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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
Charter school facilities take center stage in interim study (Capitol Update): Recently, the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee — chaired by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid — conducted an interim study looking at potential funding and the authorization process for charter school facilities in Oklahoma. The committee was told demand for charter schools exceeds availability in the state — and that the most frequent cause for slower growth of charter schools is lack of funding for facilities and the authorization process. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Oklahoma News
Officials vote to provide $1 million per week to Oklahoma food banks until SNAP is funded: State officials voted Monday to send Oklahoma food banks $1 million a week if federal food assistance programs continue to lack funding during the government shutdown. The funding is approved for up to seven weeks, drawing from a state emergency fund that has a $7.8 million balance. The expenditure is contingent on a continued lack of federal funding. [Oklahoma Voice]
- State lawmakers dedicate $7 million to help feed Oklahomans losing SNAP benefits [KOSU]
- How 1 Oklahoma food bank is dealing with SNAP uncertainty [KOSU]
- Oklahoma ranks in top 5 for SNAP reliance. See how food stamp use compares in state, US [The Oklahoman]
- From OK Policy: Policy Matters: Oklahoma can’t prosper while our neighbors struggle
Trump administration to pay about half of November SNAP benefits amid shutdown: The U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay about half of November benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, though benefits could take months to flow to recipients, the department said Monday in a brief to a federal court in Rhode Island. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Trump administration says SNAP will be partially funded in November [AP via The Journal Record]
- Will food stamps be available in November? Can I still use EBT card? What to know, updates [The Oklahoman]
- Food banks were ‘operating on fumes’ even before SNAP chaos [Oklahoma Voice]
State Government News
‘A statute and a constitutional provision’: Court hears arguments on bill affecting TSET board: Twenty five years to the week after a state question created the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, the Oklahoma Supreme Court heard oral arguments today over whether a new law allowing members of its board to be removed without cause violates the original constitutional language approved by voters. [NonDoc]
- Oklahoma high court questions need for TSET legislative changes [Oklahoma Voice]
- Opinion: TSET’s 25-year legacy of healthier communities [Julie Bisbee / The Journal Record]
Federal Government News
Tulsa-area families seeking alternative child care options due to government shutdown: C.A.R.D., short for Community Action Resource Development, Inc., is a federally funded program that provides educational, health and nutritional services for children from birth to 5 years old. Thousands of children across Oklahoma attend C.A.R.D Head Start programs, but families learned Oct. 23 that the shutdown would cause the school to close Nov. 1 until the government reopens. [Tulsa Flyer]
Rural Oklahoma health care programs impacted by shutdown: Many Oklahoma hospitals have been scrambling to figure out how to continue to serve communities across the state, since some services connected to Medicare have been impacted by the government shutdown. [KFOR]
Government workers seeking private sector jobs face challenges: Many of the 1.6 million federal workers who have been laid off, furloughed or forced to work without pay this year may be looking to the private sector for employment. That doesn’t include others who took buyouts or those who remain employed, but fear continued job cuts. [The Journal Record]
Trump administration defends order barring asylum at southern border: A panel of District of Columbia Court of Appeals judges Monday heard oral arguments from the Trump administration defending the president’s move to end asylum claims at the southern border through an executive order. [Oklahoma Voice]
As fears over immigration enforcement rise, Tulsa lawyers offer advice on how to prepare: Local law firms heard stories all summer from clients who are in the country illegally about fears of going to work or picking up their children from school. Their concerns ranged from how to prove their children’s citizenship status to who would care for their children if they get detained. [Tulsa Flyer]
Former Vice President Dick Cheney dies at 84: Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at 84. [AP via The Journal Record]
- Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a war hawk who served three GOP presidents, dies [USA Today via The Oklahoman]
Opinion: Who’s to blame for the government shutdown? We are: Couldn’t Congress and other government officials arrange it so that really essential jobs and services could continue to function normally in the event of a shutdown? The answer is yes, they could. But then there would be no point to a shutdown. [William C. Wertz / The Oklahoman]
Tribal Nations News
5 largest tribes in Oklahoma are asking SCOTUS to take up tax case involving Muscogee citizen: The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to take up an Oklahoma tax case involving Muscogee Nation citizen Alicia Stroble. Now the five largest tribes in the state are weighing in, hoping SCOTUS will overturn the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision that ruled Stroble is not exempt from paying state income tax. [KOSU]
