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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 agencies outline big needs for next fiscal year (Capitol Update): In his last year in office, Governor Kevin Stitt’s usual admonition to state agencies to submit a flat budget, or budget cuts, for legislative consideration during the upcoming session seems to have had less impact on agency directors than it once did. According to the House Budget Transparency Portal, agencies are asking legislators to appropriate over $1.6 billion in new appropriations for fiscal year 2027. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Oklahoma News
Oklahoma Policy Institute: ACA expirations will hit rural residents harder than urban: Many Oklahomans will see health insurance rate hikes unless Congress extends expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits. Rural residents will be hit hardest, according to a researchers from the Oklahoma Policy Institute. [KOSU]
- Opinion: Insurance tax credits’ future is looming crisis for Oklahoma [Glen Mulready / The Oklahoman]
- From OK Policy: What Oklahomans need to know about expiring ACA premium tax credits
State Government News
Insurance Commissioner announces probe into homeowners claim practices: Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready on Monday announced his agency has an ongoing investigation into roof claims, separate from a private lawsuit by homeowners alleging State Farm formed an illegal enterprise to avoid payouts. [The Oklahoman]
State Delays Push Data Center Developers to Private Land: Months of delays in approving a commercial lease on state school land for a data center near Lawton led to the developer canceling its lease, causing the state to lose out on lease payments that benefit public education. [Oklahoma Watch]
TSET awards $150M in Legacy Grants that Legislature wanted to control: The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust has awarded $150 million in so-called “Legacy Grants,” using funds at the center of a debate between the trust and the Oklahoma Legislature. [The Oklahoman]
- From OK Policy: What’s That?: Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET)
Oklahoma AG announces $5M settlement with CVS Caremark for prescription reimbursement: While CVS Caremark did not admit to wrongdoing, the company will pay over $5 million to Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office and agreed to certain reforms to avoid further litigation, according to the settlement first publicized Monday. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Oklahoma pharmacies to receive 75% of CVS Caremark settlement [The Oklahoman]
Legal roundup: AI filings kicked, KFOR defamation case continues, CVS Caremark settlement raises old issue: In the following legal roundup, you can peruse notable and newsworthy developments in the worlds of civil and criminal litigation. Below, you’ll find information about a TV station’s defamation case, a new settlement with a controversial pharmacy benefit manager, and a trio of 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decisions. [NonDoc]
Lawmaker advocates for more safety measures in South OKC after deadly bus accident: A recent school bus accident that left a six-year-old dead has a lawmaker pushing for additional safety measures in neighborhoods near schools in South Oklahoma City. [KFOR]
Oklahoma Republican lawmakers ask attorney general to investigate COVID-19 response, protocols: Twenty-one Republican state lawmakers are requesting the Oklahoma attorney general investigate the state’s COVID-19 response and hospital protocols during the pandemic. A spokesperson for Attorney General Gentner Drummond said this is not the first request to cross his desk. [StateImpact via KGOU]
Federal Government News
Trump move threatens Oklahoma’s emerging AI regulations: Just hours before U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice spoke to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber about the challenges of regulating artificial intelligence and more, President Donald Trump decided to take AI matters into his own hands. [The Journal Record]
Supreme Court seems likely to give Trump more power over agencies: The Supreme Court appears likely to agree with President Donald Trump that he can fire at will the heads of some independent agencies, hearing arguments on Dec. 8 in a case that could redefine how more than a dozen agencies operate and shift power from Congress to the president. [USA Today via The Oklahoman]
US Supreme Court seems ready to back Trump in case of fired FTC commissioner: The U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready to expand presidential power after hearing a case Monday on whether President Donald Trump can hire and fire members of independent federal agencies without cause. [Oklahoma Voice]
U.S. House punts vote on college-athlete compensation bill: U.S. House GOP leadership pulled a bill from the House floor Wednesday that would set a national framework for college-athletes’ compensation. [Oklahoma Voice]
FBI agents fired for taking the knee sue over termination: A dozen FBI agents are suing the Bureau and Justice Department leaders, claiming they were unlawfully fired for kneeling during racial justice protests in 2020 in connection to the police killing of George Floyd. [USA Today via The Oklahoman]
US Education Department civil rights staff returning to work to tackle complaint backlog: The U.S. Education Department is bringing back hundreds of employees in its Office for Civil Rights who were placed on paid administrative leave earlier this year, according to a Dec. 5 email to those employees obtained by States Newsroom. [Oklahoma Voice]
Tribal Nations News
Advocates identify gaps in solving Missing Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis in Oklahoma: Oklahoma’s new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples task force is holding meetings around the state to identify the gaps in solving the MMIP crisis. The task force, created by the Attorney General’s Office, held its first public listening session last Friday at the Cheyenne Arapaho Service Center in Oklahoma City. [KOSU]
