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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
Policy Matters: Respecting Tribal sovereignty is the path to Oklahoma’s progress: Recognizing Tribal sovereignty is more than honoring heritage — it is a pressing call to action. November is Native American Heritage Month, and the most meaningful recognition Oklahoma can offer our Tribal nations isn’t symbolic — it’s structural. It starts at the top, with a governor who fully recognizes Tribes as sovereign nations and partners. [Shiloh Kantz / The Journal Record]
Oklahoma News
Tribes pull trigger on lawsuit against ODWC, Stitt in wildlife fight: Three of Oklahoma’s largest tribal nations are asking a federal court to block the state from enforcing its hunting and fishing laws on tribal citizens within Indian Country reservation boundaries, arguing that Oklahoma is unlawfully intruding on treaty rights and tribal sovereignty. [NonDoc]
- 3 tribes sue Gov. Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma wildlife officials in hunting license fight [KOSU]
- Three tribes sue Gov. Kevin Stitt as dispute over hunting rights deepens [The Oklahoman]
- Oklahoma tribes sue Gov. Stitt in ongoing fishing, hunting dispute [The Journal Record]
- From OK Policy: Tribal-State Policy 101: What is Tribal sovereignty?
‘Focus: Black Oklahoma’: SNAP benefits crisis, UCO student press freedom, mental health cuts (podcast): This episode of Focus: Black Oklahoma features stories on the ripple effects felts by the federal government shutdown, the end of UCO’s student newspaper, The Vista, and the human costs of mental health cuts in Oklahoma. [KOSU]
State Government News
Oklahoma agency fined over competency restoration settlement: The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services paid over $900,000 in fines as a result of noncompliance with a competency restoration consent decree. [Oklahoma Voice]
Lawmakers, AG Challenge Insurance Commissioner’s Competitive Market Claims: In early October, the Oklahoma House and Senate mounted interim studies on skyrocketing homeowners insurance rates. Senate minority leader Julia Kirt, who organized the study in the upper chamber, said that more than a handful of insurance lobbyists had since approached her with nervous questions. [Oklahoma Watch]
Dark money group skirts accountability after spending over $250,000: The Oklahoma Ethics Commission is attempting to hold a dark money group accountable for failing to report over $250,000 in political expenditures. [KFOR]
Federal Government News
Trump administration urged by US House Dems to act on health insurance claim denials: Two leading Democrats on a U.S. House panel called on the head of an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor responsible for protecting workers’ benefits to take action to address improper health insurance claim denials, in a Tuesday letter provided exclusively to States Newsroom. [Oklahoma Voice]
President Trump signs bill directing DOJ to release Jeffrey Epstein files: President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday night directing the Justice Department to release all files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, completing a dramatic reversal after fighting the proposal just last week. [USA TODAY via The Oklahoman]
- Epstein bill headed to Trump’s desk. How did Oklahoma vote? When will files be released? [The Oklahoman]
What to know about expanded work requirements about to kick in for SNAP: After a disruptive U.S. government shutdown, federal SNAP food assistance is again flowing to low-income households. But in the months ahead, many participants will have to abide by new work requirements. [KOCO]
Tribal Nations News
Tribal, state leaders criticize removal of MMIP report from Justice Department website: Oklahoma tribal leaders and state lawmakers have roundly criticized action taken by the Trump administration to remove a report about missing and murdered Indigenous people from the U.S. Justice Department’s website. [Tulsa World]
Mullin, Masto plan expands U.S. Marshals role in MMIP: The U.S. Marshals Service will be permitted to partner with tribal law enforcement in cases involving missing indigenous children under legislation proposed by two senators who represent states with numerous tribes. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Opinion: Humanity Is Our Greatest Common Denominator: As a nation, we continue to declare these principles even though they have not been equally applied to all throughout our history, and they were not the operating assumption of those who arrested Chief Standing Bear. History teaches us here that equal treatment is an acknowledgement of our humanity, and it is the responsibility of the government to uphold this equality and associated humanity through just execution of the law. [Kitcki Carroll / Native News Online]
Voting and Election News
Election roundup: Coleman elected to Millwood board, majority of school bonds fail: In Tuesday elections around Oklahoma, a former Millwood Public Schools board member was elected to a vacant seat representing part of the northeast Oklahoma City district, and the majority of public school bond propositions on the ballot across the state failed. [NonDoc]
- School bonds come up short for three rural area districts [Tulsa World]
- Voters OK Edmond sales tax renewals by large margin [The Journal Record]
- Midwest City votes in hotel/motel tax increase ahead of 2028 Olympics [The Journal Record]
Education News
OKC charter school disputes probation status, says it has ‘nothing to fix’: Staff and board members of an Oklahoma City charter high school say they deserve an apology, not probation, from a state board they contend acted on “incorrect” information. [Oklahoma Voice]
Group launches investigation into proposed Jewish Charter School: There are new efforts to open a religious charter school in Oklahoma, once again sparking the question: Should your tax dollars go to a religious school? [KFOR]
Editorial: Give Summer Boismier back her teaching license; undo Ryan Walters’ idiocy: The old board also — at Walters’ behest — revoked the license of a Norman schoolteacher, Summer Boismier, even though an administrative law judge ruled she had broken no law and should keep her license. [The Oklahoman editorial board]
