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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
Justice demands proportionality in child abuse laws (Capitol Update): Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee — chaired by Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus — held a three-hour interim study exploring Oklahoma’s “Failure to Protect” statutes. The study was led by Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Bristow. The Oklahoma statute, 22 O.S. 843.5, provides a parent or caretaker may be charged with child abuse or neglect, “enabling” child abuse or neglect, or both, even though they were not the person who abused the child. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Oklahoma News
Governor announces homeless encampment sweep operation in Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced a homeless encampment sweep program started in Tulsa is moving to Oklahoma City. In the announcement Monday afternoon, the governor said the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation were beginning cleanup efforts similar to those undertaken in Tulsa last month. [KOSU]
- Gov. Stitt authorizes Operation SAFE to clear homeless encampments in Oklahoma City [The Oklahoman]
- Gov. Stitt announces Operation SAFE in Oklahoma City [KFOR]
- Homeless encampments targeted in OKC sweep [Tulsa World]
State Government News
Change in leadership at Oklahoma juvenile justice agency: Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday appointed a new interim director to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs. Sharon “Shel” Millington will serve as interim director, effective immediately, and replace former director Tim Tardibono, according to a news release. [Oklahoma Voice]
2023 crash cited in study about work zone safety: A violent highway accident in 2023 in Owasso was cited Monday as just one example of why lawmakers may consider legislation this year designed to slow people down and make work zones safer. [Tulsa World]
Federal Government News
Pay for Trump and Congress continues in shutdown, unless they ask it be held: Some members of Congress are asking for their salaries to be withheld during the government shutdown, while federal workers on Friday missed their first full paycheck since many operations closed on Oct. 1. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Federal credit unions in Oklahoma offer relief for federal workers without jobs, pay [KOSU]
- ‘Absolutely zero preparedness’: Tulsans on food stamps are searching for other options [Tulsa Flyer]
- ‘There’s gonna be a great need’: Red Cross accepting donations for military members [Fox 25]
America’s suspended refugee program leaves families separated, resettlement agencies unfunded: As part of a larger withdrawal from international humanitarian aid, Trump signed an executive order halting the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The State Department also ended funding to local resettlement nonprofits, though a lawsuit later restored some of that money. [Oklahoma Voice]
Tribal Nations News
Opinion, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief: New Cherokee Language Efforts Aimed for All Generations: The Cherokee language is the heart of who we are as a people. It carries our history, our way of life, and the values that connect us across generations. When we speak our language, we honor our ancestors and ensure that future generations can know themselves as Cherokee. [Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. / Native News Online]
Education News
State testing will continue in Oklahoma despite Walters’ earlier proclamation: Despite question marks raised in August, Oklahoma students will take standardized tests at the end of the school year. There had been doubt following a proclamation by former State Superintendent Ryan Walters that his replacement, Lindel Fields, has now debunked. [KOSU]
- Oklahoma state testing to ‘proceed as normal’ in public schools [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma won’t end standardized tests, despite Ryan Walters’ plans [The Oklahoman]
- New superintendent, new priorities: Lindel Fields on his plan to improve student literacy [Tulsa World]
- News 4 sits down with new state superintendent for in-depth discussion on issues affecting Oklahoma education [KFOR]
What’s next for lawsuit against Walters, who claimed teachers lied to get $50k bonuses: A defamation lawsuit filed against former state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education by two teachers who each received a $50,000 bonus in error is being dismissed. [The Oklahoman]
Free speech advocacy group condemns UCO for ‘controlling’ student newspaper: A national free speech advocacy group sent a letter on Monday to the president of University of Central Oklahoma accusing the state’s third-largest university of censoring student journalists. [Oklahoma Voice]
This is ground zero in the conservative quest for more patriotic and Christian public schools: The future that the Trump administration envisions for public schools is more patriotic, more Christian and less “woke.” Want to know how that might play out? Look to Oklahoma. Academics, educators and critics alike refer to Oklahoma as ground zero for pushing education to the right. Or, as one teacher put it, “the canary on the prairie.” [ProPublica]
Opinion: It’s no longer ‘college vs. trade.’ Both are critical to Oklahoma’s future: For too long, society has pushed a single narrative: that a college degree leading to a career in high-tech, investment banking, law or medicine is the gold standard of success. That story is flawed because it ignores the skills and ambitions of many young men. [K. John Lee / The Oklahoman]
Criminal Justice News
