The House Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee meets Feb. 18 at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. The subcommittee passed several bills that would impact reading instruction, prayer and the instructional time in public schools. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A slew of bills impacting school prayer, reading instruction, the length of an academic year and more passed House committees on K-12 education this week.
A House subcommittee on school funding advanced a bill Wednesday that would require a “period of prayer” in public schools for students and staff.
House Bill 3240 from Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, would mandate a time for prayer and reading of religious texts each school day, though it didn’t specify how long that period should last. The period could not replace instructional time, and parents could opt out their children from participating.
Although students already have the right to pray and read religious texts in public schools, Hasenbeck, who is running as a GOP candidate for state superintendent, contended some districts discourage prayer and Bible studies out of fear of being sued.
“This is not sponsorship of religion,” she said during a subcommittee meeting. “It is just allowing a public school child to practice their First Amendment right.”
Democrats in the subcommittee contended the bill is unnecessary because religious activity is already allowed.
The bill passed by a vote of 6-4. Legislation that advances past the subcommittee continues to the full House Appropriations and Budget Committee for further review.
House speaker’s elementary education bills advance
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, saw one of his top-priority bills, HB 4420, pass the subcommittee by a party-line vote of 8-2 on Monday. It now continues to the full appropriations committee.
His legislation would require students to repeat third grade if they score below a basic level in reading. Students scoring below basic would be subject to summer tutoring, extra reading coaching during the school year and optional retention in first and second grade.
Hilbert said his goal is for schools to begin interventions long before third grade. Students with a disability, English learners and those who have been held back twice already would be exempt from third-grade retention.
“Advancing a child who cannot read is not compassionate, it is negligent,” he said in a statement. “This legislation ensures students receive help early and intensively, rather than being passed along without the skills they need to succeed.”
The House Common Education Committee on Wednesday passed another bill from Hilbert that would prohibit uncertified adjunct instructors from teaching core subjects — math, reading, science or social studies — to children in pre-K through fourth grade. Districts could get a waiver for that rule if the adjunct teacher has taught those subjects before and has completed training.
The bill advances to the House Education Oversight Committee for another vote.
Lawmakers aim to add school days
HB 3151, which passed 9-2 through the education appropriations subcommittee, would add instructional days to the school year by preventing districts from counting staff professional development days and parent-teacher conferences as school days. The measure could add up to 42 instructional hours to school calendars.
The bill’s author, Rep. Rob Hall, R-Tulsa, said he filed the legislation to give students more time in class.
“A huge part of, in my opinion, the achievement gap can be traced back to less time in front of a quality teacher in the classroom,” Hall said during the subcommittee’s Monday meeting.
Committee leader examines concurrent enrollment
The leader of the subcommittee, Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, advanced a bill that would require districts to pay colleges for high school students who are concurrently enrolled. Public schools receive state funds for each student, including those who spend several hours a day off campus taking college courses.
“We are paying our schools to teach courses and classwork and students that they are not actually teaching,” Caldwell said. “The net effect, the knock-on effect is we are paying twice to educate the same student because we are also paying when those students enroll in concurrent enrollment.”
The state spent more than $20 million in the past year for high school students’ concurrent enrollment, he said.
Caldwell’s bill also would have high school students pay back half of the cost of a concurrent college class if they drop it after a withdrawal deadline. High school students currently face no financial penalty for doing so.
He said the measure would give students “skin in the game” and incentivize them to finish their college courses.
His bill passed 6-4 and continues to the full appropriations committee.
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]]>A sign outside of a security checkpoint at the Oklahoma Capitol reads "No firearms or weapons allowed on this property." (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers voted down a measure that would have allowed licensed handgun owners to carry their weapons in the Oklahoma Capitol amid concerns about ensuring safety.
Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, said Oklahomans should have the right to protect themselves “at all times,” including at the state Capitol.
House Bill 3094 proposed allowing anyone in possession of a valid handgun license issued under the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act to carry their weapon at the Capitol after having their license checked by security.
It would have brought Oklahoma law in line with neighboring states like Missouri, Texas and Kansas that allow guns to be carried at their Capitol buildings, Jenkins said.
“Ultimately, a person should have the ability to protect themselves in the Capitol at all times,” she said.
Tim Tipton, commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, said the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which protects the Capitol, would need greater manpower and resources if the bill became law. He said he would need to conduct a full threat assessment before estimating the cost.
Threats against public officials have been higher in the last few years than at any other point during his 37 years with the Highway Patrol, Tipton said.
“I’m not scared of guns, I carry a gun every day,” he said. “All my family carry guns every day. I’m scared of the intent of ill-willed people who I believe could circumvent the no-carry policy in this building and put you all at risk. And ultimately, I’m responsible for your safety.”
Tipton said checking an individual’s license doesn’t always give law enforcement the whole picture, and running it through a system to check its validity could hold up security lines for entry to the Capitol.
Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, said she had concerns about guns being allowed in the building, and lawmakers being vulnerable while on the House or Senate floor if there are protesters in the gallery.
Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, said it’s “unreasonable” to add more to the plates of legislative and administrative assistants who are often on the “front lines” and interacting with visitors who can be emotional or upset.
The bill failed to advance out of the House Civil Judiciary Committee by a bipartisan 5-4 vote.
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]]>State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd, pictured Feb. 11, 2025, said her office found no financial wrongdoing at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A long-awaited special audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Education found no misuse of taxpayer funds under former state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister.
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd released the findings during a news conference Wednesday. Gov. Kevin Stitt requested the audit in 2021 while at odds with Hofmeister, who was term-limited in 2023.
The former state superintendent said she is pleased the probe found no evidence of wrongdoing by her administration.
“That result reflects the integrity, diligence, and transparency our team brought to its work every day,” Hofmeister said in a statement. “I appreciate the thorough review by Auditor Byrd, and we’re glad the final report confirms our commitment to responsible stewardship and open government.”
The governor’s audit request included no specific allegations of financial mismanagement at the agency.
Rather, Stitt asked for an investigation into the Education Department’s revenue sources and spending, especially during an influx of federal pandemic aid funds at the time. A scathing audit of Epic Charter School the year before attracted significant attention to education spending.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond requested a separate audit to investigate the Education Department’s finances during state Superintendent Ryan Walters’ tenure from 2022-2025. Drummond has chosen to put that audit on hold, a spokesperson for the state auditor said.
The Education Department acts as a pass-through entity for billions of state and federal dollars that continue down to local school districts. The agency keeps only 0.21% of those funds for its own operations and legislatively required programs.
Byrd said her audit focused primarily on that 0.21%, or $16 million, from the 2021 fiscal year and found no misspending.
The likelihood of waste, fraud or abuse of funds is greater at the local level, Byrd said, “because that’s where all of the money is spent.”
She said the state doesn’t have a strong enough accounting system to detect fraud within local schools. The Oklahoma Cost Accounting System, which the Education Department manages, relies on each district to report its finances honestly, though it has some risk assessment tools.
“The good news here is that most school districts are working hard to report expenditures honestly,” Byrd said. “However, there are some bad actors out there, and the bad news is that we do not have a system that can catch bad actors at the local level. The consequences of that can be catastrophic.”
In a statement through his communications staff, the governor said it’s time to modernize Oklahoma’s school accounting system. Stitt said the existing system “is not giving parents and taxpayers the transparency they deserve.”
Byrd didn’t lay the blame for the accounting system’s weaknesses on the Education Department. Rather, she said the state should design a new financial reporting mechanism, one that doesn’t rely on the honor system.
Auditors also homed in on a $1 million allocation for a math vendor that the Oklahoma Legislature included in the state budget in 2021. Budget records from the 2021 fiscal year indicate the vendor is Imagine Math, though Byrd didn’t name the company during her news conference.
Imagine Math is the only math vendor singled out for a $1 million appropriation in the Education Department’s budget that year. It was hired to provide “supplemental math programs (to) help PreK-9 students solve problems and justify reasoning inside the classroom and in day-to-day life, moving students beyond computation to real comprehension,” according to the agency’s budget.
While finding no issues with the vendor’s services, Byrd questioned why lawmakers dedicated funds to a single company and allowed it to avoid the competitive bidding process. A lawmaker who led an education appropriations committee at that time was unable to provide any documents to auditors showing how that vendor was evaluated, she said.
“I want to be clear: I’m not questioning the quality or effectiveness of this vendor’s product, but taxpayers deserve to know that when money is set aside for an education vendor that the vendor’s services have been fully vetted and that the vendor has a documented history of success working in Oklahoma with Oklahoma’s specific learning standards,” Byrd said.
The audit also raised questions about the state’s funding of the Strong Readers Act, which in 2021 was an $11 million program known as the Reading Sufficiency Act. The program dedicates money for literacy instruction in schools.
Although larger districts understandably received more funding, others received too little for it to be effective, she said. One district, for example, got only $12.
Auditors also found no correlation between larger appropriations and better reading outcomes, she said.
“Did taxpayers get any return on investment on that $11 million?” she said. “Did more kids learn how to read? No one knows, and that’s the problem.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Gov. Kevin Stitt, which was provided after publication.
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]]>A credit card is used to pay for gasoline on February 07, 2024 in San Anselmo, California. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Credit card users could soon be paying more after the state Senate approved a measure that would increase a cap on what businesses could charge their consumers.
Senate Bill 2132, by Sen. Spencer Kern, R-Duncan, would increase the surcharge fee, or the amount that businesses can charge their customers, to 3% from 2%.
Proponents said the change will help businesses better absorb the transaction fees that credit card companies are allowed to charge each time someone swipes their credit card.
Currently, businesses either need to absorb the transaction fee or increase their prices to cover those costs, said James Leewright, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association. The group supports increasing the surcharge rate.
Leewright said restaurants make between 3% and 5% on a meal, but must pay large transaction fees to credit card companies.
Increasing the surcharge cap that businesses can charge consumers would allow restaurants to recoup some of those costs, he said.
Credit card transaction fees are the third highest cost for restaurants behind labor and food.
“We all know that people are moving into a cashless society,” Leewright said. “Most want to use credit cards for transactions and the credit card companies are charging enormous fees to be able to make that transaction happen. They don’t have any competition.”
Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, voted against the measure because he said it raises costs for his constituents who use credit cards.
“The last time I checked, I represent credit card holders,” Jett said. “They are constituents.”
He said he doesn’t want to tack an additional fee onto consumers.
Kern could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Oklahoma State Chamber, Tulsa Regional Chamber and Oklahoma City and Greater Oklahoma City Chamber have not taken positions on the bill.
The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 28-17.
It now heads to the House for consideration.
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]]>The Service Oklahoma headquarters on Classen Boulevard in Oklahoma City helps residents with driver's license and motor vehicle services. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Teen drivers could be required to meet certain literacy requirements under two bills proposed by Oklahoma lawmakers.
House Bill 4153 and Senate Bill 1538 would each require minors to meet eighth grade literacy standards and require Service Oklahoma to withdraw driving privileges if the child drops out of school.
The measures carve out exceptions for children on individualized education programs, or IEPs, for reading and those who work at least 24 hours per week.
The lawmakers authoring these bills have both said the goal is to incentivize students to improve literacy.
Neither Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, nor Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, were available to answer questions about their bills Wednesday, including whether the measures could affect youth who are learning English as a second language or why they now want to reinstate a requirement that was eliminated several years ago.
Current exam requirements for drivers under 18 include a 20-question written test, an eye exam and an Oklahoma Workzone Safe Course, according to Service Oklahoma, the state agency that is responsible for overseeing the issuance of driver’s licenses and identification cards.
Under both bills, youth would need to either pass a statewide reading assessment or an approved alternative test to prove they meet literacy standards before they can be licensed to drive, according to the bills.
Pugh’s measure passed through the Senate Aeronautics and Transportation Committee with an 11-1 vote. Hasenbeck’s bill unanimously advanced from the House Public Safety committee on Wednesday.
Sen. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, was the only lawmaker to vote against the measure in committee. She said Wednesday that she couldn’t comment because she needed to refamiliarize herself with the bill.
While presenting his bill, Pugh said it would reinstate a preexisting literacy requirement. The requirement was previously removed due to the COVID-19 pandemic when state standards for reading sufficiency were being rewritten, he said.
“The aim is literacy,” he said at the meeting. “This is certainly a carrot.”
He also said many teachers have requested this be reinstated because of the “effectiveness of this carrot.”
If a minor is employed more than 24 hours a week, they’re eligible to apply for an exemption to continue being able to drive to work, Pugh said during committee.
Hasenbeck said the measure will encourage better literacy outcomes.
“By tying reading proficiency to driver eligibility, we’re encouraging students to strengthen essential literacy skills that will help them throughout life while also promoting safer roads for all Oklahomans,” she said in a statement after Wednesday’s vote.
Both Hasenbeck and Pugh are running for the Republican nomination for state superintendent.
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]]>The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted to deny clemency to Richard Norman Rojem, Jr. in 2024 after hearing from his defense team, the Attorney General's office and victim impact statements. (Photo by Kennedy Thomason/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate panel on Wednesday passed a bill that would nearly double the pay of the five-member Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Senate Bill 1330, by Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, would increase the board chairman’s pay to $46,000 from $24,800. Pay for the other four members would rise to $42,000 from $22,800.
“I have attended numerous Pardon and Parole Board meetings,” Jech said. “It is obvious to me to watch those meetings how much input and preparation goes into that.”
The board is tasked with considering if inmates should receive clemency, have their sentences commuted, be pardoned or qualify for early release.
The proposed increase more accurately reflects the workload, Jech said.
Increasing the pay, which has not been adjusted since 2002, will help attract and retain members, Jech said.
In recent years, the panel had quite a bit of turnover, said Kyle Counts, executive director.
Board members spend 20 to 30 hours preparing for a meeting by reading investigative reports and correspondence, he said.
The board meets once a month for two to two- and-a-half days, which takes up another 15 to 20 hours, Counts said.
“The board members are public servants but there is a time factor involved and the emotional weight of the responsibility,” he said. “They are committed to balancing the interest of the early release when the offender went through rehabilitation with protecting the community and respecting the victims and their pain.”
The pay adjustment is expected to cost $98,000 annually.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the measure by a vote of 22-0.
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]]>Rep. Dillon Travis, R-Meramec, stands on the House floor following his swearing in ceremony on Feb. 18, 2026. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A new member of the Oklahoma House was sworn in Wednesday morning after winning a special election for a vacant seat in a north-central district.
Rep. Dillon Travis, R-Maramec, who represents House District 35, said he looked “forward to protecting rural Oklahoma” after being sworn in by Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Dustin Rowe.
Travis was elected during a special election Feb. 10 with 64% of the district’s vote. He’ll fill a vacancy left by former Rep. Ty Burns, R-Pawnee, who resigned after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges.
House District 35 includes portions of Pawnee, Creek, Noble, Osage and Payne counties.
Travis thanked his family for their support and said he was honored to be sworn in on Future Farmers of America Day at the Capitol.
“Even today, I do everything I can for our local county and state FFA organizations,” he said. “It’s a real privilege to be sworn in on FFA day.”
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]]>Gov. Kevin Stitt, pictured Feb. 2, applauded Mustang Public Schools on Wednesday for suspending 122 students who participated in an anti-ICE walkout. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt applauded an Oklahoma City-area school district for suspending 122 students who staged a walkout against federal immigration enforcement tactics earlier this month.
“Young Oklahomans: Free speech is sacred, but truancy robs your future. Stay in school, build skills, and make your voice heard responsibly,” Stitt, a Republican, posted on social media.
Mustang Public Schools confirmed Wednesday it assigned in-school suspension to students for committing unexcused absences during the walkout, not for the content of their speech. High school students across the state, including in Mustang, have walked out of class this month to hold protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s controversial mass deportation effort.
The walkouts have drawn criticism from some Republican legislators, who complained not only of student truancy but that the demonstrations were “politically charged.” They called for teaching licenses to be revoked from any educators involved in organizing the protests.
State Superintendent Lindel Fields and Stitt’s education secretary, Dan Hamlin, said they found no evidence that school staff helped plan any of the demonstrations.
Social media claims of adult involvement in Mustang’s Feb. 5 walkout weren’t found to be credible, either, district leadership said. The walkout was student-led, and those involved were punished according to district policies.
Truancy in Mustang schools is punishable by detention, suspension or other consequences, according to the district’s discipline manual.
“Student safety remains our highest priority, and our decisions were made with that responsibility in mind,” the district stated.
In a joint statement last week, Fields and Hamlin said students who leave a school campus without permission should be addressed according to locally adopted policies. Educators present during on-campus demonstrations are “expected to ensure safety and order and not to participate in political advocacy,” they said.
“Our state’s public schools are legally obligated to respect students’ constitutional rights to free speech while also maintaining safe and orderly learning environments for all students,” Fields and Hamlin said.
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]]>An exterior photo of the Oklahoma State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
For decades, farmers across America have been encouraged by the federal government and state officials to spread municipal sewage on millions of acres of farmland as fertilizer.
Utilizing sewage as fertilizer saves cities money on landfill costs and is perceived to be a cheap nutrient-rich fertilizer for farmers.
However, sewage sludge, a mix of human and industrial waste that is a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process, harbors a mishmash of all kinds of dangerous substances that leach into soil, plants, water and even the food we eat. This includes heavy metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, a class of around 15,000 compounds, called forever chemicals because of their extreme environmental persistence that are now present in the blood of an estimated 97% of people in the United States.
Despite years of public pronouncements from the manufacturers that PFAS chemicals were biologically inert and posed no health risk, forever chemicals have now been linked to a growing list of human health impacts, including various forms of cancer, reproductive harms, immunotoxicity, and neurodevelopmental problems among others.
Last year the EPA released a draft confirming this danger and indicating that PFAS in biosolid fertilizers could pose health risks. Unfortunately, that warning hasn’t affected the popularity of using biosolids as a fertilizer in Oklahoma since over 80% of the state’s wastewater sludge winds up on farmland. A large percentage of that sludge, around 40%, derives from Oklahoma City waste.
Worrisome? Yes, but we don’t have a fix on how bad the situation might be because the state hasn’t established a comprehensive, regulated testing program to determine the extent of possible PFAS contamination.
Not surprisingly this has garnered the attention of some rural Oklahoma legislators who are working to remedy this issue this session.
Republican Sen. Randy Grellner has submitted Senate Bill 2141 which would mandate that biosolids must be tested for PFAS before land application.
House Bill 1726 and Senate Bill 1799 would entirely ban the land application of biosolids while Senate bills 620 and 1818, both introduced by Sen. Shane Jett, would require consumers purchasing agricultural crops or vegetative material grown where biosolids have been applied to be fully informed of the risks and the owners of properties where biosolids are applied to post visible public signage.
The least supportive proposal, House Bill 3403, would establish a five year pilot program to study biosolids application.
This obtuse measure, put forward by Republican Rep. Kenton Patzkowsky, would mean at least five more years of toxic sludge applied to our croplands. This appears to be more of a delaying strategy since remember it was Patzkowsky who last year refused to consider in committee Senate Bill 3, which called for a moratorium on biosolid application.
Five years would be an exceedingly long time to wait considering the fact that landowners and manufacturers could experience significant liability and financial impacts in the meantime.
Other states are moving to hold companies and people accountable for the harm biosolid application is causing.
As of December 2024, the attorneys general of 30 states and D.C. have initiated litigation against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals for contaminating the environment and harming public health. Oklahoma is not involved in that litigation.
There are also discussions in other parts of the country about who should foot the bill to clean up the contamination.
Costs associated with PFAS research, remedial, and regulatory actions are significant. Identifying and cleaning up contamination can cost states, federal agencies, utilities, and others millions of dollars. Presently, there are no viable means to remove PFAS from sludge at scale or to remediate the farm soils that sludge contaminates.
In a 2023 document, the EPA and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) — which represents state agriculture departments nationwide — agreed to work with state agencies on the issue of contaminated farmland and offer “support for farmers and ranchers to access relevant federal and state assistance programs.” The issue was one of the group’s 2024 policy priorities.
That group’s policy priority turned out to be an empty promise since nearly two years later our state’s farmers and ranchers are still waiting to obtain any kind of assistance programs, much less information regarding the potential dangers of biosolids.
The bottom line is we can’t depend on the federal government to solve this for us. It’s up to our Legislature to take matters into their own hands.
It’s the only way to make sure that our food supply is safe as well as ensure our farms and farmers are safe.
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]]>Rep. Neil Hays, R-Checotah, center, presents a bill on AI-generated content at the House Criminal Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 17, 2026. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously advanced a bill that would criminalize creating artificial intelligence-generated content using someone’s likeness without permission.
House Bill 3299 would criminalize the “creation and dissemination” of media that uses a person’s name, image, voice, or likeness without written consent in an attempt to cause harm. The offense would result in a misdemeanor charge, but could rise to the status of felony if it results in more than $25,000 of financial harm or the media is used for extortion, coercion or blackmail.
Rep. Neil Hays, R-Checotah, said AI technology is “only going to get better,” so the state needs to create some guardrails now so it isn’t used to cause harm.
The bill wouldn’t regulate AI technology itself, Hays said, just how the content generated with it are used. He said the intent is not to infringe on First Amendment rights.
“You just shouldn’t be able to create videos, images, voiceovers of people without their consent with the intent to do harm, just like you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater,” Hays said. “… With as realistic as it’s getting, you’re gonna spend your whole life defending yourself from false accusations.”
Hays’ measure would also require disclosure of the use of AI-technology in political advertising or television commercials pertaining “name, image, voice or likeness” of a candidate within 45 days of an election.
He said it’s important to maintain public trust and faith in Oklahoma’s elections, and AI-generated media can have unfair influence.
“I’m not saying you can’t use it,” he said. “I’m not even saying you have to say what’s false. You just have to notify the public that if you use digitization and those images in a campaign ad within 45 days of the election, that you just disclose that you used it, that’s it.”
The measure carves out exceptions for news reporting, commentary, satire and parody.
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]]>A classroom sits empty at Mayo Demonstration School in Tulsa Public Schools on April 8, 2024. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation to create a Teachers’ Bill of Rights advanced Tuesday despite a lukewarm response from GOP lawmakers.
After nearly an hour of discussion, the Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 1237 with a 7-4 vote, though multiple Republicans appeared conflicted about supporting it.
The legislation from Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, outlines several rights already encoded in state law or confirmed in court rulings for public school teachers, such as keeping the Holy Scriptures in their classrooms, praying with students and wearing religious symbols. Bullard’s bill would consider it a right of teachers to have an hour-long planning period each school day and to be free of abusive language or physical harm from students or colleagues, among several other provisions.
Much of the bill cites existing laws rather than making new ones, said Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa. He said other pieces were “too subjective,” particularly a provision that schools couldn’t promote any specific religious perspective.
“We’re not making new law, even though it says it’s new law,” Rader said before voting against the bill.
Teacher protections must be made clear, Bullard said. He contended their rights and safety aren’t respected in all schools, citing national surveys of K-12 teachers that found 14% had suffered physical violence from students.
“If we don’t start protecting teachers from some of the things that we’re talking about and going after some of these protections in the classroom, we’re never going to see teacher recruitment go up. We’re going to continue to see it go down,” Bullard said during the meeting.
The bill is now eligible for consideration by the full Senate.
The committee then gave unanimous approval of a bill that would create paternity leave for public school employees. Senate Bill 1337 mirrors an existing law that grants six weeks of maternity leave to full-time school employees after the birth of a child.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education estimates it would cost about $1.93 million to provide paternity leave to fathers of newborn children.
The bill’s author, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said the measure does “maximum good” for a minimal amount of money.
SB 1337 has been assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further review.
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]]>Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, attends a news conference in the Senate Lounge at the state Capitol on Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate committee on Monday passed a bill to reduce property taxes.
Senate Bill 1809, by Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, would increase the homestead exemption to $5,000 from $1,000 beginning in tax year 2027.
A homestead exemption reduces the amount of property taxes paid by people who live in their homes by shielding part of the home’s value from taxation.
The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee passed the measure by a vote of 9-2.
The bill passed with the title off, a move designed to slow the measure down in the legislative process.
Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, who presented the bill, said he did not know the expected fiscal impact of the measure.
