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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
Less help for Oklahoma homeless youth unless they’re sleeping in a shelter or outside: Most youth who lack permanent housing in the state don’t fit the federal housing department’s definitions of homelessness and often don’t qualify for services. [The Frontier]
State Government News
Oklahoma Mental Health Department budget request includes millions more in funding: The Oklahoma Mental Health Department will need an extra $20 million legislative appropriation to cover some costs in the current budget year. And in addition to its current state appropriation of $403 million, the agency says it’s requesting an extra $79.5 million in the upcoming budget year. This will cover $20 million in Medicaid matching costs for both the current and upcoming budget year, $22.5 million in IT software upgrades and $17 million to implement a court agreement to fix the state’s competency restoration system and to cover any related fines for noncompliance. [Oklahoma Voice]
- State mental health department cutting about 300 contracts in effort to stabilize finances [The Oklahoman]
- Mental health department submits $668.8 million budget request [Tulsa World]
- Norman resource center HUB 107 set to close before end of October [KGOU]
- From OK Policy via Oklahoma Voice: Oklahoma’s mental health system is at a crossroad
LOFT report projects no end to toll road collections in Oklahoma: A new state report suggests that there may never be an exit from the policy of charging tolls to drive on turnpikes that crisscross Oklahoma. Many Oklahomans may already have concluded that, but some lawmakers who met on Thursday to discuss findings of the report said they sometimes hear from constituents who remember pledges made by politicians years ago that turnpikes would eventually be converted for free travel after their initial construction costs were paid off. [Tulsa World]
Tulsa not alone in tax system strait-jacket, state lawmakers told: Tulsa isn’t the only Oklahoma municipality with a long-term structural revenue deficiency. In fact, most Oklahoma towns and cities struggle with similar circumstances, largely because of the state’s unique municipal funding mechanism, presenters at a state Senate interim study last week said. [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma utility regulators to request state funds for nuclear energy study: A law passed this year requires the regulatory agency to explore a future with nuclear energy generation in Oklahoma. But the measure doesn’t provide funding to secure a firm to complete the study. [KGOU]
Despite widespread interest, only 3 states passed license plate reader laws this year: Lawmakers in at least 10 states, including Oklahoma, introduced legislation on the topic. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma Chronicle: State lawmaker talks parental rights after a woman’s DHS custody dispute: The case of an Oklahoma teenager taken from his mother by the state is driving debate this week. [KOCO]
Drummond Takes Mulready to Task Over Homeowners Rates: On Aug. 12, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent a scathing letter to Oklahoma Insurance Department Commissioner Glen Mulready, challenging the commissioner’s stewardship of homeowners insurance rates and questioning the commissioner’s claim that weather events and an existing competitive market justify ongoing inaction to curtail skyrocketing rates that have hobbled the budgets of Oklahoma families for years. [Oklahoma Watch]
A lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s marijuana tax wants everyone to be reimbursed: Two Oklahoma residents are claiming that the 7% marijuana tax is illegal, and they want every patient who’s paid it to be reimbursed. [The Oklahoman]
Capitol Insider: Supreme Court decision halts state business courts: A significant accomplishments of the Stitt administration has been the establishment of business courts in Oklahoma, Those are new courts that focus on business matters. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that the bill establishing business courts violated the state constitution. [KGOU]
Federal Government News
‘This shutdown feels different.’ States might not get repaid when government reopens: States are doing what they generally do during a federal government shutdown: continuing to operate programs serving some of the neediest people. But this time, state leaders have new worries about getting reimbursed for federal costs once the federal spending impasse is resolved. That’s traditionally been the practice following a shutdown, but the Trump administration’s record of pulling funding and targeting Democratic-led states has some officials worried about what comes after the shutdown. [Oklahoma Voice]
- ‘Substantial’ layoffs of federal workers launched by Trump administration amid shutdown [Oklahoma Voice]
- Trump threatens ‘permanent’ cuts to Democratic programs on day nine of shutdown gridlock [Oklahoma Voice]
- What is Trump’s approval rating in Oklahoma? See latest polls after government shutdown [The Oklahoman]
Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says: The U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency’s employees. Separately, employees involved in the college access program known as TRIO, which is located in a different office, were also let go. The firings, which the union has challenged in court, “double down on the harm to K-12 students and schools across the country.” [USA Today via The Oklahoman]
Former governors, state AGs weigh in on Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops: Republican attorneys general, including Gentner Drummond, argue their states are harmed by the protests that impede federal ICE officers from doing their jobs. [Oklahoma Voice]
