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.
State Government News
‘Nowhere near’ a done deal: U.S. Dept. of Education says Walters’ state testing announcement premature: Last week, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Oklahoma districts would no longer be required to administer current end-of-the-year math and English tests for third- through eighth-grade. But the U.S. Department of Education says he doesn’t yet have the authority to do that. [KOSU]
- Proposal to replace Oklahoma state tests faces mixed response, rocky future [Oklahoma Voice]
Judge dismisses lawsuit brought by Oklahoma school chief: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by State Superintendent Ryan Walters against a group that works to enforce the separation of church and state. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Judge tosses lawsuit filed by Ryan Walters against Freedom From Religion Foundation [The Oklahoman]
- Judge dismisses Ryan Walters’ lawsuit against Freedom From Religion Foundation [Tulsa World]
Interim study over use and misuse of traffic cameras: License plate readers have been legal in Oklahoma since 2018, but a state lawmaker wants to know if law enforcement may be using them illegally to some extent. [KFOR]
‘Software bug’ caused outage that shut Oklahoma agencies down for hours, officials say: Oklahoma officials say a software bug is to blame for a network outage that plagued state agencies and forced some to shut down for hours. [The Oklahoman]
Clinton remembers former Oklahoma Gov. Nigh as a man who put people first: Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday remembered the late George Nigh as a man who put people ahead of politics. “He came at other people with an outstretched hand, not a clenched fist,” Clinton said of the former Oklahoma governor, who died July 30 at 98. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Bill Clinton, others pay tribute to George Nigh: He ‘worked his heart out’ for Oklahoma [The Oklahoman]
Opinion: Walters’ TV ‘accident’ sparks Oklahoma porngate chaos: The state superintendent has ducked-and-weaved through the chaos of a No. 50 national schools’ ranking, allegations of ghost employees, an ongoing exodus of state education department expertise, a worsening teacher shortage, explicit images flickering on his office TV during a State Board of Education executive session … and more. Legislative leadership’s response? Mostly crickets. Except when it comes to what some wags are calling “porngate.” [Arnold Hamilton / The Journal Record]
Editorial: Let’s resist treating some of our high school graduates as ‘aliens’: President Donald Trump could learn a lot about how to treat immigrants from Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, two of his predecessors and icons of the Republican Party. So could Republicans who like to invoke Reagan’s name to convince constituents they’re bonafide conservatives. [The Oklahoman Editorial Board]
Federal Government News
Mullin’s Late Disclosures Show Millions More in Stock and Bond Sales: For the second time in two weeks, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin has disclosed trades showing that he violated a federal conflicts of interest and financial transparency law. [Oklahoma Watch]
‘We’re building concentration camps’: Former Tulsa police chief lambasts immigration enforcement: Former Tulsa Police Chief Drew Diamond voiced sharp criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies in front of an audience Monday evening at All Souls Unitarian Church. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Tribal Nations News
Judge sets hearing on Muscogee Nation injunction request against Tulsa County: Ajudge has set an October hearing date to consider a request from the Muscogee Nation that the court stop Tulsa County officials from prosecuting so-called “non-member” tribal citizens for crimes within the Muscogee Nation but outside the accused’s home reservation. [Tulsa World]
Voting and Election News
Ethics Commission votes to allow Oklahoma officials to use campaign funds for security: The Oklahoma Ethics Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to allow state officeholders to use campaign funds for security. [Oklahoma Voice]
- After Minnesota murder, Oklahoma Ethics Commission to let lawmakers use campaign funds for security [NonDoc]
- Ethics Commission approves campaign money for legislators to use for “reasonable expenses” [The Oklahoman]
Education News
Opinion: NAEP test scores for reading and math in public schools are misleading: Everyone should have known that Oklahoma state test scores would increase dramatically in 2023-24, and that they would drop significantly in 2024-25. The decline in scores will be a result of “mis-naepery,” or the decades-long propaganda campaign by ideology-driven think tanks to undermine public education. [John Thompson / The Oklahoman]
Health News
Clinton leaders approve emergency funding to keep hospital open amid rural health care crisis: Clinton city leaders have approved an emergency cash infusion to keep the city’s hospital from immediately closing its doors, as uncertainty grows for rural health care across Oklahoma in light of federal changes to Medicare and Medicaid. [KFOR]
Criminal Justice News
New Oklahoma County Jail funding package could go before voters in April: With the project’s total expected cost hovering around $610 million, Oklahoma County’s new jail will likely be built in stages owing to a lack of revenue to fund the full facility. Exactly how county leaders will ask voters to close a roughly $350 million construction gap remains unclear, but the Board of Commissioners seems set to place a tax vote on residents’ ballots early next year. [NonDoc]
Judge recuses from Richard Glossip murder case retrial: The long and winding road to Richard Glossip’s latest murder trial got a bit dustier today when Oklahoma County District Judge Heather Coyle recused from the case. [NonDoc]
- Judge overseeing Richard Glossip’s murder case steps down at defense request [The Oklahoman]
How Oklahoma’s criminal justice system is leaving vulnerable people behind (audio): KOSU’s Michael Cross talks with mental health and addiction reporter Sierra Pfeifer about her recent story and explainer on Oklahoma’s competency restoration process. Her story reported on how some inmates who need mental health treatment are languishing in jail as they wait for a hearing on their mental competency to stand trial. [KOSU]
Economy & Business News
Google announces new $9 billion cloud, AI investment in Oklahoma: Google announced Wednesday it’s making a new $9 billion dollar investment in Oklahoma within the next two years. The money will create state and academic and workforce incentives around cloud tech, artificial intelligence and data center expansions. [KOSU]
Manufacturing jobs drop as output rises in Oklahoma, U.S.: Even as billions of dollars pour into new plants and reshoring initiatives nationwide, government data released Aug. 1 shows that U.S. manufacturing employment continued to fall in July, reaching its lowest level since April 2022. [The Journal Record]
Local Headlines
- An OKC serial killer? Not exactly. Police respond to ‘totally fake’ viral rumors [The Oklahoman]
- ‘OKC serial killer’ rumors spread online: How to tell what you’re reading is real [The Oklahoman]
- New downtown Tulsa curfew for juveniles making a positive difference, police say [Tulsa World]
- Tulsa Public Schools board to consider new mascot, branding policy [Tulsa World]
- Glencoe Schools, families sue OSSAA over ‘Linked Rule’ decision against student athletes [KGOU]
Quote of the Day
“I know there’s been some remarks about this being a done deal. That is nowhere near where we are right now. We are still very, very early in this, and [the Oklahoma State Department of Education] need[s] to take the public comment portion of this seriously and truly incorporate that, and use that feedback before we go any further.”
– A senior official with the U.S. Department of Education, speaking about the state school superintendent’s recent announcement that Oklahoma would stop end-of-year testing with school districts instead being allowed to use benchmark assessments was premature. [KOSU]
Number of the Day
16th
Oklahoma’s rank out of all 50 states for having one of the most regressive tax systems. A regressive tax system means low-income Oklahomans pay a larger share of their income in taxes than the wealthy. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
Policy Note
How anti-worker policies, crony capitalism, and privatization keep the South locked out of shared prosperity: Longstanding anti-worker policies — such as state-level preemption that blocks local wage increases, right-to-work laws, and bans on public-sector unionizing — are deliberately designed to suppress wages and entrench racial and economic inequality across the South. This strategic disinvestment in public goods and services, alongside crony capitalism and privatization, perpetuates economic precarity, limits worker power, and reinforces the racial hierarchy established after slavery. [Economic Policy Institute]
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