While the state does not receive property tax revenue, school districts, counties, libraries and CareerTechs rely on it to fund services.
Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, questioned if the bill should advance without knowing the fiscal impact.
Lawmakers have been hearing about property taxes and need to take action, Hamilton said.
“The people that are going to get the most relief from this measure are the people that have a lower homestead value, as opposed to those that have a very high homestead value,” Hamilton said. “And the ones that this is geared to protect are going to be the elderly and those on a fixed income.”
Kirt said seniors can currently take advantage of a property tax freeze. She said the measure could be more targeted to the low income and seniors as opposed to applying to everyone.
Home values in the metro areas are higher than those in rural areas due to land values, said Sen. Mark Mann , D-Oklahoma City.
“It’s going to give a disproportionate amount of relief to those individuals that live in a metro area versus a rural area,” Mann said.
Citizens should not be renting from the state government for the rest of their foreseeable futures, said Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee.
Jett is one of three proponents of an initiative petition, State Question 843, that seeks to gradually phase out property taxes for those with a homestead exemption. Supporters would need to collect 92,263 signatures to get it on a future ballot.
Paxton has strongly criticized that plan.
Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, said the $1,000 homestead exemption has been on the books since 1938.
Senate Bill 1809 still must clear the full Senate before it can be considered by the House.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:55 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, to clarify that the proposed state question applies to those with a homestead exemption.
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C.J. Webber-Neal, center, of Sooner State Party, speaks at a press conference in support of the state Election Board's decision to keep voter data private. Cecilia Isac, left, and Regan Burns, right, stand with Webber-Neal outside the Election Board's offices at the Capitol on Feb. 16, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A group of Oklahomans on Monday said they’re prepared to sue the federal government if they continue trying to push state leaders to release protected voter information.
C.J. Webber-Neal, a member of Sooner State Party, said at a press conference outside the State Election Board offices that the Department of Justice does not need access to Oklahoman’s protected voter information, like Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
Continued requests for that information amount to government overreach and could disincentivize Oklahomans from participating in elections, he said.
“I think that it does not even help with voter integrity because now voters are going to be concerned about voting,” Webber-Neal said. “So that’s going to cause voters maybe not to go vote because they know that the government is going to have that information and it might affect them adversely.”
The Department of Justice’s request, made to most states, seeks records like voter registration lists, ballots from previous elections, and voters’ driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
The Oklahoma Election Board previously provided Oklahoma’s publicly available voter information, but recently notified the Department of Justice that state law barred them from sharing the other requested data, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers, according to reporting from Oklahoma City television station KFOR.
The State Election Board did not return repeated requests for comment Monday.
“I know that a lot of people are kind of painting this as a red issue or a blue issue,” Webber-Neal said. “This is an Oklahoma issue.”
Sooner State Party is also collecting signatures in an effort to become the state’s fourth recognized political party.
The DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment.
At least 20 states have been sued by the federal government for not complying with the request, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Eleven states have provided, or said they would provide, voter registration lists including driver’s license and Social Security numbers. These states include Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
“We’ve heard from the Election Board as far as what their decision has been, but we also need to start contacting our state officials to let them know that we support the Election Board and we don’t want any influences trying to go against the election board,” Webber-Neal said.
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]]>An adult Carolina mantis is pictured on a plant. Oklahoma lawmakers are considering making the Carolina mantis the state predator insect. (Photo by Grandbrothers/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Four insects and one crop moved closer Monday to becoming state symbols.
The Senate Agriculture and Wildlife Committee passed two measures seeking to add them to a long list of state symbols.
Senate Bill 2065, by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, would name the European honeybee the state agricultural pollinator while the American bumblebee would be the state native insect.
The measure would also classify the Carolina mantis as the state predator insect and the rainbow scarab, a dung beetle, as the soil conservation insect. The Carolina mantis, which is grey, brown or greenish in color, is known to be beneficial to gardens as it feeds on insects.
Rainbow scarabs, which eat animal waste, are known for their metallic green or blue wings and their golden and red colors on their thoraxes.
Bullard said the measure is not something he would have worked on until he was contacted by Lucile Morehouse, 15, a 4-H Oklahoma State Ambassador from Boswell in Choctaw County.
At age 11, she and her mother started Lucile’s Pollinator Project after learning pollinators across the nation were in decline, Morehouse told the panel.
“I write grants, gather donations and use that money to purchase and package seed packets and give them away across the nation for free,” Morehouse said. “As I’ve grown older, I wanted to make a bigger impact on our pollinators.”
She said she wants the bill to bring attention to pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, beetles and the praying mantis, which help produce most of the food eaten and benefit ecosystems and agriculture.
Without them, crops would be harder to grow and more expensive, she said.
“By supporting our pollinators, you are helping safeguard our food supply, our environment and the future of everyone in Oklahoma,” she said.
The panel also passed Senate Bill 2159, by Sen. Roland Pederson, R-Burlington, that would designate wheat as the official state crop.
Pederson said wheat is a very versatile crop that is grown across the state.
The measure passed by a vote of 12-0.
If the measures successfully make it through the legislative process, they will add to a growing list of state symbols that include the American bison as the state animal and American quarter horse as the state horse.
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A group of children in their elementary school classroom sit at their desks. (Photo by kali9/Getty Images)
It’s time for Oklahoma lawmakers to stop micromanaging what goes on in our schools and focus on what really matters.
Because it’s become clear that at least some of our Republican legislators don’t actually have a good grasp of what’s happening in our schools each day, how little time educators already have to teach or the importance of integrating technology.
Rather than doing the hard work of focusing on legislative financial investments and strategies that legitimately boost educational outcomes, some of our lawmakers this session have decided the best path forward is obsessing over guns, eliminating the opportunities for elementary children to learn robotics and other computer skills and prioritizing certain school specials over others.
The utter insanity of these bizarre distractions makes me want to rip my hair out.
For instance, why on earth should our schools waste precious instructional time teaching children about gun safety? And why is it a good use of our tax dollars to require the state Department of Education to develop a curriculum of how to teach safe gun storage and what to do if you see a firearm?
This is a state agency that couldn’t even complete the basic task of developing constitutional social studies standards governing what topics must be taught in our classrooms. Forgive me if I don’t want them deciding how to teach my children about gun rights.
As a gun owner, it is my responsibility as a parent to teach my children what to do when they find a firearm and how to secure it. The measure would require gun lessons to be “viewpoint neutral on political topics,” including the Second Amendment and gun rights and violence. I don’t want a school or Republican Rep. Ryan Eaves setting “viewpoint neutral” policies that determine my family’s values or how we’re teaching this.
And, if we really have so much extra time in school, why not teach children an actual useful life skill, such as budgeting, civics 101, how to resolve conflicts, resilience when they’ve failed an assignment or even digital literacy.
But digital literacy isn’t apparently on lawmakers’ agenda this year, judging by the crazy Republican-authored bill that would create a blanket, one-hour restriction on the amount of screen time for elementary students. How Rep. Anthony Moore landed on the cap is beyond me.
“We know that our kids are most successful when they are in front, face-to-face with our well, well-trained educators in Oklahoma,” Moore said last week during a committee meeting. “We want to make sure we’re getting as much time face-to-face as possible.”
He’s absolutely right. But what are lawmakers doing to get us and retain these “well, well-trained educators.”
Not enough since we’re having to rely on thousands of emergency-certified educators. In fact, we’re so desperate, legislators are theoretically permitting people who don’t have a high school diploma to teach.
While I agree that schools shouldn’t use tablets or movies as defacto babysitters, let me be the first to say the quiet part out loud.
Tablets may be a better teacher than some of the adults who have been plunked into their classrooms due to districts’ inability to find someone qualified. If that’s how a child needs to learn how to read, so be it.
Tablets are not the end-all, be-all for education, but when used effectively, they help supplement the skills children are learning. My children use tablets with engaging games at school to practice basic addition and subtraction, multiplication and to read books. They look forward to that time, and teachers use tablet time to work in small groups with children who are falling behind to try to get them caught up.
Also, my elementary-aged daughter just completed a robotics course held on a weekend at a private school as part of a program to increase children’s interest in science, technology, engineering and math. In order to program a robot, guess what she had to use? A tablet. And guess what? It took more than an hour of hands-on instruction, screen time and experimentation for her to learn.
I will be incensed if lawmakers pass a law that inhibits her ability to participate in STEM activities during the school day because of some ridiculous and arbitrary cap.
I also want my children, as they get into upper elementary grades, to learn how to put together computer presentations, to do research online and to continue to have access to computerized supplemental educational materials that help strengthen the skills they’re learning.
But computer science class might be the casualty of Republican Rep. Cynthia Roe’s measure that seeks to more than double the amount of physical education time a student must complete each week. Her bill proposes raising the minimum from 60 to 150 minutes, excluding recess time.
On the surface, this sounds great. After all, our state has a high obesity rate and physical activity is great for the body and mind. But where does Roe expect schools to get that extra time during the school day?
I assume she doesn’t want to lengthen the school day and increase districts’ costs – or to cut down on core instructional time.
So which of my children’s specials should get axed?
Library time, where they get to pick out a book to practice their literacy skills at home? Music, which in addition to psychological benefits also enhances memory? Art, which helps develop creative thinking skills and reduces stress? Computer science, which offers training in skills that are in high demand?
It’s high time that lawmakers implement some of their critical thinking skills before they file these sorts of bills. And, if they don’t have kids in school, talk to someone who does.
Because I suspect what both our children, parents and businesses need most from schools right now align.
And it’s not more PE, gun safety education and hard limits on screen time. We need comprehensive change and financial investments, not a bunch of fluff that desperately seeks to distract from the underlying problems that plague our schools.
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]]>A new report found that state employees are paid significantly less than their counterparts in other sectors. (Photo by Phil Ashley/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The average salary of a state employee is significantly lower than comparable jobs in other sectors, according to a study by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
State employee pay is 48.05% below market, according to the report.
The average salary of an Oklahoma state employee, not including benefits, is $59,714, compared to $114,950 in the competitive labor market, according to the report.
State employees fared a little bit better in average total benefits costs, coming in 13.98% below market.
Salary and benefits combined put state employees at 39.21% below market.
The overall turnover rate improved slightly in fiscal year 2025, coming in at 21.59% compared to 22.42% the prior year.
In fiscal year 2025, employee turnover cost the state slightly more than $283 million, according to the report.
It is likely the state will lose even more ground against the market unless steps are taken to mitigate the growing lag, the report said.
While the consumer price index continues to rise, state employees have not seen a general pay hike since 2019, the report said.
The report noted that members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol received a raise a few years ago.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Chuck Hall, R-Perry, said that over the years, various agencies have asked for funds to grant pay raises. Public school teachers, for instance, received a pay bump.
Those exceptions are not listed in the OMES report.
The report’s findings confirm the gap has reached “a critical breaking point,” according to a statement from the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, which has more than 5,000 members.
Many are forced to choose between the work they love and the financial stability they deserve, the group said.
Employees earning $50,000 in 2019 without a raise experienced a 26.39% reduction in buying power in 2025, the report said.
Could employees get a raise?
Several measures moving through the Oklahoma Legislature aim to increase state employee compensation.
House Bill 2958, by Rep. Jim Grego, R-Wilburton, would provide a 9% salary hike for full-time state employees, effective July 1. It excludes pay increases for colleges, common education and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
The cost is an estimated $215 to $220 million, said Gene Blankenship, Oklahoma Public Employees Association deputy director.
Grego put the odds of securing passage at 50%.
“There is always a chance,” Grego said. “If we don’t ask for it, there will be no chance.”
Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, is the author of Senate Bill 1233 that would create a State Employee Compensation Board.
The board would meet in odd-numbered years and recommend to the Legislature adjustments to salaries, benefits and other compensation.
“We need to do an overall raise,” Mann said.
Creating a state employee compensation board that meets in non-election years would take politics out of the process and keep the issue in front of lawmakers, Mann said.
In recent years, state leaders have reduced the state income tax, eliminated the state sales tax on groceries and created a tax credit for those seeking to send their children to private schools. State leaders this year are predicting a flat budget.
Hall said in a tight budget year, an across-the-board pay raise is going to be a high hurdle. But the state has gotten behind and needs to catch up, he said.
Oklahoma has between 31,000 and 32,000 state employees.
Senate Bill 169, by Hall, would increase longevity pay to state employees by 50% across all years of service at a cost of $18 million.
Longevity pay is an annual lump sum payment for full-time employees based on years of service.
For example, an employee with three years of service currently earns an additional $250 while an employee with 18 years earns an additional $1,900, according to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
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]]>Gov. Kevin Stitt attends a meeting of the Board of Equalization at the Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 13, 2026 to certify the state's revenue and budget numbers. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawmakers will have over $500 million less to spend than last year when crafting the upcoming budget.
While the actual amount available to allocate is $125.2 million more than estimated in December, budget leaders warned that it is short of what’s needed to meet the growing demands for Oklahoma’s “core government services.”
The Legislature is authorized to spend over $12.1 billion for the 2027 fiscal year the Oklahoma Board of Equalization determined Friday. Revenue for the current fiscal year is also estimated to be greater than expected.
State revenue available for appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year is estimated to be $8.2 billion, according to figures provided by the Board of Equalization. This is up $119 million from December’s estimates.
Increases in personal income and sales tax collections drove increases in revenue for the current fiscal year, which are projected to be $459 million more than expected.
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who chairs the board, said the increase in revenue is proof that cutting income tax was beneficial. Last session, lawmakers cut income taxes by .25% with a path to reduce it entirely as state revenue grows. The law took effect Nov. 1.
“The idea is that we have more taxpayers, not more taxes,” he said.
Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said these improvements from December don’t change the reality that this will be a “challenging budget year” with significant education, mental health, Medicaid, food assistance and infrastructure needs.
Around 80% of executive branch agencies have requested budget increases totaling over $1.8 billion, Hall said in a statement.
“These needs come as cash reserves have been somewhat decreased to cover major one-time expenditures last year,” he said. “With $571 million less available to appropriate, it is clear that there will be reduced government spending. Nonetheless, I am confident the Senate will fulfill its constitutional duty and pass a fiscally responsible and balanced budget.”
Stitt said he expects lawmakers will have to dip into the state’s savings when crafting the budget this year.
Oklahoma has slightly more than $1.3 billion in its Rainy Day Fund. The Revenue Stabilization Fund contains nearly $449 million with no projected deposit to the account this year, according to Board of Equalization estimates.
The stabilization fund, created in 2016, is another reserve account that takes deposits from the gross production tax on oil and gas and the corporate income tax when collections are above average.
“You don’t want to take savings and raise your monthly ongoing expenses,” Stitt said. “You’re going to be putting yourselves in a bad situation. Now, if you’re going to invest in a road or or fix a roof or capital expenditures, a one time item. That’s what we use savings for, right? Not ongoing expenses.”
Stitt’s budget proposal suggested spending nearly $11.4 billion for the upcoming budget year, down about $1.2 billion from the current fiscal year.
He has suggested flat budgets for many state agencies, including the Legislature, his own office, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Attorney General, Office of Juvenile Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Department of Human Services.
Lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a state budget by the end of May.
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]]>Hundreds of pasture-raised chickens are pictured at a poultry farm near Stilwell, Oklahoma, on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/ Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Two more poultry companies have agreed to settle with the state to end a 20-year lawsuit over pollution in the Illinois River Watershed.
Tyson Foods and Cargill agreed to pay more than $25 million total for remediation and conservation of the Illinois River Watershed, said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
The latest settlements follow one announced in January with George’s Inc., which agreed to pay $5 million.
Last year, a federal judge issued a judgment holding seven large poultry companies jointly responsible and requiring them to pay for decades of cleanup and imposed strict restrictions on poultry waste application.
Filed in 2005 by former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, the suit alleged that the excessive spreading of poultry litter as fertilizer had degraded the watershed, which runs through Eastern Oklahoma and the Northwest Ozark Mountains in Arkansas.
Drummond said the settlements provide a path forward, give certainty to the industry and safeguards state waters for future generations.
“For over two decades, Oklahoma has fought to protect the Illinois River Watershed and the natural resources that sustain our communities,” Drummond said. “The decision to settle by Tyson and Cargill makes one thing unmistakingly clear. Corporate accountability is not optional and protecting Oklahoma’s water can and must go hand in hand with a strong poultry and agricultural industry.”
Under the agreement, Tyson will pay $19 million while Cargill will pay $6.5 million.
Both companies will increase the amount of poultry litter removed from the watershed, pay for a special master to monitor compliance and bear all costs for litter removal.
They will also pay into a fund for remediation and dismiss their appeals.
In return, the state will release all claims against both companies.
“We believe this resolution is in the best interest of our growers and their communities in Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas,” said Nathan McKay, Tyson’s president of poultry. “Tyson Foods is fortunate to have been part of the agricultural community in the region for our entire 90-year history and we are deeply grateful for the support we have received from our growers, our neighbors, and elected officials in both states to achieve this resolution.”
A Cargill spokesperson said the company looks forward to continuing to work and invest in the state.
The settlement announced Thursday does not affect ongoing proceedings with defendants Cal-Maine, Peterson Farms and Simmons.
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A sign stands outside the July 10, 2025 meeting of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Ethics Commission will have to spend about $100,000 to comply with a new state law requiring local election candidates to report campaign finances to the state rather than city and county offices.
The Guardian system is not currently able to accept reports from political subdivisions, such as cities and counties, as required by state law, said Ethics Commission Executive Director Lee Anne Bruce Boone. The Commission terminated a contract with a vendor that was supposed to create an updated Guardian system which would have allowed for local election reporting and returned to the original Civix system, which lacks the capacity to accept the extra filings.
Civix is willing to build Guardian’s capacity and update the system to allow for around 3,000 extra filers, but it would take 12 to 15 weeks and an estimated $100,000 which would most likely come from an existing pool of funding, Bruce Boone said.
“While we have worked really, really hard to get stability and have our legacy system come up and deliver a functioning reporting system due to what happened regarding (Guardian) 2.0, that leaves us temporarily unable to accept reports from political subdivisions,” she said at a meeting Thursday. “That is something that we were anticipating that would be built into our new system, and so that legacy system, of course, did not have the capability for that, nor did we anticipate it would need the capability for that.”
Senate Bill 890, which took effect Nov. 1, moved campaign finance reports and disclosures for municipalities, counties and school districts to be under the purview of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission is advising local election candidates to save all paper records until the agency has a systemwide option for electronic reporting, Bruce Boone said.
“We’ve got fixed statutory deadlines,” she said. “We already investigated whether or not we could just have these filed locally again for a short time period, is that an option? Well, the statute says that they have to be filed with us, so we can’t really go backwards due to that statutory language.”
Temporary solutions while Civix updates Guardian could include hiring temporary staff or contacting statewide contract partners to build an online repository for transparent, electronic access to local campaign finance records, Bruce Boone said.
“We don’t have the ability for 3,000 new filers to send all of their reports to our office with this limited staff that we have,” she said. “We want to make sure that it’s accurate, that we have integrity in our reporting. We want to be transparent. This is a problem, let’s be honest. And it’s a problem because we had to terminate our contract.”
The Ethics Commission has sued the previous vendor to recover $800,000 in damages.
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]]>A protester holds a sign that reads "ICE melts under resistance" in opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a rally in front of the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 2. Student protests this week have opposed ICE tactics. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A group of Republican lawmakers have urged the state’s top education official to investigate student walkouts, a method of youth protest for decades.
Over the past two weeks, students across the state have walked out of public high schools to hold demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose tactics during a mass deportation campaign have become a nationwide controversy.
Fourteen Republican lawmakers, including members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, signed a letter to state Superintendent Lindel Fields, calling for an investigation into whether students violated Oklahoma truancy laws and to potentially revoke teaching licenses of any educators who might have promoted or facilitated the walkouts.
The lawmakers’ letter, issued Tuesday, urged Fields to publicly oppose the demonstrations, which they called “politically charged protests.”
A statement from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which Fields leads, included no condemnation nor a promise of an investigation.
“OSDE has been in contact with leaders at these schools, and each situation is being handled with a calm sense of order that ensures student safety to the fullest extent possible,” the statement reads.
Local districts can regulate on-campus demonstrations and have the authority to discipline students for violating attendance policies, the agency said. Parents must be engaged with helping students understand rights, limitations and responsible behaviors off campus, according to the statement.
Members of the Freedom Caucus have been outspoken against student-led anti-ICE protests during school hours. Joining them in signing the letter was the leader of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, who is running as a GOP candidate for state superintendent.
“These actions disrupt the educational environment, undermine respect for the rule of law, and compromise student safety by removing minors from supervision without parental consent,” the letter states.
Oklahomans have walked out of school as a means of protest or advocacy since long before current high school students — or even their parents — were born.
About 400 students on Jan. 26, 1970, walked from Northeast High School to the state Capitol in Oklahoma City to advocate for a district bond issue, whose public support had wavered amid racial integration of the city’s schools.
More recently, about 1,000 students walked out of Oklahoma City high schools in 2016 to oppose statewide cuts to education funding.
Students walked with staff supervision from Classen School of Advanced Studies High School at Northeast to the Capitol in 2021 to support clemency for death-row inmate Julius Jones. Over 100 students marched to the Capitol on a school day in 2024 to protest anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the wake of Oklahoma teenager Nex Benedict’s death.
Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said complaints about this week’s walkouts are “selective outrage from Republicans as they cherry-pick issues happening in our public schools.”
“We’ve seen youth through the centuries be leaders in movements,” Kirt told reporters Thursday. “And I think instead of shutting it down, when you see kids in El Reno, kids in Mustang, kids in Oklahoma City, kids in Tulsa, kids in rural areas speaking about the same thing, we should be listening.”
When students at her child’s school in Oklahoma City staged a walkout, staff warned them there could be consequences, even more so for leaving campus, she said. Implying that educators are helping organize the demonstrations “is really disappointing to me because what I’ve seen is only them trying to keep (students) safe.”
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said there should be investigations into whether any school staff helped facilitate the walkouts.
Students shouldn’t miss school, and teachers should be disciplined if they encourage it, said the Senate’s top leader, President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle.
Paxton said local superintendents, not the state, should address it.
“The gist of the letter I can support,” he said. “Students should be in school. I mean, if you really want to do a walkout, if you really have something you stand up for, go do it on a Saturday. That would really impress me if you walked out on a Saturday.”
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]]>Death row inmate Kendrick A. Simpson in January asked the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board for clemency. (Screenshot)
OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma County double killer was the first inmate to be put to death this year in the state.
Kendrick A. Simpson, 45, was pronounced dead at 10:19 a.m. Thursday at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester following a lethal injection, said Kay Thompson, an Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesperson.
Simpson was put to death for the 2006 shooting deaths of Glen Palmer, 20, and Anthony Jones, 19, following an altercation at an Oklahoma City club.
Simpson fired about 20 rounds from an assault-style rifle into the car carrying the two men and Landon Johnson, who survived.
“Justice has been served for Glen Palmer and Anthony Jones,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “Their young lives were taken tragically and far too soon. I hope today brings some measure of peace to their families who have endured unimaginable pain for the past 20 years.”
The Pardon and Parole Board last month declined to recommend clemency. The vote was 3-2.
Simpson apologized to the family members of his victims during his personal appearance before the board.
“Kendrick was a kind, gentle man,” said Rev. Don Heath, his spiritual advisor. “The scared youth who shot and killed two people died a long time ago. He is a new man. He didn’t deserve this. No one does. His last words were to say goodbye to his family and friends in attendance. He was sleepy. He was ready to go. He met his death with peace and dignity.”
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Students walk in a line before entering the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Bills that would limit screen time, boost physical education and require firearm safety training in public schools advanced past a key legislative committee on Wednesday.
The House Common Education Committee unanimously passed House Bill 4358 that would allow no more than one hour of screen time each school day for elementary students. The bill’s author, Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, said he expects to make further changes to the bill to allow a certain amount of screen time per class and to permit extra time for computer-based testing.
“We know that our kids are most successful when they are in front, face-to-face with our well, well trained educators in Oklahoma,” Moore said during the committee meeting. “We want to make sure we’re getting as much time face-to-face as possible.”
Virtual charter schools, which primarily teach online, would be exempt from the rule if it becomes law.