OKC National Memorial calls on family, survivors to give tours during government shutdown: Some of those most directly affected by the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building are keeping the story alive for visitors at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, as they step in to give tours as park rangers are furloughed during the government shutdown. [The Oklahoman]
‘It hurts all of us’: Mass deportations ensnare immigrant service members, veterans and their families: During his first term in office, President Trump enacted immigration policies aimed at a group normally safe from scrutiny: noncitizens who serve in the U.S. military. His administration sought to restrict typical avenues for immigrant service members to obtain citizenship and make it harder for green card holders to enlist — efforts that ultimately were unsuccessful. Now, as the second Trump administration engages in a campaign to detain and deport immigrants living in the U.S., military experts and veterans say service members are once again targets. [News 21 via NonDoc]
Opinion: As Republicans and Democrats fight in DC, 300,000 Oklahomans face surging health insurance costs: Earlier this month, Oklahoma’s state Insurance Department issued a stark warning that should alarm us all. When federally enhanced tax credits expire at the end of the year, some Oklahomans will see their health insurance premiums increase by over 75%. The state agency additionally warned that the termination of the federal program and stricter eligibility verification checks will likely “result in a significant decrease in enrollment.” [Janelle Stecklein / Oklahoma Voice]
Tribal Nations News
Tribal roundup: SCOTUS declines Keith Stitt petition, Muscogee cases heard, hunting rights fight resurfaces: For a combined 11 hours across two days in separate federal courthouses, leaders of the Muscogee Nation testified this week about the growth of their criminal justice system, the importance of tribal sovereignty and their requests for injunctions to prevent the City Henryetta and Tulsa County from prosecuting Indians within the Muscogee Reservation that the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in July 2020. [NonDoc]
Muscogee Nation opens new tribal traffic court in Jenks: Dealing with a Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police traffic citation became a whole lot easier last week. The Muscogee Nation on Wednesday held its first session of traffic court at the tribal-owned Riverwalk Crossing in Jenks. [Tulsa World]
Ex-employee of Muscogee Nation sentenced in $25 million theft: A former Muscogee Nation gaming division employee, who claimed to be a successful professional gambler, has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison after admitting to the theft of nearly $25 million from his employer and tax fraud. [Tulsa World]
Voting and Election News
Numbers Game: Drummond, McCall, and the road to the 2026 Oklahoma Governor election: Oklahoma voters won’t choose their next governor for another year, but the Republican primary is already heating up. Recent polling from former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall’s campaign suggests the race between McCall and Attorney General Gentner Drummond is closer than you might think. But as other candidates begin to join the fray, the Drummond camp says that’s not true. [The Frontier]
Political notebook: Six file for legislative special election: Five Republicans and a Democrat filed for the special election to fill the vacancy in House District 35, which includes all of Pawnee and parts of Osage, Creek, Payne and Noble counties. [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma campaign finance website to remain offline for more than a month: The Oklahoma Ethics Commission plans to have its website for campaign finance reports back online Oct. 28, putting it offline for more than a month. The launch of a new site fell behind schedule, and the website has been offline since Sept. 19. It was supposed to go back online Oct. 1. [The Oklahoman]
Open primary supporters to begin gathering signatures in Oklahoma starting Oct. 29: Oklahomans will soon see people collecting signatures for an initiative petition that could create open primary elections in the state. The Oklahoma Secretary of State’s office assigned Oct. 29 as the official start date to begin collecting signatures for State Question 836. The proposal seeks to open primary elections in Oklahoma to all voters, regardless of party registration. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma City will vote on a historic $2.7B bond issue. Here’s what to know: Oklahoma City voters will head to the ballot box on Tuesday, Oct. 14, to cast their vote on Oklahoma City’s largest bond issue in history, a total of $2.718 billion in projects. If all categories of the bond pass, it would earmark funds for about 547 projects in 11 areas of city services. Half of that amount, $1.35 billion, is slated for streets and sidewalks, which will include resurfacing, widening, street enhancements and sidewalks. [The Oklahoman]
- Opinion: OKC is known as dynamic, livable city. Bond vote is chance to continue momentum [Vanessa Johnson / The Oklahoman]
- Opinion: Why OKC needs a unified ‘yes’ on all 11 bond measures [Michael Graves / The Oklahoman]
- Opinion: Are you in favor of OKC bond issue? Here’s what readers said [The Oklahoman]
Education News
How much technology is too much in classrooms? Oklahoma lawmakers are studying the issue: As Oklahoma policymakers grapple with esoteric questions such as how much technology belongs in state schools and at what ages students should use to it in the classroom, two legislators who successfully pushed earlier this year for a statewide cell phone ban in schools are examining the issue. [The Oklahoman]