Opinion: Extending the Affordable Care Act Is a Moral Imperative for Indian Country: For generations, Native Americans have faced extraordinary health disparities. For decades, the Indian Health Service (IHS) has been chronically underfunded. The ACA — known as ‘Obamacare” — is one of the few tools that has begun to address these inequities — and extending it is essential to protecting our lives, our communities and our sovereignty. [Levi Rickert / Native News Online]
Voting and Election News
Election preview: Voters to choose Republican nominee for northern Oklahoma House seat: Oklahomans in House District 35 will have the chance to vote on a new representative Tuesday. The seat covers cities in Creek, Noble, Osage, Pawnee and Payne counties. Former Rep. Ty Burns, R-Pawnee, resigned after pleading guilty to domestic abuse and assault. [KOSU]
Chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party resigns citing personal reasons: In an unexpected move on Monday, the chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, Representative John Waldron, announced his resignation on social media. Rep. John Waldron is the Representative for Oklahoma House District 77. [KFOR]
Education News
New student loan rule could dissuade Oklahomans, others from seeking advanced nursing degrees: A provision in the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the tax and spending law enacted this summer, overhauls the federal student loan program for graduate students in an effort to simplify the loan process and discourage colleges from raising tuition. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education terminates 16 OU degree programs, suspends 3 others: The state regents examined a total of 357 low-producing programs across the state. Of that number 41 will be terminated, 21 will be suspended and 193 will be kept with “action plans” to increase enrollment and productivity, according to a Friday press release. [OU Daily]
As frustrations deepen, OKC charter school allowed to remain open for now: Members of a state board overseeing charter schools said they’re running out of patience with a local high school facing allegations of alarmingly low staff levels, weak finances and poor organization. [Oklahoma Voice]
Switch to block scheduling for secondary schools stirs controversy among Jenks parents: In a unanimous vote, the local school board on Monday night approved a block schedule for Jenks High School, Jenks Alternative Center, Jenks Freshman Academy and Jenks Middle School, and 27 early dismissal Fridays for elementary and intermediate school students beginning in August 2026. [Tulsa World]
A ‘jewel’ for north Tulsa: Tulsa Public Schools Parent Resource Center connects families with critical resources: Tulsa Public Schools sent families home with free frozen holiday turkeys and hugs from Santa Claus in early December at the Parent Resource Center’s first large community event since completing its remodel. [Tulsa Flyer]
Criminal Justice News
Man shot by police after throwing bricks has died, OKCPD reports: A man who was hospitalized after being shot by an Oklahoma City police officer in September has now died, OKCPD reports. [The Oklahoman]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
East Tulsa’s homeless spent ‘24/7 outside.’ This winter, they have a warm place to stay.: BeHeard Movement partnered with CREOKS, a nonprofit organization providing behavioral health services, and the City of Tulsa to open an inclement weather shelter that accepts unhoused people and their pets in east Tulsa. [Tulsa Flyer]
Economy & Business News
Oklahoma fire prevention law ignites new costs for Tulsa food truck owners: Oklahoma passed two laws earlier this fall around food truck licensing and fire safety. Despite support from lawmakers and fire officials, the laws have caused confusion and drawn criticism, especially in the Latino community. [Tulsa Flyer]
Community News
Statues in the Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza are getting repairs: An art restorer has begun work on statues in the Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza in downtown Oklahoma City. In recent weeks, vandals targeted several of the statues in the plaza commemorating the first NAACP Youth Council sit-in held on Aug. 19, 1958, at the drug store in an effort to integrate the whites-only lunch counter. [The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- Tulsa challenges Arkansas-issued sewage permit, says it violates 2003 federal court settlement [Oklahoma Voice]
- New leadership elected at Tulsa City Council [Tulsa Flyer]
- Tulsa Transition Academy renovation added to TPS bond package [Tulsa World]
- Saint Francis Hospital Muskogee opens patient tower after three-year expansion [Tulsa World]
- Restaurants in Bartlesville hit with 121 health violations [The Journal Record]
- Edmond kicks off Route 66 Centennial Celebration [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“So even if someone thinks, ‘Well, I’m not on the marketplace, it’s not going to affect me,’ it’s absolutely going to trickle down. I also think people need to keep in mind that this is not hopeless, and that you are able to contact your lawmaker and urge them to vote yes on this.”
— OK Policy’s Kati Malicoate explaining how Congress’ failure to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies will have downstream effects causing all health insurance premiums to increase. [KOSU]
Number of the Day
620,000
The number of Oklahomans lifted above the poverty line each year by federal and state safety net programs. These benefits reduce the state’s poverty rate from 27.3% to 10.5% after accounting for taxes and transfers, highlighting the critical role of public assistance in supporting economic stability. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
Policy Note
About 12 Million Households Receive Both Medicaid and SNAP. The Reconciliation Bill Puts Them At Risk: Households that rely on both Medicaid and SNAP stand to be doubly threatened by the reconciliation bill’s sweeping cuts, which would undermine access to critical healthcare coverage and nutritious food simultaneously. More than a dozen million families receive both benefits, meaning the overlapping losses will intensify financial and community hardship. [Urban Institute]
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