Legislation from Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, would more than double the minimum time elementary students must spend in physical education or an exercise program. HB 3288 would raise that minimum from 60 minutes to 150 minutes per week, not including recess time.
The bill, which passed unanimously, also would prohibit recess from being withheld from elementary students as a form of punishment. The only exception is if a student exhibits “aggression or threatening behaviors.” The child would be entitled to physical activity through another accommodation if denied recess.
“We have an obesity epidemic. We have kids that are getting very little physical activity after school,” Roe told the committee. “I feel that if we can increase physical activity in some of these kids, we can improve behaviors in the classroom. We can improve test scores.”
Districts would have to provide firearm safety training to students under HB 3312, which passed a party-line vote of 9-2.
The bill from Rep. Ryan Eaves, R-Atoka, would require the training to be “viewpoint neutral on political topics,” such as gun violence, gun rights and the Second Amendment.
The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training would partner with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to determine the earliest applicable age for such a training and to develop a curriculum.
The program would teach elementary-age children not to touch a found firearm and instead to tell an adult. The same advice would apply to training for students in middle and high schools, who also would be taught safe storage of firearms and school safety.
Families, but not schools, would have the option to opt out of the program.
All bills the committee passed will continue to the Education Oversight Committee for further review.
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]]>Members of the Oklahoma Free Speech Committee gather for a meeting on Dec. 9, 2025 at the State Regents' offices in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A committee reviewing allegations of free speech violations against Oklahoma’s third largest university said it is unable to rule out that a violation occurred.
But the Oklahoma Free Speech Committee said its analysis found that University of Central Oklahoma presented a “substantive counter position” that administrators were not acting in a retaliatory manner when they decided to end printing of the student newspaper, The Vista.
The legislatively-created nine-member group on Tuesday voted to accept the findings after reviewing two complaints of free speech violations filed against UCO and testimony from the university’s administration.
The committee recommended that the University of Central Oklahoma improve internal and external communications and “further build goodwill” with students, but did not provide any guidance on how to do that.
While the committee is advisory in nature and does not have the power to adjudicate or make a decision on the matter, the report noted the complainants have a right to sue the university if they still believe there were violations of free speech.
The October complaints alleged the school’s decision to end the print publication of The Vista was an attempt to restrict student free speech and censor the content published. The university has repeatedly denied these allegations, and The Vista continues to publish online.
The Free Speech Committee found there was merit to both the complaints and the response provided by UCO’s administration, but found that it was “not sufficiently clear … that UCO’s decision to end the print edition of The Vista was ‘substantially motivated by the content of the newspaper,’” according to a report released by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education’s office.
“This does not mean a violation of free speech did not occur, just that UCO’s arguments present a substantive counter position,” the analysis reads.
The committee’s investigation found that there was no evidence that UCO acted in “a retaliatory or suppressive manner” and that the university’s “pedagogical, budgetary, staffing and ideological rationale for its decision could be genuine.”
“A university has the right to decide not to fund a student newspaper and just can’t make that decision for one reason in particular, which is because of the opinions expressed in the student newspaper,” said Andy Lester, chair of the committee.
Adrienne Nobles, a spokesperson for UCO, said the committee’s findings should “allow our journalism students at The Vista to prepare for the modern world.”
“The report confirms the university’s unwavering commitment to free speech and expression and supports our administrators and faculty in making relevant adjustments to academic programs that prepare students for success in the workforce,” she said in a statement.
Amy Hall, the daughter of a former adviser to the student newspaper, and Jon Womastek, a UCO alumni, who filed the complaints, both said they were disappointed by the committee’s analysis.
Hall said she continues to believe the university’s decision to end printing was in retaliation for negative coverage of the administration and a move to curtail press coverage.
“I feel like their conclusion does not have merit,” she said.
Womastek said he appreciated the committee considering the complaints against UCO. While he was disappointed, Womastek said he was not surprised by their findings.
“We’re at a time where thin-skinned people that are in positions of power cannot stand any kind of accountability,” he said. “And a newspaper is one of the last places where simple truth can be told, and that sometimes it’s embarrassing to people. It’s a shame that the committee wasn’t able to see that.”
Both said they were not contacted by the committee after submitting their complaints.
Members of the committee said they met with UCO’s administration Dec. 5 where administrators presented evidence and arguments to counter the claims made in the complaints.
Michael McNutt, a journalist and member of the committee, said the situation seemed to be the result of a “failure to communicate” between UCO’s administration and the newspaper’s stakeholders.
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]]>Gov. Kevin Stitt delivers his final State of the State Address on Feb. 2, 2026, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — All governors will be invited to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House next week, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Wednesday.
Stitt, chair of the National Governors Association, said he spoke with Trump on the phone Wednesday morning. The Republican governor said that the annual business meeting with the president would be held at the White House. The bipartisan group traditionally holds a meeting with the president to discuss pressing issues during their annual gathering in Washington D.C.
Earlier this week, it appeared the meeting would not occur after Trump uninvited some Democratic governors from an annual White House dinner with the National Governors Association. That led to the National Governors Association announcing it would no longer facilitate the event or have a formal meeting with the president, according to the Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear when the business meeting would occur, or if the White House dinner would be affected.
The group’s annual gathering is scheduled for Feb. 19-21.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Trump “can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House.”
But Stitt said Wednesday that the National Governors Association would not be the right facilitator for the White House meetings if any governors were excluded.
“But I’m excited, I’ll be at the White House,” he said. “I’m really pumped about going. I represent Oklahoma, no matter who’s in the White House. When (former President Joe) Biden invited me to White House, I was there, and when Trump invited me to White House. And we have great relationships.”
Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon confirming that he had invited all but two governors to the business meeting and dinner at the White House. He said he did not invite two Democrats. He said he did not invite Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore, who is vice chair of the National Governors Association, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who was the group’s past chair.
“I look forward to seeing the Republican Governors, and some of the Democrats Governors who were worthy of being invited, but most of whom won’t show up,” Trump wrote.
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- 3:45 pmThis story was updated to include a social media post from President Donald Trump.
Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, appauds Gov. Kevin Stitt's State of the State Address on Feb. 5, 2024, at the Oklahoma State Capitol. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawmakers advanced a bill out of committee that would implement harsher penalties for rioters, including longer prison terms and requirements that out-of-state residents be held without bail.
Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, said he’s “resurrecting” some of his legislative ideas from 2020 in House Bill 3581, including barring people from wearing masks to conceal their identities during riots without “lawful reason” and denying out-of-state rioters bail.
While he said it’s been several years since rioting happened in Oklahoma, he said it’s happening in other parts of the country as people have pushed back against Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities and National Guard deployments.
The measure would also make aggravated assault and battery, vandalizing buildings, and obstructing a public street or highway felonies if they are committed during a riot. The bill passed from the House Criminal Judiciary Committee 5-1.
Lepak’s bill would make wearing a “mask, hood, covering, or disguise without lawful excuse” during a riot be guilty of a felony with the potential penalty of up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to $2,500, or both. The penalties for the other criminal offenses would range from two to 10 years with fines reaching up to $5,000.
As federal immigration agents face criticisms for wearing masks while carrying out enforcement activities, Lepak said the bill would carve out exceptions for masking for law enforcement.
“We have people trying to enforce the law who are becoming personally threatened, their families threatened,” Lepak said. “… So I separate that to protect that employee of a county, of a city, of a state, of the federal government, from being harmed because he’s executing his authority and he gets identified or doxxed and suddenly his family is at risk.”
Lepak said his bill focuses on riots to “walk the line” with protecting peaceful demonstrations and Oklahomans’ First Amendment rights.
Rep. Erick Harris, R-Edmond, said he was concerned by the increases in penalties for the offenses in the bill and whether parts of it were unconstitutional, specifically withholding bond for out-of-state rioters. He voted in favor of it.
Lepak said he is aware of this concern and is willing to consider removing this from the measure, calling the bill a work-in-progress.
Other lawmakers brought up that wearing a mask to conceal one’s identity while committing a crime is already illegal in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma law currently defines a riot as “any use of force or violence, or any threat to use force or violence if accompanied by immediate power of execution, by three or more persons acting together and without authority of law.”
Lepak’s bill would also allow for local political subdivisions, like municipalities or counties, to be liable to riot-related damages and losses if local law enforcement don’t take “reasonable action” to address or control the riot.
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]]>Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, listens to Senate discussion on a bill on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Supreme Court has denied a request from 34 lawmakers to prevent a state agency from sharing some driver’s license information with a Virginia-based nonprofit.
In an 8-1 decision, the state’s high court declined to prohibit Service Oklahoma from sharing some licensing information with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
The nonprofit operates a system that helps states determine if an applicant holds a driver’s license in another state.
Service Oklahoma issues driver’s licenses and registers vehicles.
Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, and 33 other lawmakers on Jan. 27 asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to determine that the agency did not have the power to share the information without explicit authorization from the Legislature.
While Service Oklahoma is generally required to keep personal information confidential, the Legislature crafted an exception for information requested by another state or country’s driver licensing agency, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in an order issued Monday.
The high court denied the request to assume original jurisdiction and issue an emergency stay or injunction.
Justice John M. Kane IV dissented, saying he would grant emergency relief and send the matter to district court.
Sacchieri did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision confirms Service Oklahoma’s authority under state law and allows us to proceed with the implementation of our system of record confidently and without interruption,” according to a statement from Service Oklahoma. “We appreciate the Court’s clarity as we continue administering secure and reliable driver license and identification services.”
Oklahoma City attorney Collin Walke, a former Democratic House member and data privacy advocate, said the Oklahoma Supreme Court made the right call, but it serves as a wake up call for lawmakers.
Lawmakers need to realize “our data is ours, and the bartering, trading, and giving away of our data subjects us all to safety and economic threats.”
The Legislature needs to address the issue, he said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:53 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, to include a statement from Service Oklahoma.
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The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board members and staff pray at the beginning of a meeting Sept. 9, 2024, at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma state board on Monday rejected a proposal to open a Jewish charter school, likely restarting a legal fight over public funding of religious education.
Members of the Statewide Charter School Board, though complimentary of the school’s academic prowess, said they are obligated to obey an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that rejected the concept of a state-funded religious school. The same board had supported opening a Catholic charter school in recent years, but a deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state Court decision against it to stand.
The board and the Jewish charter school’s founders are now preparing for another protracted legal battle. After unanimously rejecting the school, the board voted to seek out private attorneys to handle expected litigation.
“I would be shocked if there’s not a lawsuit filed by Friday,” board Chairperson Brian Shellem said.
The anticipated case taps into church-state separation concerns that underscored the Catholic charter school dispute.
Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School would offer an online-based education that is “intellectually rigorous and deeply rooted in Jewish knowledge, values and lived tradition,” according to its application.
Local Jewish institutions have objected to the Ben Gamla effort. Five leaders of Oklahoma synagogues and Jewish service centers issued a joint statement contending the school’s founders failed to consult the local community before seeking state approval.
“We are deeply concerned that an external Jewish organization would pursue such an initiative in Oklahoma without first engaging in meaningful consultation with the established Oklahoma Jewish community,” the statement reads. “Had such consultation occurred, the applicant would have been made aware that Oklahoma is already home to many Jewish educational opportunities.”
The school’s leading founder, former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, of Florida, said he visited Oklahoma a few years ago and believes the state presents the best opportunity to open a Jewish charter school. Deutsch established six secular Hebrew-English charter schools in Florida.
In a presentation to the statewide board last month, Deutsch said he spoke with about 10 Jewish parents in the state who were “looking for a sort of a faith-based, rigorous academic program, but there was nothing there.”
The school’s founding board also includes Brett Farley, a board member of the overturned Catholic charter school, and Ezra Husney, of New York. All members of an Oklahoma charter school board must reside in the state, said Thomas Schneider, the statewide board’s attorney.
Farley said the board’s decision Monday was no surprise.
“The law is what it is,” he told reporters after the vote. “We made our best application, and now we’re off to the courts.”
The school’s founders plan to file a legal challenge in federal court, according to a written statement Farley handed to news media. The prepared remarks reiterate arguments Catholic officials made before the state and U.S. supreme courts — that religious entities cannot be excluded from a neutral public benefit solely because of their faith-based character.
The Oklahoma Constitution mandates that public schools be “free from sectarian control.” The state Supreme Court reaffirmed the state’s long-held stance that charter schools are public schools and therefore are barred from adopting a religion.
“I just think regardless of the school’s reputation or whatever strengths that it has, the law’s the law, and right now the law says no,” statewide board member Kitty Campbell said.
Oklahoma’s top education official, State Superintendent Lindel Fields, cast one of the votes against opening the school. Fields, who typically appoints a proxy to attend the statewide board’s meetings, appeared personally on Monday.
He said the board’s decision simply aligned with Supreme Court precedent.
“I serve on 21 boards, so I attend as I can,” he said afterward. “Certainly today’s votes, the votes were meaningful, and I felt my presence here was important.”
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]]>State Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, attends a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Oct. 3, 2023. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday signed a bill to protect worship services.
Senate Bill 743 was the first measure he signed this session.
The law, which became effective upon Stitt’s signature, creates enhanced penalties for the unlawful disruption of a worship service.
Anyone within 100 feet of a place of worship is required to give worshipers a corridor of 8 feet, unless invited to approach, according to the new law.
Stitt’s signing of the measure sends a signal that Oklahomans can worship without fear of disruption, said Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, the Senate author.
Gollihare said a service at his Creek County church was disrupted last year by individuals who were upset with a vote he cast against what he said was an unconstitutional abortion measure.
“The right to peacefully assemble is a cornerstone of American democracy,” said Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle. “I am a staunch believer in freedom of speech, but that doesn’t mean freedom from consequences.”
The measure was a holdover from last session and the first taken up in the Senate this session.
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Beef cows graze in a pasture in central North Dakota on Sept. 22, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate panel on Monday passed a bill to prohibit the sale and manufacturing of cell-cultured lab-grown meat.
The Senate Agriculture and Wildlife Committee passed Senate Bill 2121 by a vote of 9-3, despite concerns it took away consumer freedom and was designed to protect the agriculture industry.
The measure, by Sen. Spencer Kern, R-Duncan, has an exemption for research.
“As the state’s fourth largest sector, this bill is considered a way to safeguard our agricultural heritage, our economy and Oklahoma’s well being,” Kern said.
Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, asked how the measure squared with a free market and allowing individuals to purchase products they want to consume.
Kern said the bill looks at the greater good for the state.
Hicks said the products reduce land use and are a much more environmentally sustainable product.
Kern said the real issue is about health concerns, adding that it was a new industry.
“There are things that have not been addressed so far,” Kern said.
Kern said the bill protects the agricultural industry until more is known about the products.
Sen. Nice, D-Oklahoma City, asked whether a moratorium was more appropriate than a ban.
Kern said future legislators could address it once more is known about the products.
If the measure makes it through the process, Oklahoma would be the eighth state to pass a ban, Kern said.
“Is it our responsibility here to pick winners and losers,” Sen. Jonathan Wingard, R-Ada. “Should we be the ones that get to decide and dictate what people can and cannot have versus just making sure they understand what they may or may not be buying.”
He said it is the job of the free market to determine what people buy.
“Should we have banned light bulbs because they hurt candle makers?” Wingard said. “Where do we stop?”
Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, committee chairman, said the issue goes deeper than the free market and consumers’ right to choose.
Agriculture producers have been under attack for the last several years, Murdock said.
Cattle are good for and part of the environment, Murdock said.
The group that wants to do away with cattle wants to drive cattle producers out of business and take the market away, Murdock said.
“This is a battle of long-term survival of the cattle industry,” said Murdock, a farmer and rancher.
He said it is a good step forward for livestock producers.
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]]>La dueña de All in One Piece tapicería, Krysta Henry, muestra una foto en su celular de su empleado colombiano, Alejandro Toro Sepúlveda, en el 29 de enero en Oklahoma City. Toro Sepúlveda se autodeportó a Colombia con su familia en diciembre. (Foto por Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
Read this story in English here.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Una bandera colombiana cuelga en una tapicería de Oklahoma City. Adentro hay sillones, cojines de sofá, molduras de muebles y botellas de tintes para madera. Un trozo de papel marrón con palabras en español para medir y tapicería cubre varios pies de una pared.
Antes se usaban para romper barreras lingüísticas y celebrar a un nuevo empleado colombiano, pero el papel y la bandera son ahora recuerdos de Alejandro Toro Sepúlveda. El querido trabajador de la tienda fue detenido y deportado a Colombia junto con su esposa y sus tres hijos en diciembre.
En una entrevista telefónica desde Bogotá, Toro Sepúlveda, de 42 años, dijo que él y su esposa firmaron un acuerdo de autodeportación después de que el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) los detuviera, a ellos, a su hija de 7 años y a sus gemelos de 1 año durante una visita a Texas. En lugar de arriesgarse a meses de detención con tres niños pequeños, dos de los cuales son ciudadanos estadounidenses, dijo que eligieron la deportación voluntaria como una solución más rápida que mantenía unida a la familia.
“Si yo hubiera estado solo, créeme que yo me quedo,” dijo. “Una persona sola, pues, se queda encerrada ya hasta que lo mire un juez o hasta que le definan el caso o algo. Pero, pues, realmente, los dos bebés y tenía mi hija.”
ICE no respondió repetidamente a las solicitudes de comentarios por correo electrónico para esta historia.
La administración Trump ha sostenido que ICE se centra en arrestar “lo peor de lo peor”. El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de EE. UU. dijo recientemente que el 70% de las detenciones de ICE son de inmigrantes acusados o condenados por un delito en EE. UU.
Pero a medida que la administración Trump intensificó las detenciones migratorias a nivel nacional, los datos de ICE mostraron que un número creciente de sus detenciones iban dirigidas a personas que no tenían antecedentes penales tras entrar en el país. Los inmigrantes, independientemente de su estatus legal, no tienen mayor probabilidad de cometer delitos y son encarcelados a tasas menores que las de las personas nacidas en EE. UU., según varios estudios.
ICE no respondió si Toro Sepúlveda fue acusado o condenado en Estados Unidos por algún delito penal. Oklahoma Voice buscó su nombre en tribunales de distrito y federales de los tres estados donde vivía y no encontró ningún registro de antecedentes penales.
Toro Sepúlveda dijo que él y su familia cruzaron la frontera en 2023 sin autorización legal, lo que se considera un delito menor según la ley federal. Por ello, cree que ICE los detuvo durante una parada de tráfico en diciembre.
Dijo que vino a Estados Unidos y solicitó asilo porque la banda multinacional Tren de Aragua amenazó con extorsionar su negocio de tapicería y muebles en Bogotá.
“Hablo por personas como yo,” dijo. “Somos buenos y no vamos a Estados Unidos ni a crear problemas.
“Lamentablemente, nuestro país es muy bonito y hay muchas oportunidades, pero hay mucha corrupción en este país. Hay mucho corrupto. Hay muchas cosas malas. Hay mucha delincuencia.”
An asylum seeker was thriving in Oklahoma. Then, an ICE detention led him to self-deport.
Una persona debe estar físicamente presente en EE. UU. para solicitar asilo, que ofrece residencia a no ciudadanos que temen sufrir persecución en sus países de origen específicamente por su raza, religión, nacionalidad, opiniones políticas o pertenencia a un grupo determinado. La ley estadounidense permite asilo para víctimas de “extorsión criminal severa” siempre que hayan sido objetivo por uno de esos cinco motivos listados.
Toro Sepúlveda fue uno de los 945,000 solicitantes de asilo en Estados Unidos en 2023. Su país natal, Colombia, era la fuente del tercer mayor grupo de solicitantes de asilo, solo por detrás de Venezuela y Cuba.
Los delincuentes condenados representaban el 33% de las detenciones migratorias en Oklahoma y el 40% en Texas, según un análisis de Stateline de datos de ICE recopilado en el Deportation Data Project.
Los documentos que Toro Sepúlveda compartió con Oklahoma Voice muestran que cruzó la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México en o cerca de Eagle Pass, Texas, en julio de 2023. Los documentos indican que la Patrulla Fronteriza de EE. UU. lo detuvo y luego lo liberó bajo su propia palabra, con una orden de comparecer ante el tribunal de inmigración en Nueva Jersey, donde Toro Sepúlveda había buscado trabajo.
Dijo que cruzó la frontera con su esposa e hija, creyendo que no tenían opción posible de cruzar con autorización, incluso después de consultar con un abogado en Colombia. Sus dos hijos menores nacieron tras mudarse a Estados Unidos, dijo.
Con su caso de asilo en curso, Toro Sepúlveda obtuvo un documento de autorización de empleo, un permiso de conducir y un número de seguro social — todos ellos revisados por Oklahoma Voice — para poder empezar a trabajar y pagar impuestos en EE. UU. Obtener estos documentos es típico de quienes esperan años en el país para que se resuelvan sus casos de asilo.
Su permiso de autorización de empleo tiene una clasificación C08, que identifica a personas con una solicitud de asilo pendiente. Los registros judiciales de inmigración en línea muestran que su próxima fecha de juicio habría sido en 2029. Los casos de asilo e inmigración suelen tardar años en resolverse.
La familia vivió en Nueva Jersey y Texas antes de establecerse en Oklahoma City en septiembre. Se mudaron a Oklahoma para que Toro Sepúlveda pudiera trabajar para la tapicera local Krysta Henry en su tienda, All in One Piece. Estaba buscando un nuevo trabajo y contactó con Henry tras ver imágenes de su trabajo.
Ella lo llevó a Oklahoma City para una prueba. Le dio la silla más difícil de su taller y él “lo dio en el clavo,” ella dijo.
Henry contó que su negocio empezó a prosperar cuando Toro Sepúlveda empezó a trabajar allí. Es un trabajador rápido y altamente cualificado que le permitió asumir más negocios que nunca, dijo. Además, él ganaba más dinero trabajando menos horas que en sus trabajos anteriores, lo que le dejaba más tiempo para estar con su familia.
A pesar de hablar idiomas diferentes, Toro Sepúlveda y Henry se hicieron grandes amigos, según ambos afirman. Ella compró dispositivos traductores y empezó a estudiar español para poder comunicarse mejor.
Su deportación, dijo, ha sido como perder a un hermano.
“Nuestro gobierno nos está mintiendo,” dijo Henry. “Por eso cuento esta historia. Es porque dicen que están atrapando criminales cuando Alejandro literalmente nunca ha hecho nada. No creo que haya hecho nunca nada malo.”
Los sueños de Toro Sepúlveda de vivir a largo plazo en Oklahoma terminaron abruptamente unos días antes de Navidad mientras visitaba a unos amigos en Dallas. Dijo que agentes de ICE le detuvieron mientras conducía con su esposa e hijos hacia una gasolinera y arrestaron a la familia. Toro Sepúlveda dijo que cree que ICE estaba patrullando la zona y lo vio desviarse ligeramente, posiblemente lo que provocó la parada de tráfico.
Tras detener a la familia, agentes federales mantuvieron a Toro Sepúlveda en un centro de detención diferente al de donde estaban retenidos su esposa e hijos, dijo. Se marcharon voluntariamente a Colombia en Nochebuena tras dos días de detención.
“Estando allá, fue lo que me di cuenta, que toda la gente que está encerrada y que mantienen encerrados por seis meses, por ocho meses, por harto tiempo, es por lo mismo,” dijo. “Cuando uno se aferra a quedarse y a quedarse, es por eso que te han encerrado.”
Durante décadas, inmigrantes como Toro Sepúlveda han podido entrar al país tras ser detenidos en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México y pueden permanecer bajo una orden de supervisión mientras sus casos migratorios están pendientes.
ICE, ahora, ha estado deteniendo a muchos de esos inmigrantes sin necesidad de orden de arresto, dijo Michael Brooks Jiménez, abogado de inmigración y senador estatal demócrata de Oklahoma City. Dijo que muchos eligen una salida voluntaria en lugar de quedarse retenidos durante varios meses mientras su caso está en proceso.
En la zona mayoritariamente latina del sur de Oklahoma City, agentes de ICE han estado patrullando en vehículos sin distintivos y deteniendo a trabajadores del roofing, pintores y electricistas, dijo Brooks Jiménez.
“No parece que haya una lógica o una razón en ello y no parece necesariamente que vayan contra los malos como ha afirmado la administración actual,” dijo.