Oklahoma County killer to seek clemency: An Oklahoma County killer is seeking clemency ahead of his scheduled execution. Tremane Wood, 46, is set to die Nov. 13 by lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He is set to die for the 2002 stabbing death of Ronnie Wipf, 19, during a robbery at an Oklahoma City motel. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Death row inmate Tremane Wood blamed for prison beating, allegedly texted, ‘Smash him bro’ [The Oklahoman]
Convicted of murder as a teenager, Wayne Thompson is free after more than four decades in prison: Oklahoma officials repeatedly rejected Thompson’s release, weighing the violent nature of the crime over his efforts to change. Now he has a second chance. [The Frontier]
Tulsa’s camera network grows as Flock and Ring team up, sparking privacy concerns: Flock Safety cameras have yielded mixed reviews in Tulsa and throughout Oklahoma. Earlier this month, State Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, led an interim study at the capitol about the use of automated license plate readers, like Flock Safety cameras. Gann says the cameras are “mass surveillance” tools that can be used against people. He also says they skirt state law, which prohibits the use of automated license plate readers for anything other than identifying uninsured motorists. [Tulsa Flyer]
Tulsa Race Massacre graves search: Newly exhumed body contains bullet in rib cage: The city’s latest effort to identify unmarked burials from Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre has yielded another possible victim, with officials expecting to find others as excavations resume this week after the recent rains. [Tulsa World]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Three Lawyers File More Than Half of Central Oklahoma’s 18,000 Annual Eviction Cases: In 2024, three firms filed approximately 9,900 eviction claims of the more than 18,000 such actions, according to records on the Oklahoma State Court Network. Oklahoma’s Landlord Tenant Act has been under scrutiny for some time, recently culminating in a bipartisan law that passed through Oklahoma’s legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt. [Oklahoma Watch]
- From OK Policy: The governor’s veto on SB 128 is more than a missed opportunity — it is a step backwards for housing instability.
Tulsa’s homelessness crisis focus of Community Conversation gathering: Monday night’s Community Conversation with the Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols provided a glimpse of the complexity and controversy inherent in any discussion of homelessness. Early in the meeting at the Herman and Kate Kaiser YMCA, a woman stood up and asked Nichols why the homeless couldn’t just be sent to California. Later, a homeless woman named Bobbi-Jo stood up before the crowd of roughly 200 people and explained her plight and how she got there. On average, homeless individuals on the city’s waiting list for housing have to wait 220 days to secure a place to live. [Tulsa World]
Economy & Business News
Opinion: Workforce underinvestment has real consequences in Oklahoma and US: We can either continue to shortchange our workforce system, or we can make robust investments in the workforce programs that prepare Americans for the jobs employers are hiring for today and tomorrow. [Sharon Harrison / The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- Tulsa Farmers’ Market will offer helping hand to SNAP recipients amid cuts [Tulsa Flyer]
- Tulsa Public Schools adding nine properties to surplus list [Tulsa World]
- Contractor supply distributor celebrates 70 years, move into $1.5M OKC facility [The Journal Record]
- Here’s what’s planned for Oklahoma City’s first MAPS 4 Youth Center [The Oklahoman]
- ‘This is so wrong’: Misuse of funds case shakes up Edmond Memorial PACE group [NonDoc]
- DOCS: Oklahoma State University staff member arrested for allegedly soliciting minors online [KFOR]
Quote of the Day
“It feels like the system is entirely stacked against renters who are just trying to keep their heads above water. There are just so many evictions filed in Oklahoma County, and the process moves incredibly fast. What’s been tough for me to wrap my head around is how many roadblocks face those of us doing everything we can to help those in need. It seems there is little room for compassion for those on the verge of losing their homes. It’s simply business as usual.”
-Jessica Earley, director of Stay Housed, a program of Neighborhood Services Organization, speaking about the volume of eviction filings in Oklahoma courts. A proposed law last legislative session would have would added five days to the eviction timeline and given tenants more time between receiving their court summons and their eviction trial date. Despite bipartisan support in the legislature, Gov. Stitt vetoed the measure. [Oklahoma Watch]
- From OK Policy: Gov.’s veto of SB 128 rejects bipartisan solution that would have helped landlords and kept Oklahomans in their homes
Number of the Day
307,989
The number of Oklahomans who signed up for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace during the 2025 open enrollment period. The ACA created these marketplaces so people without job-based insurance could buy affordable health plans, often with subsidies to lower their monthly costs. [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]
Policy Note
Changes in Health Care Spending and Uncompensated Care under Enhanced Tax Credit Expiration for Marketplace Coverage: ACA premium tax credits are subsidies that lower monthly insurance costs for people buying coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. If the enhanced credits expire, millions could lose access to affordable coverage, leading to a sharp drop in health care spending as more people go uninsured and use fewer covered services. At the same time, hospitals, physicians, and other providers would face a surge in uncompensated care costs when uninsured patients still seek treatment but cannot pay. These shifts would strain already fragile health systems and threaten access to care, particularly in communities with limited resources. [Urban Institute]
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