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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
Oklahoma House to welcome 24 new members for the upcoming session (Capitol Update): A relatively large class of 24 new members with a wide variation of backgrounds will join the House of Representatives for the next legislature. They’ll be going to work soon. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Oklahoma News
Oklahoma lawmakers want to improve reading scores. A bipartisan group hopes to keep them on track.: Republicans and Democrats behind Oklahoma’s new reading reforms say improving literacy will take years of monitoring results, adjusting policies and putting aside political disagreements. [The Frontier]
State Government News
Oklahoma wildlife officials seek reports of whooping crane sightings: The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is asking hunters, bird watchers and other outdoor enthusiasts to report sightings of federally endangered whooping cranes as the birds migrate through the state. [The Journal Record]
- Oklahoma may be more important for whooping cranes than we thought [The Oklahoman]
Federal Government News
National Weather Service plans to launch severe weather warning system late 2027: The National Weather Service is fine-tuning an advanced severe weather warning system slated to launch by late 2027 or 2028. Threats-In-Motion (TIM) are thunderstorm and tornado warnings that continuously update as a storm progresses. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Oklahoma to expand tech-driven feral hog, eastern redcedar tree removal: The Cimarron, Neosho and North Canadian Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program is receiving about $2.2 million through the USDA’s Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. [KOSU]
GOP Congress faces funding deadline, farm bill, lengthy to-do list in year-end session: Voters may have given Democrats control of Congress in the midterm elections, but Republicans will remain in charge of both chambers during the lame-duck session that spans November and December. [Oklahoma Voice]
Trump open to immigration deal, calls crackdown ‘too tough,’ despite Miller promotion: President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday his mass deportation campaign, which helped propel his return to the Oval Office, had gone too far and potentially led to Republicans losing the U.S. House and Senate in the midterm elections. [Oklahoma Voice]
Tribal Nations News
Intra-tribal dispute lawsuit complicates Kalshi agreement with tribe in Oklahoma: An intra-tribal dispute between the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town and a deal with prediction market company Kalshi is at the center of a lawsuit in Muscogee Nation tribal court. [KOSU]
Cherokee Nation commits $10 million to new outpatient treatment facility in Stilwell: A new $10 million outpatient substance use treatment facility could soon be coming to Stilwell, after the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council approved allocating opioid settlement money to the project Monday evening. [KOSU]
Voting and Election News
Platforms, priorities of Oklahoma’s newly elected officials: After Tuesday night’s midterm elections shifted congressional power to Democrats, Oklahoma remains one of the few states that saw Republican victories. [OU Daily]
Democracy Watch: Oklahoma Voter Turnout Lags: More than half of Oklahoma voters sat out Tuesday’s midterm election. Statewide turnout was 45.84%, according to unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board. That’s a notable decline from 50.35% in 2022. [Oklahoma Watch]
Education News
OSU’s Vision for Tulsa Higher Education Could Reshape TCC — and Its $60 Million in Tax Revenue: Oklahoma State University’s president has put the state’s largest community college system on notice that he has a vision for a merger that would create a simpler path to a bachelor’s degree in Tulsa. [Oklahoma Watch]
Oklahoma schools earn low marks in reading, math and science: Evaluations of Oklahoma’s public education system found low rates of academic achievement in reading, math and science but promise in other areas. The Oklahoma State Report Cards released Thursday on oklaschools.com with a trove of data from the 2025-26 school year. [The Journal Record]
- Oklahoma schools improve attendance but lose ground on graduation [The Journal Record]
- Two Tulsa high schools make significant graduation gains despite statewide decline [News on 6]
Health News
‘Somebody stepped in and helped’: Advocates press to keep Oklahoma’s mental healthcare ‘safety net’: Oklahoma was among the first eight states selected to pilot the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Medicaid Demonstration Program in 2017, with the federal government offering to pay about 90% of costs. The initial pilot was supposed to last two years, but was extended repeatedly by Congress. [Oklahoma Voice]
They promised free rehab in California. We investigated what happened next.: The Frontier spent months tracking down patients, obtaining insurance records and seeking answers from treatment providers accused of exploiting people struggling with addiction. [The Frontier]
Oklahoma receives $227M in second year of federal Rural Health Transformation Program: Oklahoma received about $227 million for the second budget period of a five-year federal funding opportunity seeking to transform rural health. [StateImpact Oklahoma via KGOU]
- Federal funding targets rural healthcare improvements in Oklahoma [Tulsa World]
Justice System News
Why Oklahoma wants a strict deadline for sexual assault kit tests: Members of the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Board are helping to write the potential bill. Investigating sexual assaults and prosecuting assailants is a pressing issue in Oklahoma, which had the third-highest rate of reported rapes in the country in 2024. The state’s rate is 1.6 times the national average. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma could pilot its first domestic violence specialty court. Here’s what that might look like: Lawmakers are considering a new way to lower Oklahoma’s high rates of domestic violence — a specialized intervention court that focuses on rehabilitation. [KOSU]
New Oklahoma law could mean DUI charges for marijuana cardholders: A new Oklahoma law declares that marijuana’s active ingredient is a Schedule I dangerous drug, and, as a result, any driver with THC in their blood could face a state charge of driving under the influence, or DUI, even if not impaired. [The Oklahoman]
Low-level arrests are rising despite national crime declines: The analysis, which was released in late October by the criminal justice advocacy organization FWD.us, found that arrests for vagrancy, an offense often associated with homelessness, rose 44% between 2024 and 2025, while arrests for marijuana possession increased 6% and possession of other drugs rose 3%. [Oklahoma Voice]
Local Headlines
- OKC considers extending pause on new data center projects through 2027 [News 9]
- Tulsa City Council has extra millions to spend on economic development. Where could $6.6M be headed? [Tulsa Flyer]
- Tulsa wants to reimagine closed Route 66 plaza. It needs more time and money to make it happen. [Tulsa Flyer]
Quote of the Day
“If the certification standards remain in place without the money to pay for the clinics to do all the things they’re supposed to do, I think, bluntly, you see clinics failing and having to close and not being able to serve their communities at all anymore.”
— Rebecca Farley David, a principal adviser overseeing behavioral health clinic-focused work for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, speaking about Oklahoma’s certified community behavioral health clinics, which provide mental health and substance use treatment regardless of a person’s ability to pay. The enhanced federal match that has helped fund the clinics is dropping from about 90% to about 67%, leaving the state to cover tens of millions more. David said Oklahoma is the only one of the eight original pilot states that has not paid the clinics for uncompensated care. [Oklahoma Voice]
Number of the Day
$87.6 million
Eight certified community behavioral health clinics delivered $87.6 million in uncompensated care in 2025 without any reimbursement from the Oklahoma Legislature, according to providers in the Alliance of Mental Health Providers of Oklahoma. Uncompensated care is treatment the clinics provide but aren’t paid for through Medicaid, private insurance, or other sources. The clinics are required to serve people regardless of their ability to pay. The federal match that helped fund the clinics is dropping from about 90% to about 67%, and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services hasn’t said how it will pay for the clinic model in future budget years. [Oklahoma Voice]
- From OK Policy: Uncompensated Care — What’s That?
Policy Note
Ten New States Join the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration, H.R. 1 Puts Its Success at Risk: H.R. 1 imposes the largest federal Medicaid cuts in program history. Beyond the direct fiscal impacts on states, H.R. 1 institutes a series of policy changes that are expected to reduce enrollment and shift costs, including work reporting requirements, more frequent eligibility redeterminations, and restrictions on state financing mechanisms like provider taxes and state-directed payments. The work reporting requirement is particularly concerning for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). [Georgetown University Center for Children and Families]
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