Los esfuerzos de aplicación de la ley migratoria en Oklahoma también se han centrado mucho en detener a camioneros comerciales que circulan por autopistas interestatales.
Otros que fueron detenidos, dijo Brooks Jiménez, eran solicitantes de asilo que llegaban a la oficina local de ICE para revisiones rutinarias y así cumplir con sus órdenes de supervisión. Los registros del Proyecto de Datos de Deportación indican que los arrestos en las inspecciones han ocurrido miles de veces en todos los Estados Unidos.
La administración Trump también convenció a tribunales de todo el país para desestimar casos de deportación contra inmigrantes y luego los detuvo inmediatamente para su expulsión acelerada. El gobierno federal busca ampliar su anterior política de expulsión acelerada, argumentando ante un Tribunal de Apelaciones de EE. UU. que las expulsiones aceleradas deberían aplicarse a cualquier inmigrante que haya entrado sin autorización legal y haya vivido en el país menos de dos años.
ICE no dijo si Toro Sepúlveda y su familia recibieron alguna compensación bajo el muy promocionado programa del presidente Donald Trump, que supuestamente otorga una asignación de 1,000 dólares a cualquier inmigrante que se autodeporte. El programa de Autodeportación en el Hogar podría ayudar a preservar la posibilidad de que alguien pueda reingresar legalmente en el futuro, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional.
Ahora en Colombia, Toro Sepúlveda dijo que volver a su país ha sido un “shock”, a pesar de cuánto intentó prepararse mentalmente para la posibilidad. Trabajar con Henry en Oklahoma City “fue lo mejor que me pudo pasar,” dijo Toro Sepúlveda.
Dijo que espera volver a Estados Unidos a través de que Henry patrocine un visado de trabajo.
Sin embargo, solo se conceden un número limitado de esos visados y tienen una demanda extremadamente alta, dijo Brooks Jiménez.
Los inmigrantes que han vivido en Estados Unidos durante más de un año tras entrar sin autorización legal incurren en una pena de 10 años si abandonan el país por cualquier motivo, no solo por deportación, dijo Brooks Jiménez.
Sin embargo, las personas que eligen una salida voluntaria tienen más oportunidades de regresar legalmente y antes que quienes fueron deportados involuntariamente, según las directrices del Departamento de Justicia de EE.UU.
Desde su taller en Oklahoma City, Henry dijo que se da cuenta de que el caso de Toro Sepúlveda es uno de muchos y que traerlo de vuelta podría llevar años. Ella planea visitarle en Colombia para hablar con un abogado y explorar opciones que le ayuden a regresar.
Mientras tanto, ha estado recaudando fondos para apoyar a Toro Sepúlveda mientras abre su propia tapicería, que llevará el mismo nombre que su negocio, All in One Piece, traducido al español, Todo en una Sola Pieza.
“Él estaba aquí, estaba contribuyendo, estaba trabajando,” dijo. “Él era absolutamente mejor ciudadano estadounidense que yo. Nunca dijo nada malo de este país.”
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]]>Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, attends a news conference in the Senate Lounge at the state Capitol on Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The leader of the Oklahoma Senate strongly criticized a proposed initiative petition seeking to phase out property taxes for some homeowners.
Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said phasing out taxes for people who live in their homes would hurt schools, farmers, county government, renters, landlords and businesses.
He said Thursday that if those who live in their homes are exempt, the tax burden would increase drastically for landlords, farmers and businesses.
State Question 843, formerly called SQ 842 and 841, is an initiative petition that seeks to gradually reduce property taxes for those with a homestead exemption and eliminate them in 2009. Supporters must gather 92,263 signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
County governments rely on property taxes to pay for things like infrastructure and public safety, while schools rely on them to build new facilities, buy buses and expand classroom space.
Mike Reynolds, a proponent of the measure, disputes Paxton’s claim that property taxes would increase on farmers.
Reynolds said caps already exist for property taxes on things such as agricultural property.
If the measure passed, it would be up to lawmakers to determine where the revenue would be made up, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said lawmakers have had decades to tackle property taxes and their failure to do so has forced supporters to act.
“So they may come together, but I don’t know if it will be in my lifetime or the Pro Tem’s lifetime,” said Reynolds, a former Republican House member from Oklahoma City. “I think the citizens of Oklahoma are tired of waiting.”
He said the state question is wildly popular, and lawmakers are “scared to death” of it because it will prevent the state House, Senate and governor from “giving away taxpayer dollars to corporations that don’t deserve it.”
Lawmakers can offset the loss by using funds they routinely hand out in the form of tax credits for various entities and in multi-million dollar incentive packages offered to companies considering locating in Oklahoma, Reynolds said.
“There is so much money out there, and the leadership loves it, because they know where their next job is coming from,” Reynolds said.
Paxton said lawmakers were already working on property tax reform when the state question was proposed.
“This is not driving us to take action,” Paxton said. “We were already taking action.”
But eliminating property taxes for those with a homestead exemption is not the answer, Paxton said, adding that the proposal was “immature.”
Paxton is the author of Senate Joint Resolution 39, which would let voters decide to amend the Oklahoma Constitution and lower the caps that determine how much property taxes can rise each year.
Paxton is also the author of Senate Bill 1809 that seeks to increase the ad valorem tax exemption for homesteads to $5,000 from $1,000 beginning in the 2027 tax year.
Meanwhile, Senate Joint Resolution 23, by Sen. David Bullard, would let voters decide to amend the constitution to eliminate property taxes for those 65 or older who own their home without a mortgage.
It also seeks to freeze property taxes for all other homeowners who qualify for a homestead exemption.
It would let counties call for a vote to levy a consumption tax on the sale of goods and services sold in the county to replace property taxes.
“Oklahoma is long overdue for property tax relief for all homeowners, especially those who are retired and live on a fixed income,” Bullard, R-Durant, said in a press release.
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All in One Piece Upholstery owner Krysta Henry shows a picture on her cellphone of her Colombian employee, Alejandro Toro Sepulveda, and a chair he upholstered. Toro Sepulveda self-deported to Colombia with his family in December after Immigration and Customs Enforcement took them into custody. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
Lea este articulo en español aquí.
OKLAHOMA CITY — A Colombian flag hangs in an Oklahoma City upholstery shop above armchairs, sofa cushions, furniture trim and bottles of wood stains. A piece of brown paper bearing Spanish words for measurements and upholstery materials covers several feet of a wall.
Once used to break down a language barrier and celebrate a new Colombian employee, the paper and flag are now mementos of Alejandro Toro Sepulveda. The beloved shop worker was detained and deported to Colombia with his wife and three children in December.
In a phone interview from Bogotá, Toro Sepulveda, 42, said he and his wife signed a self-deportation agreement after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained them, their 7-year-old daughter and their 1-year-old twins while on a visit to Texas. Rather than risk months in detention with three young children, two of whom are U.S. citizens, he said they chose voluntary deportation as a quicker resolution that kept the family together.
“If I had been alone, believe me, I’d stay,” he said in Spanish. “A single person stays locked up until a judge looks at him or until the case is defined or something. But really, I had two babies and my daughter.”
ICE did not return repeated emailed requests for comment for this story.
The Trump administration has contended ICE is focused on arresting “the worst of the worst.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said recently that 70% of ICE arrests are of immigrants charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.
But as the Trump administration ramped up immigration detentions nationwide, ICE data showed a growing number of its arrests targeted people who don’t have a criminal history after entering the country. Immigrants, regardless of their legal status, are not more likely to commit crimes and are imprisoned at lower rates than U.S.-born individuals, multiple studies have found.
ICE did not answer whether Toro Sepulveda was charged or convicted in the U.S. of any criminal offenses. Oklahoma Voice searched his name in district and federal courts in the three states where he lived and found no record of a criminal history.
Toro Sepulveda said he and his family crossed the border in 2023 without legal authorization, which is considered a misdemeanor offense under federal law. For that, he believes ICE took them into custody during a December traffic stop.
He said he came to the U.S. and applied for asylum because the multinational gang Tren de Aragua threatened to extort his upholstery and furniture business in Bogotá.
“I speak for people like me,” he said. “We are good, and we are not going to the United States to create problems.
“Unfortunately, our country is very beautiful and offers many opportunities, but there is a lot of corruption. There is a lot of corruption, many bad things and a lot of crime.”
Un solicitante de asilo prosperaba en Oklahoma hasta una detención de ICE le llevó a autodeportarse.
A person must be physically present in the U.S. to apply for asylum, which offers residency to non-citizens who fear they will suffer persecution in their home countries specifically because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinions or membership in a particular group. U.S. law permits asylum for victims of “severe criminal extortion” as long as they were targeted for one of those five listed grounds.
Toro Sepulveda was one of 945,000 applicants for asylum in the U.S. in 2023. His home country of Colombia was the source of the third-largest group of asylum seekers, behind Venezuela and Cuba.
Convicted criminals made up 33% of immigration arrests in Oklahoma and 40% in Texas, according to a Stateline analysis of ICE data compiled in the Deportation Data Project.
Documents Toro Sepulveda shared with Oklahoma Voice show he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at or near Eagle Pass, Texas, in July 2023. The documents state U.S. Border Patrol detained and then released him on his own recognizance with an order to appear in immigration court in New Jersey, where Toro Sepulveda had sought work.
He said he crossed the border with his wife and daughter, believing they had no possible option to make the crossing with authorization, even after working with a lawyer in Colombia. His youngest two children were born after moving to the U.S., he said.
With his asylum case ongoing, Toro Sepulveda obtained an employment authorization document, a driver’s license and a social security number — all of which Oklahoma Voice has reviewed — so he could begin working and paying taxes in the U.S. Obtaining these documents is typical for individuals waiting years in the country for their asylum cases to resolve.
His employment authorization permit has a C08 classification, which identifies individuals with a pending asylum application. Online immigration court records show his next court date would have been in 2029. Asylum and immigration cases typically take years to resolve.
The family lived in New Jersey and Texas before settling in Oklahoma City in September. They made the move to Oklahoma so Toro Sepulveda could work for local upholsterer Krysta Henry at her shop, All in One Piece. He said he was looking for a new job and reached out to Henry after seeing images of her work.
She brought him to Oklahoma City for a test, gave him the hardest chair in her shop and he “nailed it,” she said.
Henry said her business started thriving when Toro Sepulveda began working there. He’s a quick, highly skilled worker who enabled her to take on more business than ever before, she said. He also earned more money while working fewer hours than at his previous jobs, leaving him with more time to spend with his family.
Despite speaking different languages, Toro Sepulveda and Henry became close friends, both said. She bought translator devices and started studying Spanish so they could better communicate.
His deportation, she said, has been like losing a brother.
“Our government is lying to us,” Henry said. “That’s why I’m telling this story. It’s because they’re saying they’re taking criminals when Alejandro literally has never done anything. I don’t think he’s ever done anything wrong.”
Toro Sepulveda’s dreams of living in Oklahoma long term ended abruptly a few days before Christmas while visiting friends in Dallas. He said ICE agents stopped him as he was driving with his wife and children to a gas station, and they took the family into custody. Toro Sepulveda said he believes ICE happened to be patrolling in the area and noticed him swerve slightly, possibly prompting the traffic stop.
After taking the family into custody, federal agents kept Toro Sepulveda in a different detention center from where his wife and children were held, he said. They voluntarily left for Colombia on Christmas Eve after two days in custody.
“Being there, that was what I realized, that all the people who are locked up and who are kept locked up for six months, for eight months, for a long time, it is for the same reason,” he said. “When you cling to staying and staying, that’s why you’ve been locked up.”
For decades, immigrants like Toro Sepulveda have been permitted to enter the country after being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border and allowed to stay under an order of supervision while their immigration cases were pending.
ICE, now, has been taking many of those immigrants back into custody without needing an arrest warrant, said Michael Brooks Jimenez, an immigration attorney and Democratic state senator from Oklahoma City. He said many choose a voluntary departure rather than being held for several months while their case is in process.
In the heavily Latino area of south Oklahoma City, ICE agents have been patrolling in unmarked vehicles and stopping work trucks of roofers, painters and electricians, Brooks Jimenez said.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s a rhyme or reason to it, and it doesn’t necessarily seem like they’re going after the bad guys like the current administration has asserted,” he said.
Immigration enforcement efforts in Oklahoma also have focused heavily on apprehending commercial truckers driving on interstate highways.
Others who were detained, Brooks Jimenez said, were asylum seekers arriving at the local ICE office for routine check-ins to comply with their supervision orders. Records from the Deportation Data Project indicate arrests at check-ins have occurred thousands of times across the U.S.
The Trump administration also convinced courts across the country to dismiss deportation cases against immigrants and then immediately detained them for expedited removal. The federal government is seeking to expand its previous expedited removal policy, arguing before a U.S. Court of Appeals that expedited removals should apply to any immigrant who entered without legal authorization and has lived in the country for under two years.
ICE did not say if Toro Sepulveda and his family received any compensation under President Donald Trump’s highly touted program that purports to award a stipend of $1,000 to any immigrant who self-deports. The Home Self-Deportation program could help preserve the ability for someone to lawfully reenter in the future, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Now back in Colombia, Toro Sepulveda said returning to his home country has been a “shock,” despite how much he tried to mentally prepare for the possibility. Working with Henry in Oklahoma City “was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Toro Sepulveda said.
He said he hopes to come back to the U.S. through Henry sponsoring a work visa.
Only a limited number of those visas are granted, though, and they’re in extremely high demand, Brooks Jimenez said.
Immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for more than a year after entering without legal authorization incur a 10-year penalty when they leave the country for any reason, not only for deportation, Brooks Jimenez said.
People who choose a voluntary departure, though, have more opportunities to return legally and sooner than those who were involuntarily deported, according to guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice.
From her shop in Oklahoma City, Henry said she realizes Toro Sepulveda’s case is one of many and that bringing him back could take years. She plans to visit him in Colombia to speak with an attorney to explore options to help him return.
In the meantime, she’s been raising funds to support Toro Sepulveda as he opens his own upholstery shop, which will have the same name as her business, All in One Piece, translated into Spanish, Todo en una Sola Pieza.
“He was here, he was contributing, he was working,” she said. “He was absolutely a better f****** U.S. citizen than I am. He never once said anything bad about this country.”
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]]>Voting buttons in the Oklahoma House chamber are pictured on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
There’s a new game for cynics to play each time they watch the Oklahoma Legislature convene. You might call it a drinking game, but the participants aren’t the ones taking swigs of the nearest beer.
I’ll unaffectionately name this one Guess Who? The Wasted Edition.
Modeled after the classic wholesome children’s game, the rules of this adult version are simple but challenging. Participants must guess which lawmakers have been consuming alcoholic beverages, which ones sound intoxicated solely because they have a mouthful of chewing tobacco or gum, and which of them are entirely sober but whose antics make them appear drunk anyway.
A much more informal version of the game is already afoot. Ever since Oklahoma Voice reported that Republican state Sen. Shane Jett had accused unnamed colleagues of being drunk while on duty, online detectives have been hard at work on social media. They’re combing through footage of last year’s legislative session, trying to guess which lawmakers he might have been referring to.
Unlike the childhood game where there’s a clear cut answer, lawmaker tomfoolery coupled with their internal culture of protecting each other when the bourbon bottle hits the fan makes this game difficult for anyone to win. At least without installing interlock breathalyzers on every legislator’s voting button.
One can only hope everyone is sober each time they take to the state House and Senate floors to make critical decisions that impact people’s lives, because Oklahomans deserve nothing less. But I find myself believing Jett’s accusations that some of his colleagues had been drinking the final night of the 2025 legislative session.
The accusations first came to light months after the session wrapped because Jett filed a bill that would require lawmakers to undergo sobriety screenings if they’re suspected of being intoxicated and that would impose a range of penalties on violators.
While I doubt most lawmakers were two sheets to the wind, the complaint that some may have been inebriated doesn’t defy belief. Remember, this is a Legislature whose members are wined and dined by lobbyists, it was the final night of session — an ideal time to celebrate — and this is a body that has a strange hubris that the rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to them.
(Raise your hand if your employer won’t fire you for drinking during work hours?)
When Oklahoma Voice was reporting on Jett’s denunciations, Democratic Sen. Mary Boren acknowledged some legislators do keep alcohol in their offices, but said she had never seen anybody drink it on the floor. (Drinking on the floor is a violation of Senate rules.)
But why keep alcohol in your office if you don’t intend to drink it?
In addition, these folks work in a building that pretends to ban booze, but yet makes it exceedingly easy to bring it in. (I know that because over the years, I’ve brought in bottles of wine and Ouzo as gifts.)
Our elected lawmakers, meanwhile, have traditionally been allowed to avoid the Capitol security screenings — and lines — that the rest of us must navigate, so there’s no telling what sorts of illicit things they’ve toted in. A few years ago, some lawmakers said their colleagues were alarmingly bringing guns to work despite weapons being banned in the Capitol, save for security.
Also, state Rep. Jim Shaw, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, which Jett chairs, dumped a bottle of Everclear on the already raging fire by posting cryptically on X that “this isn’t just a problem in the Senate…” with a link to our outlet’s story.
He did not expound on his post, but wrote that he’d be supporting Jett’s bill.
The Oklahoma Freedom Caucus, which has nearly a dozen members, posted on X that “Either you think legislators should NOT be drinking on the job, or you’re ok with them drinking on the job. We think being drunk while voting makes you not fit for office & the Oklahoma Constitution agrees with us.”
They wrote Senate leadership believes anyone who thinks like Jett should be stripped of their positions, a seeming reference to Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton immediately removing Jett from leadership positions.
If consuming alcohol before taking votes is a problem, then maybe lawmakers need to pass legislation holding each other accountable.
Jett’s proposal may be the place to start. But to make sure lawmakers aren’t abusing it or using it unjustly to humiliate someone, it should include penalties for any lawmaker who falsely accuses someone of being inebriated. Perhaps the penalties should mirror the ones Jett is proposing for drunken lawmakers.
For the first offense, it would include immediate expulsion from the legislative chamber for a day, a fine not exceeding $1,000 and referral to the Senate’s ethics committee.
The second offense would require mandatory alcohol education to make sure our lawmakers can tell the difference between alcohol consumption and political shenanigans, a fine of up to $2,500 and expulsion for three days.
And a third strike could result in permanent expulsion from the Senate.
We’ll see if lawmakers have the courage to hold themselves to the same standards as their constituents’ employers.
Because allegations of public drunkenness are not a game. Oklahomans deserve to know that their senators have not been drinking before making decisions that have long-term consequences on their constituents.
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]]>Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, attends a news conference at Eisenhower International School in Tulsa on Oct. 2. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — State lawmakers and education officials say they’re eager for a retry on Oklahoma’s academic standards for social studies after last-minute changes last year caused significant controversy and were thrown out in court.
In a news conference Thursday, Oklahoma State Department of Education staff said they’re now grappling with major complications to essential functions after the agency’s former leadership added polarizing content, some of which was inserted the day before a board vote. The agency has since proposed a revised version.
Leaders in the state Legislature said they welcome a set of standards free of last year’s frustrations.
“Social studies standards should not be that controversial,” Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said. “I’m glad we’re getting another bite of that apple.”
This week, the Education Department proposed a new draft of the academic standards, which mandate what topics public schools must teach in social studies classes. It deleted language from a 2025 version that included disputed content about the origin of COVID-19 and claims of “discrepancies” in the 2020 presidential election results.
The new draft also leaves out the 2025 edition’s references to Bible stories and the teachings of Jesus.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned last year’s version because the Education Department failed to give proper notice of fundamental content changes made shortly before a state board approved the standards.
Language about the 2020 election was inserted the day before the Oklahoma State Board of Education met to review and vote on the standards, said Sharon Morgan, the Education Department’s program director for the Office of Standards and Learning.
The controversial elements of last year’s draft all were added at the insistence of Walters’ executive team, Morgan told reporters Thursday. Walters, who has since resigned from office, said at the time he was responsible for the changes.
Agency staff, along with a writing committee of Oklahoma educators, have since sought to restore a more neutral version of the standards, Morgan said.
The standards are a minimum starting point for teachers to develop lesson plans, said Brenda Beymer-Chapman, the agency’s project manager for social studies. They also challenge students to use primary sources and critical thinking while learning history and civics.
“It’s very important that teachers present those in neutral fashions to where the students are creating their own ideas about those topics,” Beymer-Chapman said.
The latest draft of the standards is open for public input through Feb. 18. Education Department staff will review each submitted comment and aim to present a finalized draft to the state Board of Education for a vote on March 26, Morgan said.
If the board approves the proposed draft, the standards will go to the state Legislature for a final review. It also would allow the State Textbook Committee to begin preparations for adopting new social studies textbooks.
If the standards fail to pass a board vote, Oklahoma’s current social studies standards, approved in 2019, would remain in effect. Adoption of new textbooks for the subject would be off the table for the foreseeable future, the textbook committee decided Friday.
Morgan, who leads the textbook committee, said Education Department staff tried to warn Walters’ executive team of “some of the repercussions that we’re seeing now.”
Academic standards and textbooks for each school subject are updated every six years. That cycle now is experiencing unprecedented disruptions, she said.
Textbook adoption for other subjects could be postponed, and school districts face the possibility of having to afford two major textbook purchases in the same year — social studies and science.
“When we have these interruptions, it interrupts a lot of different areas,” Morgan said.
Legislative leaders at the state Capitol said they’re glad to get a redo with social studies.
Paxton, the Senate’s top leader, co-wrote a resolution last year to reject Walters’ standards. Half of the state Board of Education members at the time said they were unaware when they voted on the standards that new, controversial content had been added.
Paxton’s resolution failed because of a lack of support from fellow Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the House and Senate. Instead, the Legislature took no action, thereby allowing the standards to take effect as written.
“I was pleased the Supreme Court overturned those,” Paxton said Thursday. “I supported rejecting those. We just couldn’t get the support in the full Legislature. I was glad to see the fact that we get a chance to do those again.”
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, declined to comment on the standards until lawmakers receive a board-approved draft.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate celebrated the Supreme Court decision while, at the same time, voicing frustration that the Legislature had permitted the now-overturned standards to pass.
“I think the former superintendent, Ryan Walters, just had a hold on the Republicans in this building,” House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said. “His influence was really, I think, weighing on those who are elected, and so they didn’t want to fight him.”
Editor Janelle Stecklein and reporter Emma Murphy contributed to this report.
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]]>Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, speaks to reporters in her office at the state Capitol on Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate panel on Thursday passed a measure that would prohibit insurance companies from using credit information in determining rates.
Senate Bill 1435, by Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, passed the Business and Insurance Committee by a vote of 5-3.
“Someone with a spotless driving record but poor credit could end up paying more for car insurance than someone who is a neighbor who has multiple accidents but spotless credit,” she said.
Two neighbors with the same type of house could get charged very different insurance premiums solely based on a credit score, Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said.
Credit history is a factor in determining interest rates for things such as credit cards and home and vehicle loans. A credit score is a numerical number that considers certain factors, including payment history, amount of credit and debt.
Sen. Brian Guthrie, R-Bixby, asked if there were any states that banned the use of credit scores that resulted in reduced rates.
While some states have banned the use of credit scores, those measures were part of broader reforms, so it would be difficult to say if it results in reduced rates, Kirt said.
“Oklahomans are paying more than 100% more for their home insurance if they have a bad credit score in the state – and I don’t mean really bad, just a mildly bad credit score,” she said.
It results in a penalty for low income individuals even if they don’t have higher weather or claim risks, Kirt said.
“And they are conflating those two things – credit risk with a risk on the insurance side and I don’t see the data backing up for that,” Kirt said.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a national property casualty association, opposes the bill.
In a letter, provided by Kirt’s office, Walter R. Gonzales, assistant vice president for state government relations, said the bill would force safe, low-risk drivers to subsidize those who are at a higher risk.
“Data shows that credit-based insurance scores save consumers 30% to 59% on average,” he wrote. “Most consumers either benefit from the use of credit or are unaffected by it.”
The scores capture long-term behavior patterns that strongly correlate with claim frequency and severity, he wrote.
Forty-seven states allow it, he wrote.