- Educators say Oklahoma’s school cellphone ban has been a ‘game changer’ [Oklahoma Voice]
Lindel Fields is prioritizing teachers as Oklahoma state superintendent. They’re noticing: After years of anti-teacher rhetoric from Ryan Walters — which included his attempt to blame them for the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans — some educators say it’s refreshing to hear a state superintendent speak kindly about the teaching profession. Both said they are “cautiously optimistic” about what Fields will do before leaving office in January 2027. [The Oklahoman]
Some Tulsa Public Schools sites can celebrate state testing gains: According to scores released Monday by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the number of Tulsa Public Schools students testing at a proficient level or higher districtwide still lags behind the state averages across all subjects and grades, but multiple campuses posted year-over-year improvements in the rate of students scoring in the basic or higher category. [Tulsa World]
‘I just cant believe it’: A community in shock after Tecumseh teen arrested for allegedly planning a school shooting: A Tecumseh teen was taken into custody after the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about a planned school shooting. [KFOR]
Free-speech group ‘deeply concerned’ after conversation on OSU student senator’s Turning Point USA hat: A national nonprofit that promotes free speech has told Oklahoma State University it’s “deeply concerned” that a coordinator of its Student Government Association spoke with a student senator about the coordinator’s concerns the senator wore a Turning Point USA hat during a student-government event. [The Oklahoman]
High school aviation programs fly high across Oklahoma: Today, there are 149 Oklahoma high schools that are offering high school aviation curriculum from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and that number is growing, said Paula Kedy, statewide aerospace STEM education manager for the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics. [The Journal Record]
Tulsa Tech spending $122 million to revamp midtown campus: Tulsa Tech announced construction on the final phase of its $122 million redesign of its midtown Career Education Center. The Lemley Memorial Campus redesign at 3420 S. Memorial Drive will upgrade nearly 60-year-old buildings into a state-of-the-art training facility. [Tulsa World]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
The Tulsa Metro Has the 9th Highest Mortgage Delinquency Rate of All Large U.S. Metros: Homeowners across the U.S. are facing mounting financial pressures as inflation has driven up the costs of essential goods and services, including housing. According to the Construction Coverage report, Tulsa has the 9th highest mortgage delinquency rate of all large U.S. metro areas. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Economy & Business News
Trump says inflation is ‘defeated’ and the Fed has cut rates, yet prices remain too high for many: Inflation has risen in three of the last four months and is slightly higher than it was a year ago, when it helped sink then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Yet you wouldn’t know it from listening to President Donald Trump or even some of the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve. Trump told the United Nations General Assembly late last month: “Grocery prices are down, mortgage rates are down, and inflation has been defeated.” [Associated Press]
Amid uncertainty for entrepreneurs, OKC organizers want to help with other resources: A weeklong annual celebration of events will be held in mid-October for various organizations to support and encourage minority business owners in Oklahoma City. [The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- One injured in shooting at Langston University, investigators searching for suspect [The Oklahoman]
- Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols’ State of the City address to be open to public [Tulsa World]
- Mayor Nichols hosts another Community Conversation on Monday [Tulsa World]
- Tulsa’s Black history plays central role in ‘Today’ show’s destination broadcast [The Oklahoma Eagle]
Quote of the Day
“I think back to what caused (the Oklahoma City bombing), and it was someone who thought he could change the government and bring down the government. This is a time when we should be coming together and working together. We just encourage everybody to look beyond themselves and to say, what can we do to get the government functioning again?”
-Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, speaking about the organization calling upon survivors, family members of victims, first responders, and others to step in and give tours while the federal government is shutdown amid political disputes. [The Oklahoman]
Number of the Day
3.8
The rate at which Tribal youth were more likely than white youth to be placed in juvenile facilities in 2023, an all-time high in data going back to 1997. [The Sentencing Project]
Policy Note
Over-Incarceration of Native Americans: Roots, Inequities, and Solutions: Native Americans face disproportionate incarceration due to a convergence of historical trauma, systemic racism, and federal policies that undermined tribal sovereignty and justice systems. Complex jurisdictional rules, limited access to public defenders in tribal courts, and harsher sentencing in federal courts deepen inequities, while substance use and poverty are often criminalized rather than addressed with care. Promising approaches — like holistic defense, reentry programs, and culturally grounded restorative practices — show that tribes are best positioned to reduce disparities when given adequate resources. [Safety + Justice Challenge]
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