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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
Oklahoma charter school board requests U.S. Supreme Court make final decision on religious school: An Oklahoma governing board that oversees charter schools on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that bars the existence of nation’s first publicly-funded religious charter school. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma board, St. Isidore ask US Supreme Court to consider religious charter school case [The Oklahoman]
- U.S. Supreme Court asked to intervene in Catholic charter school case [Tulsa World]
- Oklahoma Catholic charter school asks Supreme Court to intervene in fight to open [Washington Times]
- Supreme Court asked to consider Oklahoma religious charter school’s case [The Hill]
State Government News
Lawmaker requests Oklahoma attorney general opinion on funding for Walters’ Bible mandate: An Oklahoma state lawmaker has asked the attorney general to weigh in on the legality of using legislatively-appropriated funding to place Bibles in public school classrooms. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Allocation ‘shell game’: Lawmaker asks for attorney general opinion on funding for Walters’ classroom Bibles [KGOU]
- Oklahoma changes Ryan Walters’ proposal to supply 55,000 Bibles to public schools [The Oklahoman]
- State purchasing agency working to alter OSDE bid for Bible purchase, citing high cost [The Oklahoman]
- Oklahoma Is Trying to Put Trump Bibles in the Classroom [Mother Jones]
- Oklahoma’s unusual requirements for school Bibles match Trump-endorsed version [Fortune]
Oklahoma lawmakers continue to push for investigation into DHS: State lawmakers are growing frustrated that their calls for a criminal investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Human Services have not been acted on yet. [FOX23]
ODVA launches education program for veteran farmers: The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) has partnered with the Oklahoma Local Ag Collaborative (OLAC), OSU Extension and the USDA to launch an education program aimed at supporting veteran farmers and ranchers. [The Journal Record]
Gov. Kevin Stitt calls Contingency Review Board meeting on mental health settlement: Gov. Kevin Stitt calls Contingency Review Board meeting on mental health settlement. [Tulsa World]
Federal Government News
Death Row Inmate in Oklahoma Has an Unusual Ally: The State’s Attorney General: Both sides told the Supreme Court that long-suppressed evidence about the state’s star witness undermined the case against the inmate, Richard Glossip. [New York Times]
- Supreme Court to Weigh Death Sentence Oklahoma Says Was Wrong [Bloomberg Law]
- Oklahoma death row inmate had three ‘last meals.’ He’s back at Supreme Court in new bid for freedom [abcNEWS]
- Supreme Court to decide if Oklahoma must execute Richard Glossip [SCOTUSblog]
Can ghost guns be regulated as firearms? The Supreme Court will decide: They’re called ghost guns because unlike guns bought from a licensed dealer, these build-it-yourself gun kits have no serial numbers stamped on the assembled firearm, so the guns can’t be traced if found at a crime scene. And there are no background checks done on people who purchase the kits. [KOSU]
- Supreme Court will hear a challenge to ghost-gun regulation [KFOR]
Supreme Court Invites Briefs on Oklahoma Drug Pricing Case: The US Supreme Court asked the US Solicitor General to file briefs over a challenge to an appeals court decision that held major portions of an Oklahoma statute imposing restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers violate federal law. [Bloomberg Law]
Tribal Nations News
U.S. Treasury says tribally owned entities should be tax-exempt: The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued a long-awaited proposal on Monday, Oct. 7, to clarify that tribally owned businesses and entities should share the tax-exempt status of their tribes. [ICT]
Civilization 7 makers work with Shawnee to bring sincere representation of tribe to the game: Video game studio partners with Shawnee to bring new character to the Civilization series. The game studio and the tribal nation decided on a partnership that would help the Shawnee people preserve and expand some of that culture, particularly language. [AP/ICT]
Otoe-Missouria Tribe to implement prevention programs targeting violence, terrorism: Indigenous people are more likely to be the victims of violent crime than people of other races in the U.S., according to FBI data. But a Department of Homeland Security grant is helping the Otoe-Missouria tribe lower those risks. [KOSU]
New trial ordered for man convicted of assaulting 72-year-old Tulsa woman: In finding that the trial judge improperly admitted documents linking Harper to the Choctaw Nation, the three-judge appellate court panel said the “district court erred by admitting hearsay documents into evidence to prove Harper’s Indian status,” a major step for the federal government to assume criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country cases. [Tulsa World]
Voting and Election News
This year’s Electoral College map may show another ‘blue shift.’ Here’s why: The counting of ballots can take longer in some places than in others. In presidential elections, that difference can cause a candidate’s early advantage in a state to change as more localities report their results in the hours and, sometimes, days after polls close on Election Day. [KGOU]