The measure passed with its title stricken, a legislative maneuver to slow the process down.
Action on two other Kirt measures dealing with insurance costs were delayed at the request of committee Chair Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City.
Coleman said he laid over the two other bills, Senate Bill 1438 and Senate Bill 1444, because one of the panel members with insurance industry expertise was absent.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association also opposes the other two measures that were put on hold.
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Members of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education speak with Gov. Kevin Stitt on Feb. 5, 2026, at a board meeting in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma higher education officials are projecting an increase in enrollment to a state scholarship program and an estimated 21.6% related jump in costs in the coming years amid shifting eligibility and application requirements.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, are eyeing nearly 20 bills that could dramatically expand eligibility for the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship program and balloon the program’s price tag to as much as $500 million a year, higher education officials said.
The program, which provides qualifying children from lower-income families with free tuition, had over 15,000 participants during the 2024-25 school year, according to a report from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Over 4,400 degrees were conferred to scholarship recipients during the same school year.
The number of recipients is projected to increase in the coming years as eligibility parameters changed during the last legislative session that included changes to income limits and expanding the program to some public school teachers’ children.
The report estimates that the program will have over 17,000 participants in the 2025-26 school year and over 18,300 in the 2026-27 school year.
Officials also projected the scholarship program’s expenditures would also grow to over $88 million by the 2026-27 school year, up from $72.4 million in 2024-25.
Chancellor Sean Burrage said Oklahoma’s Promise is continuing to deliver strong results, with students enrolling in college and persisting in their education at higher rates than peers who are not involved in the program.
Almost 93% of Oklahoma Promise graduates are employed in the state one year after graduation and nearly 85% are still in Oklahoma after five years, he said.
“That tells us this program is not only expanding opportunity, but it is also strong workforce investment delivers long term value to stay,” Burrage said. “We appreciate the Legislature’s continued support of this program and look forward to continuing conversations about strengthening it during the current legislative session.”
Lawmakers last session expanded the program to the children of eligible Oklahoma teachers, but only allocated enough funding for 15 students. Officials said the demand for the program far outweighed the available funding.
Jarrett Jobe, vice chancellor for government relations for the State Regents, said the program’s expansion to include educators’ children was very popular. Now there are around 19 other bills that state lawmakers have filed seeking to further expand the program.
The price tags on some of the bills can reach up to $300 million and $500 million, he said.
“We’re encouraging legislators, as they look at these Promise bills, to recognize that expansion to postsecondary opportunities for the Promise is a great program, but we also have to be cognizant of the cost that would occur with some of these bills,” Jobe said.
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]]>The House Common Education Committee approved bills to ban sexually explicit content from school libraries and to move state testing to the month of May, among others. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A House committee on public schools advanced bills on Wednesday to move annual state testing to May, to increase teacher training time and to ban sexually explicit materials from school libraries.
Reading, math, science and U.S. history tests, usually administered each year in March and April, would take place only from May 1-31 under House Bill 4359. Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, said he wrote the measure to give students more time to prepare for end-of-year tests.
The House Common Education Committee approved the bill unanimously, sending it to the House Education Oversight Committee for further consideration.
HB 4115 from Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, also passed unanimously. West’s bill increases the maximum number of professional development hours that can be required of public school teachers from 150 to 200.
Raising the maximum would give schools more flexibility, especially if the Legislature adds professional development requirements in the future, West said.
“I think especially our newer teachers, they may need a little extra time,” she said during the committee meeting. “And I want to make sure that we have that opportunity for local districts (and) the principals to make the decision that if teachers need this, it’s available.”
The committee also approved a bill prohibiting schools from having books with “sexually explicit conduct” in their libraries. Current state law requires school library books to reflect the community standards for the population the library serves.
Rep. Chris Banning, R-Bixby, said he filed HB 2978 to remove books “that completely disgrace women that we can’t read out loud.”
The bill passed by a vote of 10-1.
Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, cast the lone vote against it. She voiced concerns for students in Advanced Placement courses whose access to required books might be cut off.
Committee leader Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, saw his legislation HB 3032 pass in an 8-2 vote. The bill would require families to complete an application for free and reduced-price school meals during student enrollment. Parents would have the choice to complete an opt-out form.
The federal National School Lunch Program funds school meals for students from low-income households, as long as the child’s guardian has filled out an application.
Families enrolled in schools or districts that already provide free meals to all students regardless of household income would be exempt from completing an application under HB 3032, as would children who qualify for free meals through other means, such as being on Medicaid.
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]]>Rep. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, applauds during the governor's State of the State Address on Feb. 2, 2026, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma House lawmakers on Wednesday considered measures that would create limitations on the use of food assistance funds in an effort to curtail fraud and cut costs.
One bill would prevent Oklahoma Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars from being spent out of state while another would require the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to verify the lawful immigration status of welfare recipients.
“The goal of this is to reduce bad out of state actors from stealing these very important, crucial benefits from our clients,” said Rep. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has been subject to federal changes that raised the cost of running the program for states. DHS included a request for $25 million to cover the higher cost of administering SNAP for the state agency in the next fiscal year, according to reporting from KOSU.
Further changes to SNAP are coming as a result of Congress passing House Resolution 1, or the Big Beautiful Bill, in July which led to DHS requesting greater funds to administer the program in Oklahoma.
Because of the federal changes to SNAP, states will be forced to pay a greater share of SNAP’s administrative costs, shifting from a 25/75 split to a 50/50 split. Oklahoma DHS officials estimated in October that this would increase the state share by about $34 million.
Oklahoma and other states will also be required to pay for a portion of the awarded SNAP benefits based on the state’s error rate. Error rates are not always fraud or “bad actors,” but can refer to overpayments, underpayments or SNAP beneficiaries failing to update their income, Gise said.
The higher a state’s SNAP error rate, the more they’ll have to contribute to the program based on a sliding scale. Oklahoma’s error rate is 10.87%, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data. At this rate, Oklahoma would have to match 15% of SNAP funding, which is about $248 million. The error rate would need to be below 6% to avoid additional state matching funds.
Gise, vice chair of the House Human Services budget committee, said she had heard anecdotal stories from DHS about out-of-state fraud which led to her authoring House Bill 2984.
SNAP funds wouldn’t be able to be used outside the state of Oklahoma under her bill, which unanimously advanced from committee. She said the goal of the bill is to reduce the number of “out-of-state bad actors” taking advantage of Oklahoma’s SNAP dollars.
“By putting this requirement in place, we will be adding a veil of protection for our clients and will protect them from card skimming and that money being stolen,” Gise said. “Once the money is stolen, unfortunately, the Department of Human Services is not able to replenish that cash, and that family will potentially go without food for that month. We heavily rely on our community partners to fill the gap, and so it depletes those resources in our counties.”
Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, said she had concerns about Oklahomans living near state lines whose closest option for groceries is in a neighboring state.
Gise said she’s considering including a potential radius for how far SNAP recipients can go to spend their dollars, but is working with DHS to see how feasible this is.
The state agency is actively working toward other solutions, she said, including greater support for case managers, further cross referencing for income assessments, and improving on the technology for SNAP cards to prevent fraud like skimming, she said.
Gise said a bill from House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, would help create greater accountability in where SNAP dollars go which could cut down on fraud and reduce Oklahoma’s payment error rate.
Hilbert authored House Bill 4422 which would require DHS to verify the immigration status of various welfare programs, including SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The bill advanced from committee 7-1, with the only no vote coming from a Democrat.
SNAP has generally never been available to noncitizens, according to the USDA, except in certain circumstances.
The bill would require DHS to review lawful immigration status and report any SNAP or TANF applicants who are not in the country legally to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
DHS would also be required to post notice on the agency’s website that immigration status will be reviewed as part of the application process for SNAP or TANF.
“I wanted to improve our verification system, our wellness system, make sure that those recipients of these dollars are, in fact, American citizens,” Hilbert said. “And that is something that I’ve heard resoundingly from my constituents and folks around the state, that welfare recipients should be American citizens. I don’t think that is a controversial thing.”
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]]>State Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, attends a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Oct. 3, 2023. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday passed a measure designed to protect churchgoers from those seeking to disrupt their religious services.
Senate Bill 743, by Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, passed by a vote of 31-15 and heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt for consideration. The measure was a holdover from the last session.
Gollihare said the measure was needed in the wake of incidents on Jan. 18 at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., and in March at his church, Blue Bell Freewill Baptist Church in Creek County.
In Minnesota, protestors last month disrupted a service as they chanted, demanding justice for a woman who was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. That church’s pastor also serves as an ICE field director.
Gollihare said individuals upset with his vote against an unconstitutional abortion bill showed up at his church before a service and told the pastor they were there to “admonish” Gollihare. They were asked to leave more than once before the pastor called law enforcement, he said.
The individuals told the pastor he and the church were “demonic” and called a woman entering the church a “witch,” Gollihare said.
He said the individuals were there to cause conflict, not protest.
They moved from the porch to another area and “harassed” and “harangued” those seeking to enter, he said.
“Some people looked at the scene and just left and went home and didn’t go to church that day,” Gollihare said.
He said people can still protest, but must do so within specific parameters. Anyone within 100 feet of a place of worship would be required to give worshippers a corridor of 8 feet, unless invited to approach.
“This is a protection of worship bill,” Gollihare said.
Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, a pastor who peppered Gollihare with questions, said the measure was an attack on free speech and should be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, said the measure was “an extreme new law,” adding that she was afraid of the precedent it might set.
The measure needs better guard rails and definitions to protect First Amendment rights, she said.
The measure has an emergency clause and would become effective upon Stitt’s signature.
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]]>Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, sits in the speaker's chair in the House chamber of the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on April 16. She announced Wednesday she is running for state superintendent. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Former teacher and state Rep. Toni Hasenbeck announced Wednesday she will enter a crowded GOP primary race for state superintendent.
As she makes her bid for Oklahoma’s top education office, Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, contended she’s the most qualified and most conservative candidate in the field. She was a principal author of state laws banning transgender girls from participating in girls sports and prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors.
“If you elect me as your state superintendent, I will restore Oklahoma values — faith, family, freedom and fundamentals — in every school,” she said in her campaign announcement.
Hasenbeck, who hasn’t yet filed paperwork with the state to establish her candidacy, pledged to promote parents’ rights, “eradicate indoctrination,” prioritize Bible access and require teachers to be trained in the science of reading, among several other priorities.
She claimed she is the only candidate in the race with classroom experience and a proven conservative voting record.
Two of her Republican opponents are former teachers, Rob Miller and John Cox, both of whom later became district superintendents. She also will face a fellow GOP lawmaker, state Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, in the primary race. Tahlequah Republican Ana Davine Landsaw also has filed to run.
Republican voters will choose a candidate from the crowded field in the June 16 primary election. If no candidate earns more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote earners will continue to a runoff election on Aug. 25.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Independent candidate Jerry Griffin, a former Tulsa Board of Education member. Former El Reno Public Schools Superintendent Craig McVay and another former Tulsa school board member, Jennettie Marshall, are vying for the Democratic nomination.
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]]>Oklahoma's newly proposed academic standards for social studies education include no reference to controversial content that appeared in a version overturned last year. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — No references to Jesus, claims of “discrepancies” in 2020 elections nor disputed allegations about the origin of COVID-19 were included in a new draft of academic standards for social studies courses in Oklahoma public schools.
The new draft deletes controversial elements of a 2025 version of the standards that the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down over violations of state open meeting laws.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education on Wednesday unveiled the newly drafted standards, which dictate what public schools must teach in social studies classes. Members of the public can give feedback on the standards through Feb. 18 before they’re presented to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and, if approved, handed to the state Legislature for review.
The state Board of Education meets next on Feb. 26. If the board gives approval, state lawmakers would have 30 legislative days to vote on the standards or allow them to pass by taking no action.
Under the new draft, public schools wouldn’t be required to teach students Bible stories nor a disputed claim that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese lab. References to patriotism are pared down, though not completely removed, and students wouldn’t be taught how the Bible and Judeo-Christian ideals influenced America’s founders.
High school students wouldn’t be asked to “identify discrepancies” in the 2020 presidential election between former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, including “sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”
Half of the state Board of Education members who voted in favor of the former standards later said they had no idea new, controversial content had been added about COVID-19 and the 2020 election. Neither element was included in an initial standards draft, and Education Department staff didn’t point out any changes in an updated version given to board members mere hours before the vote.
The state Supreme Court decided former state Superintendent Ryan Walters and his Education Department administration, which developed the now-defunct standards, failed to give the board members and the public sufficient advance notice of the new content. This violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, the Court ruled.
The lawsuit that prompted the Court’s ruling also contended the new standards wrongfully injected Christian teachings into public education and would violate students’ religious freedoms. The justices declined to rule on that issue.
Walters called the Court ruling an “incredibly aggressive attack on Christianity, the Bible (and) on President Trump” in a video posted to social media.
Walters resigned from office Sept. 30 to lead an anti-teacher-union organization. State Superintendent Lindel Fields, who was appointed to finish Walters’ term, promised a rewrite of the social studies standards.
“I think we need to look at all of the things that were added to see if they’re germane to what kids need to learn,” Fields told news reporters after an Oct. 22 meeting.
The Education Department reconvened a team of educators to reevaluate the social studies standards, said Tara Thompson, a spokesperson for Fields’ administration. The committee made further revisions to prepare the latest draft for public input.
“The public comment portion is open from now until February 18 and every single comment submitted is read and considered,” Thompson said. “At the end of the review process, the board will have the opportunity to adopt or modify the drafted standards.”
State Board of Education member Chris Van Denhende said he is confident the Education Department is “committed to creating the best standards possible.” Van Denhende was one of the board members who said he voted for last year’s standards without knowing about Walters’ last-minute additions.
“The board is working closely with Superintendent Fields and the Department of Education to ensure all new standards are developed in an open and transparent way allowing the public full access and opportunity to comment prior to any action being taken by the board,” Van Denhende said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a comments from Tara Thompson and Chris Van Denhende.
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]]>Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, writes a note during the State of the State Address on Feb. 2, 2026, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — As Oklahoma struggles with a lack of child care options, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and advocates are looking toward long-term solutions.
A statewide study released last week by United WE, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on economic security for women, found that there is a “pressing need” for greater child care capacity in nearly all counties in Oklahoma. Gaps in caregiving, especially child care, causes states to lose billions of dollars in economic productivity and is a top reason for women leaving the workforce, the group found.
The study found that Oklahoma has systemic challenges that make it harder for providers to open businesses. Those challenges include “regulatory fragmentation and licensing barriers.”
“Our research shows that when child care systems are fragmented and overly complex, women pay the price — through fewer affordable options, longer waitlists, and impossible choices about staying in the workforce,” said Wendy Doyle, president and CEO of United WE.
The group’s study found that while Oklahoma operates 19 early child care-related programs, they’re run by five different agencies.
Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, said if the state could consolidate all programs under one roof, it would reduce redundancies.
“We could actually take that money and put it back into services for our families,” she said.
Ranson has authored House Bill 1979, a carryover bill from last session, that would create a task force to issue recommendations on how to consolidate and streamline governance of the child care industry in Oklahoma.
Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas have also implemented a more consolidated structure for governing early childhood services, according to a United WE news release.
Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, said he hopes lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate are able to find solutions for the child care industry this session.
“There’s tremendous need, and we’ve got to make sure we’re supporting everyone involved in the system,” he said. “And so long as you remember that this is truly a workforce development issue that can pay dividends for us and the economy, I think we’ll be heading in the right direction.”
Child care providers have said there is a lack of funding to keep their doors open, most recently with DHS announcing plans to end a $5 per child, per day subsidy program in April because federal relief funding had been exhausted
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services this year requested $70 million for the upcoming budget year to stabilize the child care industry and “prevent future funding cliffs.”
In his budget plan released Monday, Gov. Kevin Stitt recommended a flat budget for DHS.
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]]>Joe Echelle, executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, talks about solar eclipse preparations on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Tuesday voted to seek interstate designations for two eastern Oklahoma turnpikes.
The panel voted to designate the nearly 33-mile Creek Turnpike in south Tulsa as Interstate 644 and to designate the 52-mile Muskogee Turnpike from Tulsa to Interstate 40 near Webbers Falls as Interstate 343.
Both turnpikes are currently classified as state highways, said Darian Butler, OTA engineering director.
The interstate destination means the roadway is one of the highest quality, said Dana Weber, an OTA member.
“It is the highest, most prestigious number that you can assign a roadway,” said Joe Echelle, OTA executive director. “Our turnpikes 99.9 percent of the time fit an interstate designation already.”
Echelle said the agency will work with the Federal Highway Administration to make any needed changes to obtain the designations.
Usually that entails minor adjustments, like removing a tree that is too close to a road or a stripe that needs to be repainted, Echelle said.
On maps, interstates are designated with a blue and red shield, Echelle said.
“You know that is controlled access,” Echelle said. “It is high speed. It should be the safest route you are going to take. We want to show Oklahoma off that we have all of these interstate-type roadways.”
It will be a few months before the signage is posted, Echelle said.
“We don’t receive any federal funding for making these interstate designated,” said Trenton January, OTA chief engineer.
But the designation demonstrates the condition of the roadway for travelers, he said.
Most people traveling to or through the state want to take an interstate without stops that state-designated highways may require, he said.
Five of the OTA’s 12 turnpikes are already designated as interstates, January said.
Most recently, the John Kilpatrick Turnpike in Oklahoma City was designated as Interstate 344 while the Kickapoo east of Oklahoma City was designated as Interstate 335, January said.
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Gov. Kevin Stitt delivers his final State of the State Address on Feb. 2, 2026, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive budget spends fewer dollars than last year with most agencies getting no additional funds.
Stitt on Monday unveiled his executive budget, which is a starting point for lawmakers who are expected to spend the next four months crafting a state spending plan.
Stitt’s budget proposes appropriating nearly $11.4 billion for fiscal year 2027, down from nearly $12.6 billion for the fiscal year 2026, which ends June 30, according to the executive budget summary obtained by Oklahoma Voice on Monday.
Stitt proposes giving the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services $17 million to implement a consent decree the state entered to resolve a class action lawsuit. The suit was brought by indigent defendants who had been waiting months or even years in county jails to access competency restoration services.
As part of a federal court settlement agreement, the state agreed to improve access to competency restoration, but monitors of the suit have said the state has missed required benchmarks. The state has been hit with several million dollars in fines.
Stitt’s budget also proposes giving the Oklahoma Health Care Authority $250 million in supplemental and one-time appropriations to compensate for a reduction in the Federal Medical Assistance Program Percentages, or rates used to determine the federal government’s share of funding for certain programs.
The dollars would also be used to maintain existing programs and for an additional claims week in fiscal year 2027.
The Health Care Authority administers the state’s Medicaid program, of which $1.4 billion come from state appropriations and the bulk of its budget coming from federal dollars
The agency sought a budget increase of $495 million.
The proposed budget includes $6.75 million for an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper academy. DPS had requested funding to host two academies with hopes of graduating 50 troopers from each.
Stitt wants to use $1.57 million to replenish the State Emergency Fund. A panel tapped last year to mitigate the impact on food stamp beneficiaries during a federal government shutdown. The Emergency Fund provides financial help during emergencies, such as disaster recovery.
Stitt’s budget gives the Oklahoma Department of Education an increase of $23.7 million to pay for employee benefits. The budget otherwise largely holds flat public school spending.
Senate Minority Leader, Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said she was disappointed that Stitt’s budget does not include funding for teacher raises or child care programs or additional dollars for mental health programs.
CareerTech would receive a $1.3 million hike for benefits.
Key agencies that receive a standstill budget include the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Attorney General, Office of Juvenile Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Department of Human Services.
The Legislature and Stitt’s office would also receive flat budgets.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Chuck Hall, R-Perry, said he and his counterpart in the House will meet Tuesday with Stitt’s team to go over the proposal.
Stitt’s budget proposes giving $20 million to the Quick Action Closing Fund, which is used to lure businesses to the state.
Oklahoma has slightly more than $1.3 billion in its Rainy Day Fund. The Revenue Stabilization Fund contains nearly $449 million.
Lawmakers have until the end of May to adopt the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
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Gov. Kevin Stitt with a bandaged hand greets lawmakers as he prepares to give his final State of the State Address on Feb. 2, 2026, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday called on Oklahoma lawmakers to place four state questions on an upcoming ballot that would overhaul government spending and voter-approved health initiatives.
The term-limited Republican governor in his final State of the State address urged lawmakers to send two state questions — adjusting Medicaid expansion and eliminating the medical marijuana industry — to voters. The two questions could undo citizen-led initiatives and would attempt to reverse voters’ decisions at the ballot box. Stitt’s other two proposed state questions would freeze property tax growth and cap state spending as part of his broader push to lower state expenditures.
During his 30-minute speech, Stitt touted tax cuts, which have left the state with $1.6 billion less to spend. Still, he urged the Republican-controlled Legislature to further reduce spending and to become less reliant on the federal government, which he said “isn’t a reliable partner” any more.
“Government dependency is a trap,” he said. “It robs self-reliance and balloons budgets. I always say government programs should be a trampoline, not a hammock, but too often that is not the case.”
‘Adjusting’ Medicaid expansion
With his hand noticeably wrapped in bandages due to a cooking accident, Stitt said Medicaid is “driving massive spending growth while enabling waste.” He said he wants lawmakers to send a state question to voters that would “allow for adjustments” to Medicaid expansion.
He did not specify what those adjustments could be.
Oklahoma voters enshrined Medicaid expansion into its state constitution in 2020, which requires offering coverage to all adults below age 65 who make less than $21,597 a year.
Any changes to the voter-approved measure need to be approved at the ballot box.
Over 280,000 Oklahomans have benefited from the expansion, which also lowered the state’s uninsured rates, according to the nonpartisan Oklahoma Policy Institute.
But Stitt said in 10 years, Medicaid is projected “to eat up 37% of our annual budget” and cost the state $6 billion dollars.
“We have to make a change,” he said.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said he supported the governor’s idea for a state question to adjust Medicaid expansion.
He said costs have been skyrocketing and there’s a need to address them as the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s budget request nears $2 billion this year with utilization increasing from the Medicaid and Medicaid expansion populations.
Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, said Medicaid expansion is a “cost-efficient system” that has improved health outcomes and limiting it would “undermine care for all Oklahomans.”
“The governor clearly has a misunderstanding, or is so disconnected to what everyday folks are going through, that he doesn’t understand what’s happening in health care across the state, the economic challenges that we’re facing right now in Oklahoma,” said House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City.
Closing down medical marijuana industry
Stitt also called on lawmakers to “shut down” the state’s medical marijuana industry, calling it one of the “greatest threats to public safety.”
Voters approved legalizing medical marijuana in 2018 by codifying it in state statute. While shutting down the industry would not require voters’ approval, Stitt said he wants lawmakers to put the issue to another vote.
“These (medical marijuana) storefronts hide an industry that enables cartel activity, human trafficking, and foreign influence in our state,” he said.
Lawmakers allowed medical marijuana legalization to take effect without a regulatory framework and have been playing catch up in years since.
The industry has generated hundreds of millions in revenue and licensing fees. A tax on medical marijuana generated over $47 million in the 2025 fiscal year, according to a report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority reported hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans have been issued medical marijuna licenses, and nearly 5,000 businesses are actively licensed.
Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said he supports having further conversations about a medical marijuana state question and there’s probably a way to build out an “actual medical marijuana program.”
“When you’re actually reversing the vote of the people,” he said. “I think the appropriate place would be to put it back in front of the people rather than just saying, ‘Oh, this didn’t work, we’re going to undo your state question.’ We do take seriously the voters’ intent and what the voters actually voted on.”
Freezing property taxes, state government spending
The third state question Stitt suggested to lawmakers would be to freeze property taxes for “all levels.” Property taxes are a major funding source for public schools, CareerTech centers, county government operations, libraries and county health departments.
He said the freezing rates would provide relief to property owners but did not elaborate further.
Paxton said while lawmakers want to give relief to homeowners, they also don’t want to “wreck” a county or school district.
Stitt’s final suggested state question would amend Oklahoma’s constitution to place a 3% annual cap on recurring spending growth, meaning lawmakers would be limited on how much they can spend when crafting the state budget every year.