- Muscogee Nation: State taxation of tribal citizens on reservation impacts self-government [Tulsa World]
Community Action Project, tribal Head Starts remain open despite federal government shutdown: According to a list compiled by the National Head Start Association, 23 Head Start programs across 15 states and Puerto Rico have at least partially closed due to interrupted federal funding. However, officials with the Cherokee Nation, Muscogee Nation and Community Action Project Tulsa each said their programs will continue to serve children and their families. [Tulsa World]
Domestic violence in Native communities is focus of new survey: The Urban Indian Health Institute, an Indigenous health research group, this month launched a first-of-its-kind national survey of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women to determine the prevalence of brain injuries in Native survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. The goal is to illuminate the extent of the problem, guide clinicians, raise public awareness and direct resources. [Oklahoma Voice]
Historic release from tribal aviary represents cultural healing and species conservation: In October, two newly born golden eagles, Némkis (Little Thunder) and Mnotägwzekwe (She Brings the Good News), soared into Montana skies, carrying with them centuries of cultural reverence and new hope for a struggling species. But the path to that moment began years earlier, with two sisters honoring their mother’s memory and a first encounter that would change everything. [The Journal Record]
Voting and Election News
It’s Election Day, but not yet in Oklahoma. Here’s when to vote, what to know: Multiple states across the country are voting in the off-year elections today, but Oklahomans won’t head to the ballot box for another two weeks. [The Oklahoman]
Organizers share ‘a lot of enthusiasm’ as signature gathering for open primaries kicks off: The coalition “Vote Yes 836” is canvassing in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City for 90 days hoping to get State Question 836 on the ballot, which would open the state’s primaries so that anyone of any party affiliation can vote for first-round candidates. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Nichols talks more about proposed sales tax increase: ‘a zero-fail mission’: ayor Monroe Nichols addressed concerns Monday that he is proposing a city sales tax increase at a time of economic uncertainty and a federal government shutdown. [Tulsa World]
- Nichols pushes for vote on city sales tax increase [Public Radio Tulsa]
Education News
Former Norman teacher sues Ryan Walters, Oklahoma State Board of Education members: Ex-Norman Public Schools teacher Summer Boismier is suing Ryan Walters and former school board members for revoking her teaching license. The filings claim the board discriminated against Boismier based on sex and race by interfering with her advocacy for people of marginalized identities. [KOSU]
- Teacher lost her license after Ryan Walters accused her of indoctrinating kids. Now she’s suing [The Oklahoman]
Lindel Fields reflects on first month as Oklahoma’s interim State Superintendent: It’s been just over one month since Lindel Fields stepped into his new role as Oklahoma’s interim state superintendent. The longtime educator and former superintendent says the transition has been fast-paced but rewarding as he focuses on restoring stability, listening to educators, and addressing key priorities like literacy and teacher recruitment. [News 9]
Tulsa Public Schools approves CFO agreement with Oklahoma State Department of Education: In a 5-2 vote Monday night, Tulsa Public Schools’ board of education approved a trio of items tied to Chief Financial Officer Kristin Stephens’ inclusion on Gov. Kevin Stitt’s turnaround team for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. [Tulsa World]
You will soon have more bachelor’s degree options in Tulsa. Here’s why.: OSU-Tulsa is launching 20 new courses for the spring semester and up to 70 in the next year, allowing students to get a bachelor’s degree at the same institution, start to finish. Tulsa Community College isn’t far behind, proposing its first four-year degree program — a bachelor’s degree in child development — to start in fall 2026. [Tulsa Flyer]
Opinion: Gov. Stitt’s latest choice for Oklahoma education secretary is impressive: In case you missed it, Stitt recently announced that his previous education secretary, Nellie Tayloe Sanders, would be stepping down. He said he’d appoint Daniel Hamlin, an academic with a higher education background, to serve in the role. I’m hopeful that Gov. Kevin Stitt’s selection of Oklahoma’s next Secretary of Education will be transformational. [John Thompson / Oklahoma Voice]
Health News
Pharmacies to pay $157K to settle Medicaid claims: Multiple Oklahoma pharmacies have agreed to pay $157,000 to settle False Claims Act allegations that they billed SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program, for hundreds of unauthorized over-the-counter COVID-19 tests. [Southwest Ledger]
Criminal Justice News
How lived experience shapes case management in Oklahoma County’s drug court: Drug court in Oklahoma County is a specialized court docket program designed to help people break the cycle of addiction and incarceration by offering an alternative to traditional sentencing. Instead of going to prison, eligible defendants agree to enter a structured treatment program overseen by a judge. [KOSU]