Oklahoma’s Voter Registration Deadline Nears: Now’s the time to check your voter registration status and encourage your friends and family to do the same. This Friday, Oct. 11 is Oklahoma’s voter registration deadline to participate in the Nov. 5 general election. [Oklahoma Watch]
Education News
Report: Oklahoma lawmakers have proposed the second-most ‘educational gag orders’ since 2021: Oklahoma is among the top hotspots in the country when it comes to legislative attempts to censor certain discussions in academic settings, according to a new report. [KOSU]
Oklahoma lawmakers consider new student data tracking system during interim study: The chairman of the Senate Education Committee indicated during an interim study on Monday that he would be interested in funding a long-term data system to keep track of Oklahoma student information. [Tulsa World]
Health News
Health Department program prioritizes ‘one-on-one relationships’ to build trust in rural Oklahoma: Workers aim to provide familiar faces who can ‘meet people where they are’. [Oklahoma Voice]
Editorial: Suicide rates in Oklahoma among the highest in the US — and has increased: Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Oklahoma, and ranks 9th highest in suicide deaths in the United States. A recent study linked the state’s high suicide rates to weak gun laws. [Todd Pendleton / The Oklahoman]
Criminal Justice News
After decades in prison, Wayne Thompson inches closer to parole: After spending more than four decades behind bars for a crime committed when he was 15, Wayne Thompson is closer to a possible release than he has been in the past 15 years. [KOSU]
Mustang Public Schools reports first grader brought loaded gun on bus, situation resolved: A first-grade student brought a loaded firearm onto a Mustang Public Schools bus Monday morning, a district email to parents stated. The student with the weapon got on the bus at 6:53 a.m., according to a news release from Mustang Public Schools. [The Oklahoman]
County’s juvenile detention center probation extended through December: Tulsa County is making progress in its efforts to improve conditions at its juvenile detention center but will remain on probation through the end of the year, according to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs. [Tulsa World]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Rural housing focus: Senators conduct second study on affordable housing shortage: Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, are continuing efforts to address Oklahoma’s housing shortage. Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee held an interim study requested jointly by Kirt and Hall to examine Oklahoma’s ongoing housing shortage and look at what is being done at the local and state level to provide solutions. [Stillwater News Press]
More Black and Latina women are leading unions — and transforming how they work: Women make up roughly half of U.S. labor union membership, but representation in top level union leadership positions has lagged, even in female-dominated industries, and particularly for women of color. But Black and Latina women are starting to gain ground. [Enid News]
Community News
‘Life Changing:’ How An Oklahoma Co. Nonprofit Has Closed Education Gaps For 58 Years: More than 20 percent of Oklahoma adults struggle with reading, according to research by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies or PIAAC. One Oklahoma nonprofit has spent nearly six decades trying to improve literacy. [NEWS9]
Local Headlines
- Contract awarded to complete I-44/US-75 interchange in west Tulsa [Tulsa World]
- Unable to find private funding, $8 million Edmond veterans memorial included in GO bond package [NonDoc]
- Lawton firefighters deploy to Florida to help prepare for Hurricane Milton [The Lawton Constitution]
Quote of the Day
“The LOFT investigation does not go as deep as I want it to go. I think there is a lot more stuff that needs to be investigated other than just some of the minor deals. I mean, we need to look at travel — we just need to look at everything.”
Republican lawmaker Mark McBride said regarding State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ management of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, particularly regarding its handling of federal and state funds. While an investigation by the state’s Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency is currently underway, McBride sent a request in August to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona for a federal investigation into the department’s finances. [KGOU]
Number of the Day
6th
Data from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey show that Oklahoma’s poverty rate was 15.9 percent, which was the nation’s sixth highest rate. [Census Bureau via OK Policy]
Policy Note
The Chasm Between Oklahoma and Connecticut: The divergence between Connecticut and Oklahoma is an extreme example of what’s occurring across the country as Republican states cut taxes and services and create environments where residents are beholden to the policy whims of corporations, interest groups, and wealthy donors, all who have a vested interest in low taxes and limited social spending. [The American Prospect]
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