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]]>Blood sample positive with measles virus (Getty Images) (This photo cannot be republished without a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s first measles case in over six months was reported in Norman.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported that people may have been exposed at the Logie’s on the Corner, a bar located at 749 Asp Ave. in Norman, between 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 to 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 25.
This is the first reported case in Oklahoma since June. The individual was unvaccinated, health officials said.
A total of 21 cases have been reported in Oklahoma. Of these cases, 18 are confirmed and 18 of the individuals were unvaccinated.
The Health Department recommended that individuals who have possibly been exposed and are not immune through vaccination or a previous infection should self isolate for 21 days, according to a news release.
Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are 97% effective against measles and 86% effective against mumps, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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]]>Members of the Oklahoma Legislature listen as Gov. Kevin Stitt gives his State of the State Address in the House chamber of the state Capitol on Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
It’s that long-dreaded time of year again.
The one leading up to the legislative session when lawmakers unveil their grandest plans to Make Oklahoma Great Again.
At least in their minds.
For those of us living in reality, it’s what I like to call political silly season. Because it’s the agonizing period for legislators to unveil ideas that are actually ridiculous and aimed at making our state more dangerous, stripping us of freedoms or inserting more government interference into our lives. And it’s all under the guise that we need it – because why wouldn’t we know what’s good for ourselves?
Each year, some of the bills make me laugh out loud while others make me question whether those we’ve sent to represent us in the Statehouse have any common sense. But some in this batch feel even worse than normal as lawmakers seek to bulk up their resumes by scoring cheap political points ahead of this year’s elections.
For instance, who among us wants to turn Oklahoma into Florida by creating alligator infested lakes and ponds with carnivorous reptiles?
Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen if we plow forward with Senate Bill 2087, a harebrained proposal would remove permitting requirements for people who want to raise alligators hatched from eggs in captivity. Currently, in order to raise an alligator, a pet owner has to obtain a permit and written permission from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, which is how it should be.
We all know of well-intentioned pet owners who are convinced that they can care for an exotic animal until their life circumstances change or a creature gets too big or is no longer a cute baby.
Releasing unwanted pets into the environment is one way to spread invasive species. A law like this will have people releasing alligators into local waterways. Alligators, by the way, lay up 30 eggs each time they mate.
It wouldn’t be long before some of our lakes and rivers would be unsafe to swim in.
But I guess that explains why we might need a tax-free holiday month for firearm purchases: alligator protection.
Senate Bill 1278 bizarrely proposes creating a sales tax holiday for gun owners every July. With the threat of mass shootings and domestic violence, what does it say about our priorities that we’re considering giving gun owners a tax break when we’re not doing the same for Oklahomans who need to buy school, baby and menstrual supplies?
Then we’ve got the Republican lawmakers who are convinced that someone is intentionally injecting or releasing chemicals into our airspace with the “express purpose of affecting temperature, weather or the intensity of the sunlight.”
Last I checked, our lawmakers aren’t supposed to be conspiracists. These measures seem to be embracing the debunked “chemtrail” conspiracy theory in which believers are convinced that the normal condensation trails naturally left in our atmosphere by airplanes are actually chemical agents designed to interfere with the sun, weather or are a nefarious way to psychologically manipulate us.
Good lord.
This seems largely aimed at cloud-seeding, which adds tiny particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to stimulate rain during severe droughts. Though the benefits of this technology remain unproven after 80 years, as far as I’m concerned, if we’re in the midst of a horrendous drought and a farmer and rancher wants to try to produce rain on their own property, more power to them.
And what are we going to do, arrest Mother Nature for messing around with the jet stream? Investigate governors to our west for flying over our state to avoid massive snowstorms and heat waves?
Then there are the lawmakers who somehow see logic in a state agency in charge of enforcing liquor laws being tasked with licensing strippers. I can think of fewer things that rank higher on the gross-factor scale than men standing in judgment over a woman’s decision to dance in a club.
Why shouldn’t an 18-year-old be allowed to strip if he or she wants? In our state, you’re an adult when you turn 18.
Supporters of the measure say it’s designed to prevent human trafficking and forcing women into unwanted sex work, but I can see this easily going sideways if we let stodgy and prudish lawmakers run have their way.
And then don’t get me started on House Joint Resolution 1040, which seeks to again ban Sharia Law in this state.
We do not have Sharia Law in Oklahoma as much as Republicans who want to fearmonger against it wish we would.
In 2010, voters tried to ban Sharia Law. A federal judge found the plan unconstitutional and said Oklahoma couldn’t. The state had to pay the plaintiff’s attorney fees.
That should be the end of it, but 16 years later, we’re going to try this again? Isn’t that the definition of insanity? What a ginormous waste of our valuable time and resources.
Let’s also not forget that a plethora of dumb bills filed last year are still alive. Those include doubly criminalizing the stealing of shopping carts, giving stormchasers the powers of law enforcement and sending homeless people on one-way trips to other states.
One thing that’s different – but scarier – as time goes on: It’s becoming impossible to know which bills will meet an early demise and which will cheerfully advance through our Republican leadership.
We can only hope that lawmakers remember what they’re actually supposed to do and not get bogged down with delusions of alligators, strip clubs and conspiracy theories.
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]]>Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, speaks at an announcement of a budget deal for the 2026 fiscal year on May 14, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The head of the Oklahoma Senate on Friday defended his decision to strip a fellow Republican of his leadership roles after he accused some senators of being drunk.
Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton accused Sen. Shane Jett of intentionally trying to create division within the Republican caucus, according to a letter sent to members. Oklahoma Voice obtained a copy of the email sent to the 40-member caucus and confirmed its authenticity.
“Shane Jett is hellbent on dividing this caucus, and his actions make that clear,” Paxton, R-Tuttle, wrote.
Paxton said his decision to remove Jett, R-Shawnee, as vice chairman of the Senate Administrative Rules Committee and to suspend his privileges to preside over the chamber had nothing to do with a bill Jett filed to ban alcohol on the Senate floor.
“It has everything to do with his lack of integrity and his lack of respect for his fellow senators,” Paxton wrote.
He said he removed Jett because he “does not deserve that role or the responsibility of holding the gavel.” Paxton said he gave Jett “multiple” opportunities to prove himself.
“He failed each time,” Paxton said.
Jett did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Paxton’s announcement that Jett had been stripped of his leadership posts came as Jett filed legislation that would bar lawmakers from possessing and consuming alcohol while on the job. While he did not name specific individuals, Jett said the legislation was needed because some senators were drunk the final night of the 2025 legislative session while they were considering whether to fire the state’s mental health commissioner.
Jett, chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he brought the matter to the attention of Paxton, who did nothing about it, despite a prohibition against drinking in the Senate rules. Alcohol and low-point beer are not allowed inside the Capitol.
Paxton wrote in the email to Republicans that after Jett talked to him, he asked floor leaders and the majority whip to determine whether there was evidence to support Jett’s allegations.
“Even if credible evidence had existed, it would have been too late to take any action,” Paxton wrote. “To date, Senator Jett has not provided a single name of anyone he is accusing of this behavior.”
Instead, Jett has turned to “surrogates via social media to carry his water,” Paxton wrote. Those individuals have accused certain members of the allegations, Paxton said.
“Every single member of the Legislature should be appalled by these actions,” Paxton wrote.
After Jett made his accusations, some Facebook users were examining video footage of the final night of the session and trying to identify who Jett might have been referring to. They also posted a social media hashtag called “PullPaxton.”
Throughout the interim, Jett has sought media attention and resorted to “childish name-calling that isn’t creative or remotely humorous,” Paxton said.
Late Thursday, Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, said in a press release that he asked Paxton at the end of the legislative session to remove Jett as vice-chairman of the Senate Administrative Rules Committee because he was not performing his duties.
“The continued rhetoric, name calling and efforts to demonize fellow members have gone too far,” said Bergstrom, a member of the Freedom Caucus.
Lawmakers return Monday to the Capitol for the start of the 2026 legislative session.
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Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, attends a Senate special session on July 15, 2024, at the Oklahoma State Capitol. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Lawmakers will return Monday to the Capitol seeking ways to reduce homeowners and health insurance costs.
Regulating data centers and artificial intelligence, improving childhood literacy and reducing property taxes are also on the list.
“Reading sufficiency is definitely on the list of things we need to improve,” said Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, who is serving his second year as leader of the Senate.
According to the bills that have been filed, lawmakers will take another stab at allowing sports betting and increasing the minimum wage.
Legislators return to session facing requests from state agencies for over $1.5 billion in increased funding, but are expected to have about $692 million less to spend amid slower revenue growth.
Most agencies are expected to see flat budgets, with possible exceptions for health care and education.
In recent years, lawmakers reduced the state income tax and eliminated the state sales tax on groceries.
Paxton said he favors waiting to see the impact of those efforts before talking about additional tax cuts.
Lawmakers will also grapple with bills covering wedge issues, or divisive political and social topics, such as abortion, marriage and religion.
“As far as those wedge issues, they are out there every year,” Paxton said. “It is not just election years.”
While wedge issues are seen every session, they appear to be a bit more common in election years as lawmakers try to placate their base of support.
“Some of the bills that make the news are the ones that probably are the ones that are least likely to advance,” he said.
Paxton said he doesn’t know if the hotly contested gubernatorial race will impact the session.
“We’ll sure try to make sure it doesn’t,” Paxton said. “Our job is to pass good legislation.”
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is serving the last year of his second term.
After a year leading the upper chamber, Paxton said he has learned a few things.
He wants to get out of the office more and spend time with senators.
“Every senator represents a different part of the state and those different parts of the state have different needs from government, or different desires from government, or are different things that are big issues to those districts,” Paxton said.
He has three years left on his Senate term and would like to continue to lead the Senate. Republicans have a supermajority in the chamber, holding 40 of the 48 seats.
He said he believes his chamber is working well with their counterparts in the state House.
“We can disagree without being disagreeable, and then most people like the fact that we are not launching grenades over the House of Representatives all the time,” Paxton said.
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A masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent knocks on a car window in Minnesota on Jan. 12, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility slated to open in the southwest part of Oklahoma City will no longer happen, according to the mayor.
Mayor David Holt said in a social media post Thursday that he had met with the owners of the warehouse property at 2800 S. Council Road. The owners were no longer engaged with the federal government about acquiring or leasing the property, Holt said.
“I commend the owners for their decision and thank them on behalf of the people of Oklahoma City,” he wrote. “As Mayor, I ask that every single property owner in Oklahoma City exhibit the same concern for our community in the days ahead.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had previously notified Oklahoma City leaders of its intent to purchase the warehouse property to “support ICE operations” as a processing center that would be used to detain, question and process individuals accused of violating immigration laws.
Holt said the property owners are not residents of Oklahoma. This property is their only one in Oklahoma City, he said.
ICE did not immediately return a request for comment or answer questions about any intent to find other properties for a facility in Oklahoma City.
Oklahomans spent hours on Tuesday at a City Council meeting offering emotional testimony and public comment against the proposed ICE center. Three city council members also spoke out against the facility.
City officials had previously sent letters to DHS and Oklahoma’s federal congressional delegation emphasizing that the city would like the federal government to apply for a special use permit despite the Supremacy Clause making it technically unnecessary.
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]]>Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, speaks in favor of his amendment to Senate Joint Resolution 22 on May 13, 2025, in the Senate chamber of the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Republican senator has filed legislation to bar lawmakers from drinking alcohol on the job after he accused some of them of being drunk while taking critical votes.
Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, said he filed Senate Bill 1640, which prohibits legislators from consuming and possessing alcohol while on duty, after noticing some were intoxicated on the Senate floor during the last day of the 2025 session when they were discussing a bill to fire Allie Friesen, the state’s former mental health commissioner.
While Jett did not specifically name any senator, he said that during debate about the bill that ultimately removed Friesen, “you can see that there were members who used some very aggressive language and in their speech pattern and their appearance indicated inebriation.” He said that he got “harangued” in speeches “that we know were fueled by Tito’s and vodka.”
Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said Wednesday that Jett’s accusations were “baseless and lack credibility.”
Jett has attacked colleagues, used childish rhetoric and is making serious accusations without evidence, Paxton said.
As a result, Paxton said he has removed Jett as vice chairman of the Rules committee at the request of the panel’s chairman and barred Jett from serving as a presiding officer, a rotating position in which an individual runs the floor.
Jett, who leads the conservative Oklahoma Freedom Caucus, said when he reported his concerns to Paxton on the final night of session, the Republican leader did nothing.
“He approached me with these claims in the waning hours of the last day of session, at a point when no action could be taken,” Paxton said.
Jett has exhibited a pattern of conduct that reflects his need for attention rather than responsible governance, Paxton said.
Senate rules prohibit senators from being drunk or drinking while on the Senate floor, Jett said.
Jett’s bill would require any lawmaker suspected of being intoxicated to take a breathalyzer test administered by a member of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, according to the measure.
On the first offense, a violator would be subject to immediate expulsion from the legislative chamber for the remainder of the day, a fine of not less than $500 but not exceeding $1,000, and referral to the chamber’s ethics committee.
A second violation within a year carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,500, mandatory alcohol education or treatment at the member’s expense, expulsion from the chamber for not less than three consecutive legislative days and a referral to the chamber’s ethics committee.
A third violation within 24 months carries a penalty expulsion for the remainder of the session, a fine of not less than $2,500 but not more than $5,000 and automatic initiation of removal proceedings.
The Senate President and House Speaker would be responsible for enforcement. Failure to enforce sobriety within their respective chambers would subject the presiding officer to the same penalties as the violating member, according to the measure.
Jett said he does not drink alcohol at work, but may have wine with his wife.
“I am very scrupulous not to drink with people outside of my family context, especially, especially in a political context,” Jett said.
He said taxpayers have the right to expect more from those who are making the laws governing alcohol.
Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, said she has never seen a member drink alcohol on the floor, but said some do have alcohol in their offices.
Intoxicating beverages and low-point beer are among a list of items prohibited inside the Capitol, according to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
Boren said she fears Jett’s bill could create a “witch hunt” used to protect or target certain individuals.
“People do need to be sober when they are voting,” Boren said.
Jett said the bill needed to be filed because the incident was embarrassing and leadership was doing nothing.
“I want to make it abundantly clear I am not to be trifled with and I will hold them accountable when they break the rules,” Jett said.
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]]>Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, speaks during a swearing-in ceremony Nov. 20, 2024, in the House chamber of the Oklahoma State Capitol with her mother, former Democratic lawmaker Anastasia Pittman, to her left. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma City Democrat on Wednesday resigned effective immediately after pleading guilty to forgery-related charges.
Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, received a seven year deferred sentence and must pay restitution to a charitable organization in addition to the terms of a separate settlement agreement with the Ethics Commission. The separate settlement agreement Pittman entered into Tuesday requires she resign from office and bars her from holding public office for 15 years.
Pittman pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple charges including conspiracy to commit a felony, forgery in the second degree, and violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.
Pittman was first charged Wednesday with the crimes and appeared before an Oklahoma County District Court judge the same day to plead guilty.
She did not immediately return a request for comment, but in her resignation letter wrote that she chose to “step aside” after “careful consideration” because it is in the best interest of her district and “our great institution.”
“This decision will allow the House’s work to continue without distractions and ensure that the focus remains on the needs of Oklahoma’s people,” she wrote.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, which investigated Pittman, said she faced felony charges related to submitting a forged check to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission in an effort to avoid repaying funds to her campaign account.
“The scheme involved altering and creating a false $2,500 check and using a computer network to transmit the fraudulent document to state officials while representing it as genuine,” according to a statement from the Attorney General’s Office.
Pittman initially settled with the Ethics Commission in 2024 and was ordered to pay $35,000 for improperly using campaign funds for personal use. She failed to comply with the settlement agreement, leading to further investigation by the Ethics Commission, which eventually filed a separate civil lawsuit to recover damages.
The lawsuit alleged that Pittman had filed false documents in an effort to comply with her original settlement. Her Tuesday settlement agreement concludes this pending lawsuit, according to a news release from the Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission called their cases against Pittman the “most serious campaign finance enforcement matters in recent years.”
Lee Anne Bruce Boone, executive director of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, said they coordinated closely with the Attorney General’s Office to “ensure full accountability under both civil and criminal law.”
“This case involved intentional misconduct and deception, not reporting errors or technical mistakes,” Bruce Boone said. “Campaign funds are not personal funds, and when an elected official deliberately abuses that trust, the Commission will pursue every appropriate remedy available under the law.”
The Ethics Commission settlement requires Pittman to repay the remaining civil penalty of more than $17,000 from the 2024 settlement and provide proof of compliance. It also bars her from running for public office in Oklahoma for the next 15 years, according to a copy of the settlement signed Tuesday.
House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said her caucus remains committed to accountability and transparency.
“While we believe everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, with charges formally filed, we know that Rep. Pittman will no longer be able to serve the people of House District 99,” she said in a statement.
The House Democratic Caucus temporarily suspended Pittman’s caucus membership in October and she was also stripped of her committee assignments by chamber leadership.
“This conduct is unacceptable and falls well below the standard expected of anyone serving in the Oklahoma House of Representatives,” said Republican House Speaker Kyle Hilbert.
The governor has 30 days to set dates for a special election.
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]]>A teacher leads a fourth-grade math class Dec. 10 in Warner. A survey of Oklahoma educators and parents received numerous calls for teacher pay raises and small class sizes. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Higher teacher pay and lower class sizes topped Oklahoma educators’ list of needs in public schools, a state Department of Education survey found.
Parents, 5,000 of whom also took the survey, agreed that quality teachers, adequate funding and small class sizes are among their top priorities for their children’s schools. Both parents and teachers emphasized a desire for family involvement in students’ education, according to the survey, which the Education Department and the Oklahoma State School Boards Association conducted in November and December.
The 5,800 responding educators expressed numerous concerns for disruptive student behavior and called for more support in managing it.
Several survey answers urged the state to raise Oklahoma teacher wages, last increased in 2023, to retain and recruit more traditionally trained educators. Doing so, some said, would lower class sizes, improve instruction and help manage classroom disruptions.
State Superintendent Lindel Fields said the survey responses played a “critical role” in determining what legislative priorities he would present to state lawmakers.
In a hearing Monday, Fields requested a mostly flat education budget but encouraged House and Senate legislators to focus on school security, teacher development, school leader training, improving literacy and raising first-year teacher salaries.
Multiple survey respondents, though, called for higher wages across the board, not only for first-year educators. Several said veteran teachers should be rewarded.
“We have thousands of certified teachers who are opting out of teaching because of the volatile environment,” one respondent wrote. “Experience cannot be undervalued or cast out. We need experienced teachers to lead new graduates and help us reduce class sizes. So many have left.”
The average salary of Oklahoma teachers is $61,330, enough for a middle-of-the-pack ranking among its bordering states, according to Education Department data. However, Oklahoma ranks second-highest in average teacher salaries when accounting for cost of living, the state agency’s data shows.
Oklahoma’s average for first-year teacher pay, $41,152 a year, ranks near the bottom in the region even when considering cost of living.
About 11% of Oklahoma public school teachers left the profession last school year, Fields told lawmakers in the Monday budget hearing. The state has 725 fewer teachers in public schools than the year before.
“The challenge with 11% leaving is we’re not filling the pipeline to adequately replace those that are leaving,” Fields told lawmakers. “So, a little work there would go a long way.”
Parents told the Education Department which skills they most want their children to learn before graduating from high school.
Financial literacy was at the top of the list followed by critical thinking, reading and literacy, life skills and career readiness.
They also want their children to learn to communicate effectively, have strong math skills, build strong social and emotional skills, become technologically savvy, and understand civic and historical knowledge, the survey found.
Some parents complained that sports, technology and standardized testing have too great a role in schools. Others gave a more favorable view or didn’t mention them as an issue.
Teachers also gave mixed responses on state testing. Some called for it to be eliminated, and others suggested it be reformed. Technology in education and extending the school year had conflicting responses, too, with some teachers in favor and others opposed.
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]]>Sen. Jack Stewart, R-Yukon, and Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, await votes on a veto override during the Senate session on Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Thirty-four lawmakers are asking Oklahoma’s high court to prevent a state agency from providing driver’s license information to a Virginia-based nonprofit.
The lawmakers, including Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, are asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to prevent Service Oklahoma from sharing driver’s license data with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
The Virginia-based nonprofit operates a technology platform that is used by 44 states and allows officials to cross-check driver’s license information to determine if motorists have active driver’s licenses in other states.
Service Oklahoman intends to give the nonprofit access to some driver’s license information, including names, dates of birth and partial social security numbers, in mid-February. Driver photos and biometric information will not be exchanged.
Sacchieri and the other lawmakers filed a lawsuit late Tuesday to block the data sharing.
“Once transmitted, the data cannot be retrieved from AAMVA’s system or from other states that may access or rely upon the record,” the lawsuit said. “The transmission therefore creates irreparable injury to statutory rights, constitutional structure, and personal-data privacy that cannot be remedied after the fact.”
The agency’s decision was not authorized by the Legislature, the suit said.
The lawsuit asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to prohibit the information from being shared and find that the agency may not share the information absent legislative authorization.
Service Oklahoma said it could not comment on the lawsuit, but said the system, more commonly known as State-to-State or S2S, is used exclusively by state driver’s licensing agencies and does not allow federal access.
Service Oklahoma is permitted to share records with other states as part of routine license administration, the agency said.
The system does not store or centralize full records, the agency said.
By the end of 2026, Service Oklahoma said 48 states are expected to utilize the system, which has been in existence for two decades.
Oklahoma provides residents with the option to either obtain a federally-compliant REAL ID license or one that is non-compliant. A REAL ID license, which contains a gold star in the upper right corner, signifies that it meets minimum federal security standards.
Oklahoma’s non-compliant licenses allow motorists to drive within the state, but are not recognized to access federal property or to fly domestically.
Sacchieri said the suit is aimed at stopping the transfer of any information, but especially the information of those who sought a non-compliant license.
She said the association is private, but works with and is an arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, is among the plaintiffs seeking to block the sharing of information.
“We just can’t trust the federal government right now,” Boren said.
She said the state should keep the promises made to its residents and keep the information private.
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]]>
An inmate at Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington is pictured. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
The number of people waiting for the state to provide court-mandated mental health treatment has grown by 58% in the last two months, consultants said in a new report.
The report found there were 218 people stranded in county jails waiting for mental health treatment, as of Jan. 13. In November 2025, there were 138 people on the waitlist.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services’ progress to improve the state’s mental health system “is still halting,” consultants said. The independent consultants have been hired to monitor the agency as it implements reforms that are part of a consent decree to settle a class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed in 2023 accused the Department of Mental Health of violating the civil rights of people in the criminal justice system with severe mental illness who sometimes wait months in jails for treatment. Before their cases can resume, defendants who have been found incompetent to stand trial must receive mental health treatment so they can understand the court proceedings and help their attorneys with their defense.
There’s no sign the steadily increasing waitlist will stop growing, the consultants said in the report.
“If unchecked, this increase will soon result in a waitlist at or exceeding the number of people on the waitlist when the [consent decree] was entered,” consultants wrote.
The department was unable to provide an official statement in time for this story, citing reduced staffing due to winter weather.
The state agreed to make fixes to the competency restoration system last year in March. At the time, at least 250 people were believed to be on the department’s waitlist, but consultants said that the data they received from the agency was “so flawed and internally contradictory,” it was not possible to establish a precise count.
Nearly a year later, consultants still had questions about the validity of data the department is reporting, and called for a full-time external auditor to verify the figures.
The latest report, and the slew of deadlines and requirements it creates for the department, is the result of a mediated session with the attorneys who filed the lawsuit on behalf of people in county jails waiting for treatment. Paul DeMuro, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, had previously asked the court to sanction the Department of Mental Health for its lack of progress.
DeMuro’s request was denied by a judge, but penalties have already begun for failing to come into compliance with agreed-upon fixes. Since November, the department has been fined more than $3.1 million for failing to reduce wait times for treatment and make other improvements.
DeMuro said in a statement that he agreed with the consultants’ latest findings, and admonished the department for its slow progress.