Health News
Shortage of rural doctors won’t end anytime soon, report says: For at least the next dozen years, rural areas will continue to have only about two-thirds of the primary care physicians they need, according to a report released Monday. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma reduces severe birthing complications, lags behind nationally in maternal, infant deaths: Oklahoma mothers are experiencing fewer unexpected complications during their hospitalization for delivery. But those mothers and infants are still dying at higher rates than the national average, a new March of Dimes report found. [StateImpact Oklahoma via KGOU]
Criminal Justice News
Convicted murderer Kendrick Simpson set for execution in Oklahoma Feb. 12: A Hurricane Katrina evacuee is set to be executed Feb. 12 for fatally shooting two men in Oklahoma City in 2006. Kendrick Antonio Simpson, 45, was sentenced to death in 2007 for both murders. He had relocated to Oklahoma in September 2005 after the hurricane hit New Orleans. [The Oklahoman]
- What’s behind this year’s spike in death row executions after years of decline [KOCO]
- From OK Policy: Oklahoma Death Penalty Tracker
Keabreauna Boyd is the latest Oklahoman to file for resentencing under Survivors’ Act: Keabreauna Boyd is the latest woman to file for resentencing under the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act, a law designed to account for the role domestic abuse may play in criminal cases. [KGOU]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
‘We didn’t do it right’: New Tulsa Housing Impact Fund looks to rectify affordable housing woes: During Wednesday’s announcement of a new housing initiative aimed at drawing outside investors and incentivizing local builders to produce affordable homes in Tulsa, Historic Greenwood Main Street Program president Burlinda Radney offered a blunt assessment of 100 years of policies she said have led to vast homelessness and cost of living woes. [NonDoc]
- Tulsa Housing Impact Fund launches, seeks $120 million to boost affordable housing [Tulsa World]
- Tulsa has raised $74M to fund more affordable housing. Its goal is $120M. [Tulsa Flyer]
Three years after tenants evicted, former retirement community site eyed for development: The former Fountains at Canterbury campus in northwest Oklahoma City is being eyed for development of a housing development three years after residents of the retirement and assisted living campus were evicted from their homes. [The Oklahoman]
Economy & Business News
Economists talk slowing economy, labor issues, AI impacts at OKC forum: The global economy is resilient, but cooling, and the U.S. is following suit, global commodity strategist Stephen Jury said Thursday during the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s annual State of the Economy forum. [The Journal Record]
Inflation squeezes Oklahomans as experts warn lower-income earners’ paychecks aren’t keeping up: Oklahomans are feeling the strain as inflation remains higher than economists say it should be, with rising costs for essentials like food, childcare, and housing pushing many families to a breaking point—all while incomes for higher-earners increase at higher rates than incomes for lower-earners. [KFOR]
Community News
Food banks are bracing for a surge in demand this holiday season, even as federal aid resumes: Federal food assistance has started to flow again after the government reopened. But the charitable food system is planning for continued need through the end of the year. [Harvest Public Media via KOSU]
Oklahoma Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell previews Route 66 centennial celebrations: StateImpact’s Logan Layden sat down with Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell, who also serves as chairman of the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission, to discuss the significance of America’s Main Street and plans to celebrate its 100 year anniversary in 2026. [StateImpact Oklahoma via KGOU]
Local Headlines
- Downtown Tulsa sees fewer 911 calls as arrests and incident reports rise [Public Radio Tulsa]
- Tulsa Dream Center to host annual Friendsgiving offering free hot meals, groceries [The Oklahoma Eagle via Tulsa Flyer]
- Why a state auditor’s request has Oklahoma County officials creating another committee [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“It is time to acknowledge that no one group decides the meaning and definition of love, family, faith, or patriotism, nor monopolize ownership over them. If humanity is our greatest common denominator, equality will follow, including equality under the law.”
– Kitcki Carroll, an enrolled citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and executive director of United South & Eastern Tribes, reflecting on the lessons of Chief Standing Bear’s fight for recognition and humanity. He warned that today’s political climate shows echoes of past dehumanization and urged a renewed commitment to equality, empathy, and shared responsibility. [Native News Online]
Number of the Day
$23.4 billion
The value of goods and services produced in Oklahoma in FY 2023 as a result of tribal activities, accounting for economic spillover effects. Tribal nations are not only major employers and wage contributors, but central drivers of statewide economic growth. [United for Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association]
Policy Note
The Economic Impact of Tribal Nations in Oklahoma: Tribal nations are a major economic engine in Oklahoma, directly employing more than 55,000 workers and supporting nearly 140,000 jobs statewide through multiplier effects. Their combined government, business, health care, capital activities, and gaming operations generated billions in total economic output, wages, and benefits. Tribes also invested heavily in public goods — providing $351 million for education and $582 million for health care, including millions of patient visits accessible to both Native and non-Native residents. Overall, Tribal nations remain one of Oklahoma’s most stable and far-reaching drivers of economic growth, community investment, and long-term regional development. [United for Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association]
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