphan tax’ axed: Last week, Oklahoma became the 30th state to discontinue using the Social Security survivor benefits of children in state supervision to offset the cost of their care. [Tulsa World]
Federal Government News
Immigrants, DHS agents and traffic stops: Violent outcomes repeat across the US: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on July 13 killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national with legal work authorization, in Maine, making him the 22nd person shot at by federal immigration officers during President Donald Trump’s second term. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Snapshot: What ICE arrests looked like in farm counties last year [Investigate Midwest]
D.C. Digest: Oklahomans still love Trump, says Hern: First District Congressman Kevin Hern, the heavy favorite to be Oklahoma’s next U.S. senator, updated Washington’s Ripon Society last week on his campaign. [Tulsa World]
Tribal Nations News
Kiowa Tribe begins exercising criminal jurisdiction over certain non-Indian defendants: A $1.5 million federal grant is helping the Kiowa Tribe widen its capability to prosecute non-Indians for certain crimes within the tribe’s jurisdiction. [KOSU]
Cherokee Nation is using opioid settlement money to help people rebuild: Cherokee Nation’s reentry program has helped thousands of formerly incarcerated tribal citizens reintegrate into society. Tribal leaders plan to use opioid settlement money to expand it. [KOSU]
Voting and Election News
Opinion: A Lesson In Mazzei Math: It often Doesn’t Add Up: Perhaps Mazzei’s greatest “math trick” is saying he will eliminate our state income tax and property taxes for seniors and veterans, with the first installment of this plan taking $3 billion from our state’s core services, public schools, career tech and infrastructure. Mazzei Math gets pretty fuzzy when explaining how this gets paid for, offering no specifics, just a bunch of vague generalities and refusing to acknowledge his promised tax cuts are dead on arrival at the Oklahoma Senate chambers. [Drew Williamson / Oklahoma Gazette]
Opinion: Rich politicians loaning money to their own campaigns puts the average Oklahoman’s interests at risk: “Be afraid. Be very afraid” seems like a fitting slogan for Oklahoma elections this year. While the tagline first originated in 1986 horror movie “The Fly”, it’s a relevant warning for all Oklahomans watching their election system be hijacked by wealthy candidates who loan their campaigns copious amounts of money. [Janelle Stecklein / Oklahoma Voice]
Education News
Multiple Tulsa area school districts forced to increase student meal prices for coming school year: Since mid-June, school boards at Bixby, Broken Arrow, Collinsville, Jenks, Sand Springs and Union have all approved requests from their district’s child nutrition programs to raise student meal prices for the coming academic year. [Tulsa World]
Capitol Insider: Chancellor Sean Burrage on new developments in Higher Ed: In May, the State Regents approved a new performance-based funding formula for state colleges and universities. The formula rewards workforce development and goes into effect in fiscal year 2028, essentially a year away. How will that formula work? [KGOU]
Health News
As Oklahoma embraces abortion restrictions, maternal health lags: Oklahoma put in place among the most restrictive bans on abortion in the nation in 2022, when Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 4327, making it illegal in most cases to end a pregnancy from the moment of fertilization. Since then, the Republican-led Legislature has continued to add more restrictions. This past session, lawmakers passed a bill that will make it a felony to deliver prescription drugs for an abortion to Oklahomans with the knowledge that they intend to end a pregnancy. [The Oklahoman]
Residents call Nowata hospital shift ‘disappointing’: Ascension St. John, a nonprofit health system serving northeastern Oklahoma, is awaiting action on an application to reclassify its Nowata County location from a critical access hospital to a rural emergency hospital, which would end multi-day inpatient services at the location. [NonDoc]
Opinion: Short-term grants fail rural health efforts: Across the rural South, Black women continue to be diagnosed with cervical cancer too late — not because solutions are unknown, but because systems fail to reach, inform and support them in time. Participatory research — engaging communities in investigating and challenging systemic failures — is helping to change that, creating an opportunity for philanthropy to nurture sustained, systemic change. [Sarah Bobrow-Williams / The Oklahoman]
Justice System News
Woman speaks out about conditions inside Oklahoma County Jail: A metro woman is sounding the alarm about the conditions inside the Oklahoma County Jail after she spent days inside. “We have human beings in this place being treated worse than we do animals,” said Pauline Simone, a former inmate of the Oklahoma County Detention Center. [KFOR]
Lawsuit over Tulsa city jail death alleges officials ignored years of warnings about medical care: The estate of a man who died of a treatable throat infection at the jail alleges officials failed to provide adequate medical care despite a pattern of inmate deaths. [The Frontier]
Opinion: If Oklahoma County can’t fix jail crisis, it risks federal takeover: Per inmate and arrest capita, the Oklahoma County jail could be considered one of the deadliest county jails in America. After 25 years in law enforcement, I refuse to step inside. This constitutional and humanitarian emergency is driven by broken leadership, systemic underfunding and persistent neglect. Without immediate stabilization, the county faces massive federal liability and a possible Department of Justice intervention in the form of a consent decree that will strip away local oversight and control, and cost taxpayers millions. [Billy McKelvey / The Oklahoman]
Community News
Oklahoma Black history includes tragedy, but perseverance, optimism, triumph: After the Civil War, many newly freed Black families fled the Old South and the violent Ku Klux Klan hell bent on terrorizing and intimidating the formerly enslaved. They envisioned a haven, a place where they would be free from White supremacists that had dogged them since emancipation. They thought they had found it in Oklahoma. [The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- Transportation network eyes new tax to pay for ambitious Oklahoma City metro public transit expansion [Oklahoma Voice]
- Northwest Oklahoma plant to close, affecting 250 jobs [KOSU]
- What’s next for Coweta after scrapped data center, exit of city manager? [Tulsa World]
- Questions abound about Manna drone delivery service in Tulsa. Here are some answers. [Tulsa World]
- Former OKC Police Chief M.T. Berry remembered as a ‘legendary public servant’ [The Oklahoman]
- Officials investigate timber theft ring in northeast Oklahoma [KOSU]
Quote of the Day
“While some have incorrectly interpreted (China’s access to voter data on the commercial site) as a claim that Oklahoma’s voter registration database was breached, that is not the case…. There is no claim that Oklahoma’s voter registration database was compromised or breached.”
-Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax during a press briefing on Friday to address White House claims that China has attempted to meddle in U.S. elections by accessing voter registration data in numerous states, including Oklahoma. [Tulsa World]
Number of the Day
600,000
Number of annual ambulance runs in Oklahoma during 2022 that were funded through special districts that receive funds through property taxes. [OK Policy]
Policy Note
More States Jeopardizing Local Services With Property Tax Cuts and Caps: Everyone should have the opportunity to live in a community with strong public schools, beautiful parks, and safe roads, but many states are threatening to take away local governments’ ability to build thriving communities by cutting or capping property taxes. Policymakers can make housing more affordable without undermining local budgets by adopting measures like targeted property tax breaks, rental assistance, and steps to increase the supply of affordable housing. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
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