“After seven months of missed deadlines and rising wait times, the Department has still not implemented the Plan it agreed to,” DeMuro said. “People with serious mental illness are sitting in jail far longer than the law allows. This puts incredible strain on every aspect of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. The court-appointed Consultants have given the State a clear roadmap. It’s time to act before this crisis overwhelms our jails and our justice system.”
Missed deadlines as agency deals with financial turmoil
The most significant violation the consultants identified was the department’s failure to create a mandated “plan” to speed up wait times and improve the state’s competency restoration system. The consent decree required the plan be submitted in June, but consultants said it “neither exists nor has it been implemented.”
The consent decree also tasks the Department of Mental Health with creating two pilot programs to treat people at jails instead of waiting for a bed at the state mental hospital in Vinita.
The consultants reported they have received no documented effort at developing and implementing the pilot programs in Tulsa or another county. The initial deadline was also in June. The Tulsa County jail pod originally made available for the pilot program is no longer available because of the need to hold ICE detainees, the department told consultants.
Court consultants reported multiple requests for information from the department have been ignored, including questions about waitlist criteria, accreditation reports and other key data.
“[The Department of Mental Health’s] response to requests has substantially improved since entry of the Decree, after change of executive leadership at the agency. However, there are still occasions when requests for information receive no response,” consultants wrote.
The Department of Mental Health has been strained by a budget crisis and a change of leadership over the past year. The agency ran out of money to pay its 2,000 state employees last May and had to get an emergency infusion of cash from the Legislature.
Interim Commissioner Greg Slavonic has been in charge of the department since June, after state lawmakers fired former Commissioner Allie Friesen. During his time as the head of the department, Slavonic has made significant cost-cutting measures to “right the ship,” including slashing contracts for mental health providers. Slavonic has repeatedly identified coming into compliance with the consent decree as one of his key priorities.
Consultants acknowledged some improvement since Slavonic’s hire, but said the department is still not meeting “best efforts” to improve wait times for people waiting in jails across the state.
Slavonic could soon leave his temporary post, underscoring the need for a “solid plan,” the report said.
Along with an increased number of people waiting for treatment, admissions to the state’s lone state mental hospital have “sharply decreased,” the consultants said.
The facility, the Oklahoma Forensic Center, is in the process of adding a new wing with 80 new beds. In October, the department hosted a job fair seeking 100 new hires. A spokesperson for the department reported that more than 25 job offers had been extended.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office called on the Department of Mental Health to work toward reforms after the consultants issued their report.
“We appreciate the prompt and thoughtful work of the consultants and we hope this gives the department the additional insight it needs to comply with the consent decree and begin to provide prompt and meaningful mental health restoration services to people needing those services before their criminal charges can be pursued and appropriately resolved,” the Attorney General’s office said in a statement.
The consent decree required the agency to reduce wait times for treatment to 45 days by Jan 10. As of Jan. 13, the median wait time was 77 days.
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]]>Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, listens to the governor's State of the State Address on Feb. 3, 2025, in the House chamber of the state Capitol. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – At least two lawmakers have filed legislation that would require strippers to be licensed by the state before they can perform.
Both bills also seek to increase the minimum age to perform in strip clubs from 18 to 21.
House Bill 3832, by Rep. Stan May, R-Broken Arrow, is dubbed the “Entertainer Safety and Verification Act” while Senate Bill 1284, by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, is called the “Exotic Entertainer Licensing Act.”
Under both measures, the Alcoholic Beverage Law Enforcement commission would issue the license and promulgate rules governing the process.
Information provided to the agency from those seeking a license shall be kept confidential, with exceptions for ABLE and law enforcement. Those seeking a license must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident and not have committed certain felonies, according to both measures. Applicants must also provide proof of identity, including a government-issued identification document with a picture.
Hamilton and May said the measures are needed to reduce human trafficking.
“We are going to require the identifications,” May said. “Whether you agree with those places or not, we should all agree people participating should be doing it of their own free will and not being trafficked from another state or country.”
Once a person begins working as a stripper, it is hard to break free, May said.
Hamilton said the state has a responsibility to protect children and said the licensing requirements were requested by the Tulsa and Oklahoma City police departments.
Strippers United, a nonprofit that advocates for workers’ rights and safety, did not respond to a request for comment.
Across the country, a patchwork system governs requirements for strippers. Some states have left it up to local cities and counties to create requirements governing adult entertainers.
Employees working in the industry in other states have expressed concerns about whether the public licensing databases that contain their personal information and photographs can open them to harm and exploitation if accessed by the wrong people.
Under both bills, first-time offenders who perform without a license or with an expired license face a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine, one year confinement or both.
Under May’s bill, the fine increases to $1,000 for a second violation while Hamilton’s bill increases the fine to $10,000.
The measures also outline the penalties for businesses found to be in violation.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Nick Wheeler said it would be inappropriate to comment on pending legislation.
The Oklahoma City Police Department declined to comment, but said it met with the Tulsa Police Department to discuss it.
Both measures have an effective date of Nov. 1.
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]]>Oklahomans gather at a City Council meeting in Oklahoma City on Jan. 27, 2025 to offer public comment on a proposed ICE processing center. (Screenshot)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Dozens of outraged Oklahomans on Tuesday spent hours lambasting a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility slated to open in the south part of the city.
But city councilors, who spent over three hours listening to public comment about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s planned immigration processing center, said their hands were tied.
They said they have no power to stop the federal agency’s plans to convert a warehouse, located at 2800 S. Council Road, into a facility that would be used to detain, question and process individuals accused of violating immigration laws because of the Supremacy Clause, which mandates that federal law overrules state and local statute.
However, city leaders said they are none-the-less urging DHS to go through the special permitting process that applies to the private sector.
“It is the City of Oklahoma City’s longstanding position that decisions about land use are best made locally,” the city wrote in a statement. “The placement of a detention facility is an issue of local interest that would benefit from a public process involving residents, especially the neighbors of such a facility. Any private sector activity would be subject to such a process.”
A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately return a message left seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.
The impassioned public comment comes a little more than a month after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security first notified Oklahoma City leaders of its intent to purchase the warehouse to “support ICE operations” as a processing center, according to a letter sent to city officials last month.
Dozens of community members Tuesday shared emotional testimony and asked the City Council to push back against the proposed center, either by suing the federal government or finding other ways to support immigrant communities.
Laura Susana Tapia said she works with Oklahoma City’s Latino community every day and that despite Oklahoma City’s policy to not ask about immigration status when it comes to essential services, people are afraid.
“But that policy alone is not enough to ease the concerns of our communities when every day on our screens we are seeing families ripped apart, inhumane detention centers, and even the execution of U.S. citizens,” she said. “I ask you to please make decisions that empower our community to feel safe and protected in our homes.”
Several Oklahomans pointed to municipal action taken in Kansas City, Missouri, which created a five-year moratorium on non-municipal detention facilities, which would include ICE.
Legal counsel for Oklahoma City’s city council said action such as this would not be likely to legally restrict the federal government’s ability to proceed with the processing center in south Oklahoma City, according to a statement.
Tamya Cox-Touré, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said that the ACLU is ready to help fight against the detention center and sue the federal government to push back against government overreach.
“We completely understand your position that you feel your hands may be tied, but we cannot accept that position at this time,” she said. “We believe there are ways and meaningful ways that you can move forward to ensure that this facility does not happen.”
Cox-Toure said the City Council can take other action, like passing an eviction moratorium to aid Oklahoma City residents who cannot pay their bills while being detained by ICE.
The City sent Oklahoma’s federal congressional delegation and DHS letters about the proposed facility on Jan. 21 and 22, respectively, emphasizing that the city would like the federal government to apply for a special use permit despite the Supremacy Clause making it technically unnecessary.
A special permit would allow for public comment and input as well as a review of how the proposed facility would affect traffic, public safety and the surrounding community.
Council members Camal Pennington, Ward 7, James Cooper, Ward 2, and JoBeth Hamon, Ward 6, were vocal about their opposition to the proposed ICE facility.
Hamon said she is determined to use her platform and power to push back against the ICE facility.
“None of us want to be in the position of saying we could have done something and we didn’t do anything,” she said.
Pennington said he hopes the federal government will comply with Oklahoma City’s current requirements and seek a special permit so the public is allowed to speak about the facility.
Chris Fowler, an Oklahoma City resident, said he questioned the safety of having an ICE facility so close to neighborhoods and schools.
The proposed ICE facility is blocks from Western Heights High School and across the street from an Oklahoma City Fire Department station.
“As we see nationwide and in our own city, where ICE goes, protests increase, traffic, and 24/7 law enforcement operations follow,” Fowler said. “So what is going to happen in these neighborhoods, to these businesses, to these schools.”
There are currently multiple ICE detention centers in Oklahoma, including in Watonga, Cushing and Newkirk.
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]]>State Superintendent Lindel Fields speaks at an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting Oct. 23 in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s chief of public schools asked state lawmakers for a mostly flat education budget but indicated the state could benefit from a far larger investment.
In a budget hearing at the state Capitol on Monday, state Superintendent Lindel Fields requested $4 billion for public education, $23 million more than the state’s current spend to account for the rising cost of educators’ health insurance. Lawmakers will consider the request when crafting a state budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
He also gave a list of priorities without a cost attached to them: school security, raising first-year teacher salaries, teacher development, school leader training and improving literacy.
Fields described these priorities as fundamentals that would enable the state to execute a broader strategy toward academic improvement, particularly in elementary reading.
“Those are the X’s and O’s,” he said while making a football analogy. “We get those right, I think we can successfully run the plays — this year’s play being early literacy.”
Legislative leaders have said literacy is among their top priorities this year, too. However, when House and Senate lawmakers asked Fields in the joint budget hearing how much he’d like to spend on his priorities, he said he didn’t yet have a specific dollar amount to request.
Although public education is the Legislature’s largest state government expense, Oklahoma ranks near the bottom in the country in per-pupil spending, Fields said, and behind most bordering states in average pay for first-year teachers with $41,152, even when considering cost of living differences.
He noted Mississippi — whose leap in literacy scores local policymakers hope to emulate — has spent hundreds of millions of dollars specifically to improve its reading outcomes. If Oklahoma hopes to move the needle, he said, “having a reading specialist in every elementary school is a direction we need to head (toward).”
“The numbers add up pretty quickly, to give you a specific number for the future of education,” Fields said. “If we want to be competitive for first-year teachers, if we want to provide safe schools, we want to improve literacy, it’s substantial. It’s a substantial investment.”
Republican lawmakers, though, took note when Fields said about half of the $12,000 Oklahoma spends per pupil is applied to non-instructional expenses.
“I think one of the areas that is a struggle for this body is when you see record levels of investment but you also see steady growth in non-instructional spending and the growth of that outpacing the growth of classroom expenditures,” said Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, who leads a House subcommittee on education funding.
Some of that, Fields said, comes down to how the state classifies certain expenditures.
State records show, for example, dollars spent on instructional technology, curriculum development, instructional staff training, school counselors, speech pathology and school libraries all fall outside of the “instruction” category in the state’s accounting system.
Some items on Fields’ priority list would correlate with bills lawmakers already filed ahead of their 2026 legislative session, which begins Feb. 2.
For example, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, submitted legislation to continue a $50 million-per-year school security program and to set up a framework for school principal training and mentorship.
Multiple lawmakers have filed bills hoping to improve early elementary reading scores and to increase teacher salaries.
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]]>Voting booths are set up at the Millwood Field House in Oklahoma City for Oklahomans to cast their vote during the June 18, 2024 primary election. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Open primary supporters on Monday said they turned in more than the number of needed signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
Proponents of State Question 836 said they submitted over 200,000 signatures to the Oklahoma Secretary of State for verification. The proposed constitutional amendment required 172,993 signatures.
“We are able to turn in these signatures today because hundreds of hardworking volunteers from every corner of the state stood in the wind, bitter cold, and the snow – even through the holidays – to get this on the ballot,” said Ken Setter, a supporter. “They did that because they understand that we can’t fix what’s broken in our state until we fix how we choose our leaders.”
If approved by voters, State Question 836 would require candidates for most elected offices to appear on a single primary ballot. Party affiliation would be listed.
All voters would be allowed to participate in the primary, regardless of party affiliation or lack of it.
The top two vote getters, regardless of party, would advance to the general election.
Currently, Oklahoma has a closed primary system, although state law allows recognized political parties to open their elections to unaffiliated voters. Democrats in the past have allowed independents to vote in their primaries, but Republicans and Libertarians have not.
All partisan primary elections will be closed to independents for the next two years after the State Election Board said no party notified them that they’d be open to independent voters.
Supporters said the current closed primary system locks out too many voters and results in extreme conservatives being elected. Open primaries would force candidates to be responsive to all voters, supporters say. They also say the measure would increase voter turnout.
Many races are decided in the primary or primary runoff, leaving some voters with no candidate to pick in a general election, where voter turnout is higher.
The measure sustained a legal challenge and is opposed by more than 100 lawmakers.
In a recent letter, the opposing lawmakers wrote that the measure would limit voter choices, result in lower turnout and would help candidates advance by appealing to fringe voters.
Had the measure been law in 2018, voters would have to pick one of two Democrats for governor because the Republican vote was split among 10 candidates in the primary, the letter said.
The Oklahoma Legislature and all statewide elected offices are controlled by Republicans.
Supporters are hoping to get the state question on the November ballot after the Secretary of State verifies that supporters collected the required number of signatures.
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Federal officers unleashed a cloud of tear gas in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis after a third Minnesotan was shot by the feds, Jan. 24, 2026. (Photo by Madison McVan/Minnesota Reformer)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A group of governors, led by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, is calling on the federal government to reassess their immigration enforcement policies.
Stitt, chair of the National Governors Association, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, vice chair of the organization, issued a joint statement Sunday calling for federal and state governments to work together and reset strategy following the death of a second Minnesotan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“As governors, we urge leaders at all levels to exercise wisdom and consider a reset of strategy toward a unified vision for immigration enforcement,” Stitt, a Republican, and Moore, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We believe there are criminals in our country who must be held accountable, but moments like this demand thoughtful leadership, coordination, and clarity. Scenes of violence and chaos on our streets are unacceptable and do not reflect who we are.”
Across the country, including in Oklahoma, the Trump administration has ramped up deportation efforts amid growing protests. The Trump administration has focused heavily on Minnesota, which officials have said has the “worst of the worst” criminals in the country illegally. The federal government has sent over 3,000 federal agents there, five times the number of Minneapolis police officers.
President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he is sending Tom Homan, the White House Border Czar, to Minneapolis. He also wrote that deportation efforts are going “peacefully and smoothly” in Republican-run cities and states, including Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana.
He said those states have had “zero protests, riots or chaos” because local police and ICE were “cooperating and working together.” Multiple media reports in those states show residents in those states are protesting immigration enforcement.
There have been three shootings by immigration officers in Minnesota in as many weeks, most recently on Saturday when 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti was killed.
The shootings have led to increased demonstrations and protests in Minnesota and in cities around the country.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said Pretti was armed and officers fired in an act of self-defense. Videos of the shooting, captured by bystanders, shows Pretti wrestled to the ground by multiple officers before more than 10 shots are fired.
Minneapolis’ chief of police has said Pretti was a lawful gun owner.
Earlier in the month, authorities said ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good, 37, on Jan. 7 as Good was protesting. A week later, federal agents shot a Venezuelan man in the leg during what ICE called a “targeted traffic stop.”
Stitt and Moore, on behalf of the National Governors Association, asked for the federal government to work with state and local law enforcement with a “transparent strategy” and a unified approach.
“Clarity of purpose is essential to maintaining public trust, ensuring accountability, and avoiding unintended escalation,” they said. “The use of federal authority should be guided by a transparent strategy that complements — rather than supplants — state and local efforts to uphold the law.
Stitt also said on CNN that the death of Americans causes “deep concern” and called the situation a tragedy. He said Americans “don’t like what they’re seeing right now.”
“So what’s the goal right now,” he said. “Is it to deport every single non-U.S. citizen? I don’t think that’s what Americans want. We have to stop politicizing this. We need real solutions on immigration reform.”
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]]>Sen. Kelly Hines, R-Oklahoma City, left, and Sen. Jonathan Wingard, R-Ada, await votes on a veto override during the Senate session on Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Alligators could be raised as pets and for food under an Oklahoma bill pending before lawmakers.
Senate Bill 2087, by Sen. Jonathan Wingard, R-Ada, would allow the raising of alligators hatched from eggs in captivity without a permit.
Currently, a permit and written permission from the director of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation are required to own an alligator, said Wade Farrar, assistant chief of law enforcement for the agency.
Most permits issued are for alligators in zoos, he said.
He did not have numbers of how many licenses had been issued.
The state Department of Wildlife said alligators mate around June each year, and lay 20 to 30 eggs. The Oklahoma City Zoo reports that American alligators live an average of 35 to 50 years and are naturally found in Southeastern Oklahoma.
“What I’m looking at and working on is there has been some interest expressed in the food production side of this, allowing meat processing plants to raise alligators to be able to have for slaughter,” Wingard said.
He said the measure was a constituent request, and he is trying to determine if there is a market in Oklahoma for alligator meat. Alligator skin could also be sold, he said.
He said the bill he wrote is incomplete, but he needed to get something filed as a placeholder before the bill filing deadline.
The way the measure is currently written, it would allow for individuals to raise alligators as pets as long as the animal wasn’t taken from the wild, he said.
He said the measure has generated some controversy.
“At this time, it is an incomplete bill with incomplete language, so if it does move forward, there will be more put in as guardrails and protections and it would be narrowed up before it ever would even be considered,” Wingard said.
The measure directs the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to create rules to implement it.
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]]>A male nurse holds a vial of Covid-19 vaccine and a syringe. (Getty Images)
If I was in need of an emergency transfusion, the last thing I would be thinking about is whether the person who donated their life-saving blood had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
In fact, I’d just be thankful that someone had stepped up to donate healthy blood.
But I guess that’s one big difference between me and Republican state Rep. Justin Humphrey, who for whatever reason fears receiving blood from donors who got their COVID shot will do him grievous bodily harm.
Humphrey wasted state resources filing legislation that would require the State Department of Health to squander money getting into the business of running a blood bank. And not just any blood bank, but one that only stores blood that is “untainted” by the vaccine to fight COVID-19.
It’s so absurd, I wanted to laugh when I first saw the bill, figuring it was just more theatrics orchestrated to grab headlines. It is, of course, from the same lawmaker who once garnered international attention with his proposal to create a bigfoot hunting license, and who now has his sights set on the lieutenant governor’s office.
A day after Oklahoma Voice first reported on the measure and he faced a deluge of ridicule — mixed with some adoration — on social media, I ran into Humphrey in the Capitol. Humphrey told me he no longer planned to pursue this plan legislatively. He had not ruled out working to develop a national blood bank like it through private avenues because he believes there is interest in this. He said it prompted a needed conversation.
The lawmaker from Lane said he had spoken with the head of Our Blood Institute, the nation’s sixth largest independent blood center, which is headquartered in Oklahoma City. He said he’ll use his bill to promote blood donation and to spread the word that Oklahomans can donate their own blood ahead of time to be used in planned procedures that require transfusions.
That seems like a fitting end to this tale.
Even with this particular bill out of the way, though, it’s emblematic of a larger problem. Proposals like this continue to symbolize the increasingly vocal segment of our Legislature that are either against science and medicine, have no grasp on how things actually work in health care or are hoping to capitalize off people’s ignorance.
In recent years, we’ve seen Oklahoma lawmakers spend inordinate amounts of time fearmongering about modern medicine, and we’ve seen them give credence to a small but influential anti-vaccine movement through a variety of legislative proposals.
I fear this year – an election year – is going to be infinitely worse as politicians jockey for attention and votes.
I sure hope I’m wrong.
But last session, we had a state senator accuse women of murdering babies if they take birth control, and he railed against the dangers of that safe medicine.
In June, lawmakers cheered happily for Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt when he said he would pen an executive order that forbade the state Health Department from recommending fluoride in public water supplies.
Now, we’ve also got at least one lawmaker who wants to divert Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust money that voters have specifically earmarked to improve public health to pay higher education costs.
I fail to see how that will help improve health outcomes in states, like ours, which ranks in the bottom five in access, quality and public health and has an above average rates of obesity and people without health insurance.
As someone who believes wholeheartedly in modern medicine and public health, it’s absolutely exhausting to watch these legislative shenanigans play out year after year.
Alarmingly, it’s getting more difficult to tell who’s joking, pandering to a base or who legitimately believes what they’re spouting while they file bills. And, it’s hard to tell which bills will die a quick legislative death and which will suddenly get reworked late in the session and charge through the opaque lawmaking process.
Unfortunately, that distracts from the good work other legislators are trying to do. It also pulls medical professionals, who are already in short supply, away from their patients as they’re forced to spend inordinate amounts of their precious time having to rebut false claims to make sure we’re all safer.
Take Humphrey’s COVID bill, for example.
Medical professionals say there is no way to differentiate between the antibodies of people who have had COVID and those who have had the vaccine. And the vaccine is safe.
Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City’s chief medical officer said they don’t routinely have patients demanding special blood.
Please believe them.
Humphrey could have figured that out himself before filing this legislation.
At this point, pretty much everyone has probably had COVID, even if they don’t know it, since for most people it appears like a respiratory virus.
So to make Humphrey’s vision a reality, he’d need to either find people living off the grid, or he’ll need to take copious amounts of blood from newborn babies, which isn’t safe or humane.
The Legislature would be an infinitely better place if lawmakers actually trusted our health care providers and talked to them — not at them — when crafting legislation.
Hopefully moving forward, they’ll do that.
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]]>Apple iPhone screen with Artificial Intelligence icons internet AI app application ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Claude, etc. (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished without a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A House lawmaker filed legislation to prevent artificial intelligence from having the same rights as humans in Oklahoma.
Rep. Cody Maynard, R-Durant, proposed multiple bills aiming to regulate AI, including House Bill 3546 which would prohibit the technology from having personhood status.
“AI is a man-made tool and it should not have any more rights than a hammer would,” he said. “We’re starting to see stories of people trying to marry AI companions. There’s a lot of confusion going on where people are asking, do these systems rise to the level of sentience?”
Maynard said he wanted to “get ahead of the game” with this legislation and ensure that businesses cannot shift blame for any unlawful actions onto AI to escape punishment.
As an example, he said companies using AI in self-driving cars in cities around the U.S. could potentially shift the blame for a car wreck onto the technology rather than taking responsibility.
“I thought it was just critical that we need to get out in front and just go ahead and say it’s not a person, and therefore, companies can’t shift off any accidents onto the AI,” Maynard said.
He said he’s also heard stories about minors who either committed suicide or self-harmed after talking with AI chatbots and this legislation would ensure that companies would be held responsible for whatever the artificial intelligence said to the child.
Similar legislation to prohibit AI from reaching personhood status has passed or been proposed in other states, including Idaho, Utah, Washington, South Carolina and Missouri.
Maynard also has a bill specifically focused on regulating how AI chatbots can interact with minors.
While Maynard said the goal of his legislation was not originally to address AI copyright issues, he said it could potentially hold companies liable if AI plagiarizes or uses copyrighted work without permission.
He said he’s talked with other lawmakers and most agree that there need to be “realistic and reasonable” safeguards for AI.
“The question is always, what does that mean and what do we think is reasonable,” Maynard said. “So we’ll find out as we kind of move through session. These are starting spots, they’re not end points. … We need to be talking about it, and hopefully we can come up with agreed solutions that will help everyone in our state.”
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]]>Members of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission discuss proposed rule changes during a meeting at the state Capitol on Jan. 15, 2026. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Ethics Commission has filed suit against a Texas vendor for allegedly failing to deliver a campaign finance reporting system despite repeated assurances and deadline extensions.
The failure of RFD & Associates, Inc., cost the state over $800,000, according to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is representing the agency.
The suit was filed Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court.
In December 2024, the Ethics Commission contracted with RFD & Associates, Inc., to create a new ethics filing system for a mandated filing, review and public disclosure. The system, among other things, allows candidates to file contribution and expenditure reports, which are accessible electronically to the public.
With the exception of the project kickoff, the company allegedly failed to meet six of seven major contractual milestones and never produced an operational system, according to the lawsuit.
