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New from OK Policy
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 through Oct. 15) is a suitable time to recognize both the significant cultural and economic impact of our Hispanic friends and neighbors here in Oklahoma. Census figures show that today more than 1 in 10 Oklahomans are Hispanic and represent the state’s fastest-growing demographic during the past decade. Immigrants are job creators in our communities, with Hispanic Oklahomans owning or operating nearly 20,000 businesses in the state. [Shiloh Kantz / Journal Record]
Make your voice heard: Vote absentee!: To help Oklahomans understand the processes of Oklahoma’s absentee voter process, OK Policy and Together Oklahoma have developed this overview. [Cole Allen / OK Policy]
State Government News
Oklahoma’s record tax collections continue: Tax payments continued flowing into the state treasury at a record rate in September, officials said Thursday. Gross receipts to the treasury in September were $1.59 billion — an increase of 15.2%, or $210.2 million, from the same month a year ago. [Tulsa World]
Federal Government News
DACA protections remain in place for now, but appeals court orders more review and says it’s illegal: A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — which shields hundreds of thousands of young adult migrants from deportation and permits them to work in the U.S. — is unlawful. But the appellate panel allowed DACA’s protections to remain in place, at least temporarily, while a lower court conducts further review in light of the Biden administration’s recent efforts to codify the policy into administrative law. [ABC]
Tribal Nations News
US expands Colorado historic site where military massacred Native American village: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced on Wednesday that the United States bought nearly 3,500 acres of Colorado prairie land to expand the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. In 1864, soldiers attacked hundreds of Cheyenne and Arapaho families camping for the winter along the creek. More than 230 Native people, mostly women and children, were killed. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma tribes, gaming company announce new sports-themed betting app: Two Oklahoma tribes and one from California have partnered with a New York City gaming company to launch a new sports-themed betting app. The app, PlaySqor, uses “first of its kind Class II sports-themed gaming technology,” according to a news release. [Tulsa World]
Voting and Election News
In high-barrier Oklahoma, gerrymandering assures GOP control: Lawmakers have passed measures to conduct random audits after elections, to alert law enforcement if more than 10 are registered to vote at a single address and to reinstate a notary requirement for absentee ballots that had been temporarily suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That reinstatement was widely condemned because of its potential for limiting elderly, disabled and poor voters who might want to vote absentee. [Center for Public Integrity]
How important is education in Oklahoma’s race for governor?: Before they were political foes, Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister were united. [StateImpact Oklahoma]
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt: Raising teacher pay is ‘easy cop-out’: With a political opponent seeking to raise teacher salaries by $5,000, Gov. Kevin Stitt said such a move is “an easy cop-out” with no guarantee of improving student academics. [The Oklahoman]
Education Watch: Why Governor Stitt Supports School Vouchers for Oklahoma: When Oklahomans head to the polls next month, education issues will no doubt be on their minds — particularly in the governor’s race, where current state Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister is challenging Gov. Kevin Stitt. [Oklahoma Watch]
Oklahoma Public Employees Association PAC endorses Gov. Kevin Stitt’s reelection bid: The political arm of the state employees union has endorsed Gov. Kevin Stitt’s reelection bid. [The Oklahoman]
Cannabis company pledges to promote passage of SQ 820: A widely recognized player in the cannabis industry has reacted to news that Oklahomans won’t be allowed to vote this year on a state question to legalize recreational marijuana by pledging to fundraise and campaign on behalf of the proposal. [The Journal Record]
Health News
Okla. GOP ties hospital’s covid funds to end of gender-affirming care: When Oklahoma lawmakers met last week to distribute more than $108 million in federal pandemic relief funds for one of the state’s largest hospital systems, many expected a routine vote in favor of upgrading its medical records and a cancer-treatment center. Instead, Republican lawmakers added an explosive provision: OU Health would only get these funds, including $39.4 million for a new pediatric mental health facility, if its Oklahoma Children’s Hospital stopped providing gender-affirming care. [Washington Post]
Oklahoma Children’s Hospital limits services after state ties relief funds to gender-affirming care ban: A major children’s hospital in Oklahoma has ended gender-affirming hormone prescriptions and surgical procedures for minors after the state’s government passed a law withholding millions in federal COVID-19 relief money from providers who perform “gender reassignment medical treatment.” [Fierce Healthcare]
Criminal Justice News
Midwest City withdraws from CJAC, Edmond renews agreement: Amid calls for local municipalities to stop sending detainees to the Oklahoma County Jail, the city council of Midwest City recently voted to end its participation with the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC), while the Edmond City Council renewed its agreement with CJAC for 10 years. [NonDoc]
‘Innocent is innocent, period’: Richard Glossip on facing execution again: Richard Glossip is intimately acquainted with the cell in Oklahoma state penitentiary known as “LL”. He’s been inside its 8ft by 12ft grey walls three times, waiting to be taken to the room next door – the death chamber. [The Guardian]
Judge rules Oklahoma death row inmate Benjamin Cole competent to be executed Oct. 20: At a mental health evaluation in July, death row inmate Benjamin Cole told a state psychologist he was “just a super-duper hyperbolic Jesus freak.” [The Oklahoman]
Education News
Oklahoma Representative says Tulsa Public Schools needs safety plan after deadly shooting: This week, Tulsa Public Schools announced plans to stagger games to increase security following the deadly shooting at McLain High School, but Oklahoma Rep. Regina Goodwin says that’s not good enough. [KTUL]
Court rejects school district’s claim over state takeover: A school district challenging the Oklahoma Department of Education’s ability to remove its superintendent and take over administration of the school was rebuffed Tuesday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled the law is on the state agency’s side. [The Journal Record]
OKC Public Schools Cancel Classes for Nov. 8: Oklahoma City Public Schools announced that it will cancel classes on November 8, 2022. The district’s board of education approved the change to its calendar earlier this week. [News 9]
Quote of the Day
“Stories like the Sand Creek Massacre are not easy to tell but it is my duty — our duty — to ensure that they are told.”
-U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in announcing the federal purchase of land to expand Colorado’s Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site where one of the deadliest military attacks on Native people in U.S. history occurred. [The Oklahoman]
Number of the Day
$343.6 million
Oklahoma’s expected annual loss of GDP if the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy is terminated.
[Center for American Progress]
Policy Note
What happens if DACA ends?: For more than ten years, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy has provided protection from deportation and work authorization for undocumented young people who arrived as children and who have grown up in the United States. The DACA policy, launched by the Obama Administration in 2012, has proved to be a tremendous success for nearly one million people and their families and communities to date; it is arguably the most positive immigration policy of this century. Despite DACA’s overwhelming success, the future of the policy—and the Dreamers protected by it—is facing urgent legal threats. [FWD.us]
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