‘Allegations are undisputed’: Latimer County undersheriff gets probation for beating son: A year after a Wilburton mother called police to report her ex-husband’s violent attack on their teenage son, the accused abuser, Latimer County Undersheriff Markus Ward II, walked out of a Haskell County courtroom in September with probation and a $100 fine. [NonDoc]
Two more sets of remains exhumed in Race Massacre burial search at Oaklawn: Two sets of human remains were exhumed Monday as the search for unmarked burials from Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre continued in Oaklawn Cemetery. [Tulsa World]
Newspaper at Oklahoma’s largest women’s prison awarded national recognition: The Mabel Bassett Balance, launched just over a year ago and written by women incarcerated at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McCloud, recently won a first-place award in the 2025 American Penal Press Contest, a prestigious national journalism competition for prison‑based publications. [KOSU]
Opinion, Oklahoma Senator: I am a conservative, but here’s why Oklahoma should stay Tremane Wood’s execution: Justice should be sure and steady — but not swift at the price of accuracy. Executing a man while his Brady claims are mid-appeal is the opposite of careful government. [Sen. Dave Rader / The Oklahoman]
- From OK Policy: Oklahoma Death Penalty Tracker
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Tulsa’s Blue Team Builds Trust, Breaks Cycle of Chronic Homelessness: The Blue Team is the first in the nation rooted in a method of outreach, shelter and treatment for people who are homeless, have a mental health disorder and show signs of anosognosia, a condition referring to patients who do not recognize they are ill. [Oklahoma Watch]
Economy & Business News
Auris confirms 300 jobs will remain local following acquisition of Heartland Payroll: Auris, the newly launched payroll and HR technology platform, today announced its official debut following Acrisure‘s acquisition of Heartland Payroll Solutions from Global Payments, Inc. for $1.1 billion. Auris also announced it will remain based in Oklahoma City, regaining more than 300 employees with plans to create additional jobs during the next year. [The Journal Record]
After flames engulf hand sanitizer, Oklahoma sues to clean up what’s left: The state Department of Environmental Quality wants the company responsible for bringing thousands of pallets of contaminated hand sanitizer to Oklahoma to clean up what’s left and pay a steep penalty. [The Oklahoman]
Why importing Argentine meat won’t bring prices down: Sticker shock at the meat counter? Brace yourself. Jaw-dropping beef prices will continue for years – and will probably increase. President Donald Trump‘s plan to try to lower beef prices by increasing beef imports from Argentina has sparked an uproar. [The Journal Record]
Community News
It smelled like a ‘buried body.’ A small town was overwhelmed by fumes from an oil waste disposal facility: For weeks, Renae Haymaker was talking to neighbors about the smell drifting from the open pits filled with oil and gas waste a few miles away. Residents near Enid say the smell of an oilfield waste disposal site made them feel sick. State officials weren’t sure who was in charge of enforcement. [The Frontier]
Thirty years after OKC bombing, former CBS News anchor returns for 168-day remembrance: More than 30 years after covering the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, former TV anchor Connie Chung wasn’t sure how she’d be received back in Oklahoma City. [The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- Real estate broker replaces long-serving member of OK County Home Finance Authority [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“Food banks have been operating on fumes since the pandemic… People are already making really difficult choices, and I hate to call it a choice, because it’s not a choice when you don’t have one.”
— Gina Plata-Nino, interim SNAP director at the Food Research & Action Center, a national nonprofit working to address poverty-related hunger. Plata-Nino said that food banks were never meant to replace federal support — but years of policy rollbacks and fresh cuts under the Trump administration have done exactly that, pushing millions to the bring as SNAP benefits stall amid the shutdown. [Oklahoma Voice]
Number of the Day
40th
Oklahoma’s ranking among U.S. states in the 2025 Best States to Work Index. The index evaluates wages (40% of the score), worker protections (35%), and rights to organize (25%), based on laws and policies in effect as of July 1, 2025. [Oxfam America]
Policy Note
Southern policymakers leave workers with lower wages and a fraying safety net: Workers across the U.S. South endure lower wages, limited access to employer-provided benefits like health coverage and pensions, and little paid leave — a result of an economic development model that has historically prioritized cheap labor over worker well-being. Changing this dynamic requires lifting the minimum wage, expanding access to core workplace supports, and strengthening collective bargaining rights to rebalance power toward workers. [Economic Policy Institute]
- From OK Policy: Raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma is pro-growth
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