“Throughout the project, RFD repeatedly provided system-ready assurances despite known deficiencies, forcing the Ethics Commission to issue public delay notices, extend deadlines to filers, and field daily inquiries from legislators, candidates, PACs, lobbyists, political subdivisions, the media, and the public,” according to the lawsuit.
RFD & Associates could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. It wasn’t clear if they had an attorney.
The Ethics Commission voted in December to terminate its contract with the company after three months without a fully functioning campaign finance system.
At the same meeting, the Commission voted to reinstate the original Guardian system and entered into a $217,000 contract with a partner of its previous vendor.
The Commission also authorized legal action.
RFD and Associates’ failures prevented and impeded the Ethics Commission from performing its constitutional and statutory duties, according to the suit.
The company misrepresented its experience and capabilities, the suit said.
The lawsuit asserts multiple claims, including breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranties and violations of the Oklahoma Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
It seeks in excess of $800,000.
Drummond said in a statement that he will hold those accountable who fail to deliver on their commitments.
“When vendors misrepresent their capabilities and leave essential systems inoperable, taxpayers deserve accountability and the recovery of public funds,” Drummond said.
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]]>State Superintendent Lindel Fields, center, speaks at a meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education on Oct. 9 in Oklahoma City. The board approved a proposal from Fields' administration to remove a requirement that newly certified teachers pass the U.S. Naturalization Test. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top school board on Thursday proposed removing a requirement that new teachers pass a written version of the U.S. Naturalization Test to become fully certified, potentially undoing another of former state Superintendent Ryan Walters’ policies.
The Oklahoma State Board of Education and the state Legislature implemented the requirement last year, but since then, Walters has resigned from office and the board has had a complete turnover of its members.
State Superintendent Lindel Fields, who succeeded Walters, and the board voted unanimously to submit a bundle of new administrative rules, including the proposal to strike the testing requirement, to the Legislature for consideration in its 2026 session.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education received four written public comments that favored eliminating the testing rule, said Kory Kile, an agency attorney overseeing the rulemaking process.
Broken Arrow Public Schools communications chief Tara Thompson, who also acts as a spokesperson for Fields’ administration, said districts have complained the test adds an extra hurdle to teacher recruitment.
“It’s just one more barrier,” Thompson said after the state board meeting Thursday. “So, anything that the state Board of Education can do to remove barriers to onboarding and recruiting good teachers, I think we saw today that they’re willing to do that and have those conversations.”
Fields’ other proposed rules would encode laws the Legislature already passed or would make small changes to administrative processes.
Walters, on the other hand, sought to make sweeping policy changes through administrative rulemaking. His failed proposal to collect public school students’ immigration status put him at odds with Gov. Kevin Stitt, who overhauled the state Board of Education with new appointees in response.
Lawmakers rejected Walters’ immigration policy, but they partially approved his rule introducing the U.S. Naturalization Test to teacher certification. Rather than requiring the American civics test for all public school teachers, the Legislature agreed to mandate it only for educators earning their certification for the first time.
Fields already has reversed several of his predecessor’s priority policies. He pledged to rewrite Walters’ controversial academic standards for social studies and rescinded an order that public schools keep a Bible in every classroom.
Removing the naturalization test from the certification process is “a move in the right direction,” Thompson said.
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]]>House Speaker Kyle Hilbert speaks to news reporters on March 5, 2025, in his office at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Heading into his second year as Oklahoma House Speaker, Kyle Hilbert, hopes to pass reforms to education policy and regulate data centers.
With education initiatives among his top priorities, Hilbert, R-Bristow, said he wants to see legislation passed that permanently bans cellphones in schools and that improves early childhood literacy and reading scores.
“For too long, we as Oklahomans have just accepted, frankly, failure on the part of the education system and being at or near the bottom of education rankings and outcomes for our kids, and I just think that’s unacceptable,” he said. “We’ve got to strive for excellence.”
Hilbert, who leads the lower chamber, said he filed legislation aimed at improving literacy that is modeled after what’s known as the “Mississippi Miracle.” This refers to a series of policies in Mississippi that were focused on improving childhood literacy, including student supports, a focus on phonics, tutoring, accountability metrics and teacher training programs. The program’s success was bolstered by a $100 million donation to create it.
House Bill 4420 would align colleges of education in teaching the “science of reading,” emphasize early identification of literacy deficiencies, and create a third grade retention standard.
“The goal, though, is not to retain a bunch of kids in the third grade,” Hilbert said. “The goal is that we have this accountability metric that says if you don’t pass the third grade, you’re retained. But the hope is for school districts to identify students if they’re behind in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, to have those earlier interventions and meet with parents, meet with students, and let them know you know their students behind, and so we can catch them up sooner.”
Hilbert said he also wants to pass legislation to permanently expand the state’s school cellphone ban.
The Legislature passed a law in 2025 that banned cellphones in schools for one year. Hilbert said it was very effective.
The law required all public school districts to comply with the cellphone ban for the 2025-26 school year and gave local school boards control over continuing the policy afterward.
Hilbert said he expects regulation of data centers to be another major topic of conversation at the Capitol this session. He said he was working on legislation, as were other lawmakers, on ensuring data centers “pay their own way” in Oklahoma.
The goal of the legislation would be to protect consumers in Oklahoma from having to pay for increased energy capacity to support data centers, he said.
Data centers currently qualify for an ad valorem reimbursement program, where manufacturers coming to Oklahoma are exempt from paying property taxes for the first five years with the state paying instead, Hilbert said.
“If they’re going to come to Oklahoma, taxpayers should not be subsidizing that,” he said. “They should pay their own way in terms of utility rates and in terms of the tax structure.”
The number of data centers have been growing with a need to keep up with demand for energy from artificial intelligence use. These centers have been under increased scrutiny as their presence often drives up costs of energy for the consumer.
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]]>Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, speaks after a legislative committee hearing in January 2024. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A House lawmaker wants the state to run its own blood bank so it can provide Oklahomans blood “untainted” by the COVID-19 vaccine.
But medical professionals said it’s not reasonable to require blood banks to accurately screen donors for vaccination status. Scientifically, there’s no way to tell the difference between the antibodies of people who have been sick with COVID and those who have been vaccinated against it, one doctor said.
Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, said he authored House Bill 3196 to “start conversations” about how to best provide people with unvaccinated blood products, especially in emergencies. His measure proposes that the State Department of Health open a blood bank that receives and stores blood from people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Humphrey said he created this legislation after hearing a story about a child in state custody whose mother wanted any blood transfusions to be done with blood that had not received the COVID-19 vaccine.
He said he’s suspicious of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and believes some of his family were adversely affected by it.
“At the end of the day, I don’t want it,” Humphrey said. “I don’t want it in me. I don’t want a transfusion. I don’t want it.”
He said he should have the ability to receive blood from donors who are unvaccinated and is open to private sector solutions to this problem if creating state statute isn’t the right path forward.
“If I’m in a wreck, if I need blood, I don’t want to wait till the last minute to know where we get COVID vaccine-free blood,” Humphrey said.
Dr. Steven Crawford, a family physician, a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma and president of the Oklahoma Alliance of Healthy Families, said the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and does not “taint” or “contaminate” someone’s DNA.
“There’s absolutely no way it can do that,” he said. “These are people who know nothing about science, who know nothing about medicine, that are trying to provide medical laws that make no (sense.)”
Crawford said the legislation would be detrimental to blood banks. There is no way for blood banks to verify whether a donor has received the COVID-19 vaccine beyond asking them. Even an antibody test wouldn’t be able to differentiate between the donor receiving the vaccine and having antibodies from having COVID-19, Crawford said.
“It would essentially shut down all blood banks because there’s no way they could comply,” he said. “So no one would get blood donations. They would get no blood for blood infusions, or blood product infusions, that save many, many lives.”
Blood donation and transfusions are regulated at the federal level to ensure safety, said Dr. John Armitage, president and CEO of Our Blood Institute, which operates the nation’s sixth largest blood center and works with over 240 hospitals and medical providers in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.
“There is no scientific evidence that a donor’s vaccination status affects the safety of donated blood,” he said.
Dr. Lance Watson, Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City’s chief medical officer, said it’s uncommon for patients to request vaccine-free blood.
He said federal guidelines allow for healthy people to donate blood regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status.
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]]>OG&E headquarters (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s public utilities and transportation agencies say they are prepared for dangerously cold temperatures, snow and ice moving into the state.
The brunt of the storm is expected to hit Friday and continue through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Some will see low temperatures in the single digits.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting over 6 inches of snow in central parts of the state, and a glaze of ice south of Interstate 40.
OG&E has both coal and natural gas fuel in storage for the upcoming cold snap, the company said Tuesday.
“Exreme cold can result in higher demand for electricity,” the company said. “All available units at OG&E’s power plants will be in operation during the event and ready to support the grid. The Southwest Power Pool will dispatch power generation as needed to meet electricity demand.”
PSO has winterized critical assets, upgraded equipment and strengthened fuel supply for power plants since Winter Storm Uri, the company said.
The company said its generating operating reserve margins, which are set by the Southwest Power Pool, have increased since 2021 to ensure reliable service. The Southwest Power Pool manages the electric grid for states across the central United States.
“These ongoing efforts reflect PSO’s commitment to maintaining a resilient system and keeping customers safe, supported, and connected during Oklahoma’s toughest winter weather.”
In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri caused power outages, infrastructure problems and created an unusually high demand for natural gas.
Public utilities reported that natural gas prices jumped nearly 40,000%, which left Oklahoma consumers with over $4.5 billion in unexpected energy costs.
In an effort to mitigate the financial impact on consumers, OG&E, PSO and Oklahoma Natural Gas, received permission from the Corporation Commission to pass the costs onto consumers through a monthly surcharge that is expected to last nearly 30 years.
Consumers would have had to pay much more immediately to cover the cost without the securitization process.
Carson Cunningham, Oklahoma Natural Gas public relations manager, said Tuesday that the company prepares year-round for winter weather.
“As cooler temperatures move into Oklahoma, ONG is prepared to deliver natural gas safely and reliably,” he said.
Utility companies are encouraging residents to have an emergency kit including flashlights, non-perishable food, water and first-aid supplies.
Residents are asked to stay away from downed power lines and ensure smoke, carbon monoxide and methane detectors are installed and working properly.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will start putting down brine in some locations Tuesday night, said Emily Long, a spokesperson.
“Brine is used for pre-treating roadways just before a storm when conditions permit to assist in melting the ice from underneath,” Long said. “Once the storm hits, we use a salt and sand mixture. However, these are less effective when temps fall below 15 degrees. Our crews will switch to using 100% sand applications.”
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will be pre-treating all turnpike bridges and elevated surfaces between Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon, said Lisa Shearer-Salim, a spokesperson.
“Crews are closely watching forecasts for their areas across the state and will be ready to deploy with salt and sand trucks well in advance of significant precipitation,” she said.
Motorists are encouraged to prepare their vehicles ahead of travel in inclement weather, she said.
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]]>A view of University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus on Sept. 5, 2024. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
A Phase III clinical trial including patients at the University of Oklahoma found that proton therapy improved survival and resulted in fewer side effects among people with head and neck cancer.
The trial was led by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, enrolling 440 patients across 21 institutions.
It included oropharyngeal cancer patients, which includes the tonsils and the back part of the tongue. The incidence and mortality of oropharyngeal cancer have grown over the past three decades, particularly because of increases in HPV.
Researchers directly compared the impacts of proton and photon therapy on these patients.
Photon therapy is the most common type of radiation therapy, using high-energy X-rays to damage DNA inside cancer cells. Photons are wave particles: they don’t have physical mass, meaning they can pass in and out of the body.
But this also means radiation spreads beyond targeted areas, said Dr. Christina Henson, an associate professor of radiation oncology at the OU College of Medicine. In treating cancer in the neck, patients can experience side effects like dry mouth, sore throat and taste changes, making it difficult to eat. Some end up needing a feeding tube, she said.
Henson said photon therapy is a good treatment option. Now, she said, there’s an effort to help patients get through treatment with fewer side effects.
“There’s constantly a search for ways to decrease the dose of radiation to the normal tissues that are surrounding the tumor,” Henson said. “And so proton therapy has been one avenue that’s been explored for trying to do that.”
Protons have a physical mass and can be stopped at a certain depth inside tissue.
The therapy was first used in the 50s to treat limited areas in patients. Henson said its initial iterations weren’t precise. But, over the last decade, newer versions of proton machines have advanced to more effectively shape dosages.
In the trial, 221 patients were randomized to the proton group and 219 to the photon group. Five of them were patients at OU. Some patients in the proton section faced challenges with insurance declining to cover the therapy, Henson said, meaning they had to switch to the photon group.
Researchers found that, at five years, survival rates among patients who received proton therapy were 10% higher.
Henson said this seemed to be related to differences in the effects of radiation on the immune system.
“It seems that, potentially, the benefit of protons is that (they’re) just less toxic,” Henson said.
The trial’s findings may apply to other types of head and neck cancer, Henson said. She hopes the results will prompt insurers to cover proton therapy and additional trials on different cancers.
“Clinical trials often don’t go the way we expect them to, right? We’ll be really excited about a new therapy, and then the clinical trial shows that it didn’t make any difference or sometimes even that it made things worse,” Henson said. “So when we do get a trial that’s positive – especially when it’s strongly positive like this – it is very, very exciting.”
This article was originally published by StateImpact Oklahoma. StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond.
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A state program allows school districts to partner with local agriculture producers in an effort to provide students access to fresh fruits, vegetables and meats.(Photo by Kennedy Thomason/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Several hundred Oklahoma schools have signed on to participate in a new state program that aims to put fresh meat, fruits and vegetables on students’ lunch trays.
The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry’s Local Food for Schools Program, which launched last year, connects local agricultural producers and farms with school cafeterias.
Brady Womack, rural economic development coordinator for the Department of Agriculture and approver for the program, said one of the program’s goals is educating students about the culinary “farm-to-table or farm-to-school” movement, which emphasizes the importance of using locally sourced ingredients and supporting local economies.
Oklahoma’s program is modeled after a larger one managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which the state participated in from 2022 through 2025.
Oklahoma’s Legislature allocated $3.2 million for the program, which allows approved schools to use state funding to purchase minimally processed foods such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, dairy products, and nuts.
Minimally processed refers to foods that haven’t been altered in a way that significantly changes the fundamental properties, Womack said. He said his agency works directly with its Food Safety Division to choose which farmers and ranchers are approved and to ensure they have completed all requirements to be able to sell food to schools or the public, Womack said.
“The Food Safety makes sure they have all their verifications or classes taken to be able to sell food to schools or the public,” Womack said.
The program allows schools to request a maximum of $25,000 per month in increments of $5,000, with a limit of $100,000 per fiscal year. After the initial allocation, schools can then only apply once monthly.
Meriruth Sellers, director of market development for the state Department of Agriculture, said schools can choose which farms or ranches to purchase from as long as they follow the program’s requirements.
“Many schools are able to buy from nearby farms, while others may have to travel farther,” she said.
The program reimburses schools for purchases of local food so it only saves them the exact dollar that they purchased, Sellers said.
“This program is not intended to cover entire food costs … it is intended to help schools build relationships with local farmers by offsetting the cost of food,” she said.
To meet higher consumer demand resulting from utilization of the new program, some producers have had to adjust their production rate but most have been able to maintain their normal daily operations, according to the American Farmers and Rancher’s Cooperative.
Katie Whitfield, a field representative and coordinator with the Oklahoma Certified Beef Association, said that the program has a significant positive impact on the Oklahoma farmers and ranchers who participate.
“It provides them with stable, consistent buyers who purchase substantial quantities of their products, helping to create financial security while also allowing them to support their local schools and communities,” she said.
Whitfield said the biggest challenge is logistics — getting the product to the schools efficiently. Some districts require large quantities of beef, which can pose transportation or delivery challenges, but these are manageable as the program continues to grow, and infrastructure improves.”
“Programs like this shorten the supply chain, making the food system more resilient, transparent, and sustainable,” Whitfield said. “They keep food dollars circulating within the state, support local economies, and reduce dependence on out-of-state suppliers—all while giving students access to fresh, nutritious, locally produced food.”
She said her organization views Oklahoma’s Food for Schools Program as becoming an essential part of the state’s food supply chain.
“As more schools participate and more producers get involved, we anticipate expanded product offerings, stronger local supply networks, and deeper partnerships between agriculture and education,” Whitfield said. “Ultimately, the goal is for locally sourced food to become the norm in Oklahoma school cafeterias.”
Editor’s note: This story was produced through a reporting partnership between Oklahoma Voice and the University of Central Oklahoma’s journalism program.
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]]>Students walk into Thelma R. Parks Elementary in Oklahoma City on the first day of school on Aug. 13, 2025. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
Oklahoma’s legislators are, once again, seeking a silver bullet to solve our complex education problems.
It doesn’t exist, and their annoying habit of trying to take shortcuts to solve complicated, intertwined problems and repeating lobbyists’ popular talking points, continue to undermine teaching and learning.
No “miracle” is going to quickly fix our sagging literacy rates and restore reading for comprehension or simply increase our testing outcomes.
It will take a marathon to do that.
Unfortunately that hasn’t dawned on lawmakers yet judging by the fact that they’ve become focused on a new “silverbullet” — the Oklahoma State Chamber’s education plan, called “Oklahoma Competes.” The strategy relies heavily on the assumption that retaining third graders will benefit more students than it harms.
And while there is evidence that retention improves test scores, there is also even more compelling evidence that it increases dropout rates, and that it reduces children’s earnings as adults and stigmatizes youth.
Yet, our legislators and lobbyists constantly praise the “Mississippi Miracle,” which is a policy package policy that laid a foundation for student supports, including remediation services for students, phonics, and teacher training programs, as well as controversial online tutoring. It also focuses on accountability metrics that, I believe, drove down teaching and learning over the last quarter of a century.
Those policies led to boosts in fourth grade performance on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) tests. The test is often used as a barometer to measure how each state’s education system is performing against its peers.
But I’m doubtful about the overall success of the program.
Sure, Mississippi fourth grade scores saw a jump in test scores, but if there had been long-term gains in reading comprehension, we would have seen that translate into the 8th grade NAEP scores by now.
In 2024, research found that Mississippi’s eighth grade reading scores have not changed since 2002, which raises doubts in my mind about the long-term effectiveness of Mississippi’s strategy and if third grade children are actually learning the basics of reading or if they’re teaching to a test.
The other elephant in the room that Oklahoma legislative leaders seem to be avoiding is that Mississippi’s program started with a $100 million grant by the Barksdale Foundation. It was a private investment that had been successfully tested in other schools, which trained teachers in literacy instruction.
What is the chance that Oklahoma would do something like that?
Yes, the Chamber now supports a number of programs along the lines of the services Mississippi funds. But, why are supporters so quiet about their price tags, and where the money will come from?
I’ll tell you why. It’s going to cost a ton of money to do this right, and spending that money will be a tough sell among our penny-pinching lawmakers.
At a time when funding is being cut for a range of service providers and nonprofit organizations whose support for public education is often essential, what are the chances that we would fully invest in the more expensive parts of the Mississippi plan?
So, before we discuss retaining students, we should consider starting with win-win, long-term investments in early literacy screenings, intervention specialists, additional instructional time, structured summer programs and targeted support for at-risk students.
Once we have those in place — and adequately funded — for several years, then we could talk about implementing retention policies.
Instead of seeking quick fixes that will do little to address underlying problems, we should heed the wisdom of State Superintendent Lindel Fields.
He says instead of a “miracle,” we need a “marathon.”
Indeed, there is no quick way of reversing our literacy crisis.
It’s going to take a concentrated, long-term investment in teachers, children, and schools to improve student outcomes.
Whether we are talking about test-driven accountability for third graders or for teachers, the supports they need, or how to fund these efforts, one thing is abundantly clear.
We need open, balanced discussions, and research on both sides of the issues that includes educators and parents.
Because there is no easy fix to our education system.
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]]>A neighborhood of new homes being built is pictured. (Getty Images)
I’ve been watching with considerable interest as hundreds of Broken Arrow residents fight against a plan that would rezone a parcel of agricultural land to make way for a proposed mosque and retail development in their community.
It’s not the project itself that’s captured my interest. It’s the fact that this is the second such high profile fight pitting developers against residents in just a few months.
Late last year, Edmond residents were fighting against a developer who wanted to build a Walmart on a piece of undeveloped land in the north part of the city. The Walmart developer plans to erect a neighborhood market on a busy two-lane road that already suffers from traffic congestion and flooding. The store would sit alarmingly close to an existing housing development and is not far from a major natural gas junction.
It was during that Edmond fight that I learned about Senate Bill 647, which would weaken a city’s ability to deny developments, neuter the input of residents and voters and empower developers to get their way regardless of whether their project is welcome or a good fit.
The Republican-led measure was one of those bills that flew under the radar during the 2025 session, but alarmingly cleared both legislative chambers. It would have made it to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk but for the fact that, thankfully, the House and the Senate could not agree on the final language.
Insultingly, the measure contains a clause that “decisions on land use application shall not be based solely upon the presence, numbers or magnitude of opposition or protests in the absence of objective and relevant facts.”
It seeks to deem municipal zoning decisions as a done deal unless the challenging party proves the ordinance lacks a substantial relation to public health, safety or general welfare or if a zoning decision “constitutes an unreasonable, arbitrary exercise of police power.”
And it would require planning commissions and governing boards to approve plats as long as they’re in compliance with a city’s subdivision regulations. Compliance with a city’s comprehensive development plan would not be required for approval under the measure.
Had this been law, the concerns of residents in both cities and of those elsewhere across the state fighting developers probably wouldn’t have mattered. The developers probably would have won the day.
Residents at the Broken Arrow City Council meeting last week expressed reasonable concerns about increased traffic congestion, and the impact of the development on storm water runoff and septic tanks if a 42,000-square-foot Islamic center and a 20,000-square-foot retail space and a parking lot were built.
The Tulsa World reported that last month much of the opposition initially “was voiced in anti-Islamic terms,” but in recent days those who opposed the development and city leaders have shifted the conversation to more practical issues.
Edmond residents, meanwhile, who live in the area told their planning and zoning commission and city council that even though the area is technically zoned commercial, they didn’t believe the acreage and infrastructure at the corner of Coltrane and Covell can support a 43,000-square-foot development on 9.7 acres.
And as someone who drives through that congested Edmond intersection, who has sat in 40-car traffic jams at the traffic light, and who has witnessed a semi-truck get stuck trying to make a turn onto a two-lane road, they’re probably right.
The problem is under the proposed law they’d have to prove that objectively. Their lived experiences wouldn’t count. And how does a resident objectively prove traffic congestion without a traffic counter or cooperation from a city?
And how can someone objectively prove that storm water won’t drain in an undeveloped flood plane without a parking lot there?
The city councils in both cities ultimately rejected the developers’ plans. In Edmond, Walmart’s developer is appealing. The Islamic Society of Tulsa, which is backing the mosque, is also expected to appeal.
Watching both fights play out, I’ve learned there is a lot of gray area when it comes to planning, zoning and platting. There is subjectivity to approving plats and developers’ plans. Local residents don’t pay attention to platting and zoning until the time comes to develop property.
Other times, designations no longer fit the land as communities evolve or grow or our environment or weather patterns change. Bureaucracy can be slow, and it takes time for things to catch up. And just because land is zoned or platted a certain way doesn’t mean every sort of business or development belongs there.
Until last session, lawmakers have been smart enough to realize that, and they’ve given municipalities broader discretion to act in the best interests of their residents and communities.
To even consider passing a law that indicates city leaders are making decisions solely on the size of crowds or opposition is insulting not only to those officials, but also the voters who elect them. It also indicates that our legislators don’t understand how this works.
And it’s astounding that lawmakers are seemingly trying to strip their constituents’ rights at the expense of developers, who do have a lot of lobbying power at our Capitol.
Last I checked Republicans were supposed to champion local control and believed that residents generally know what’s best for their local communities.
I don’t know if we’ll see this bill — or a similar iteration — rise from the dead when lawmakers reconvene in February. But heaven help us all if we do.
Because it will signal the death knell to citizen input in proposed developments impacting our families and the rise in power of developers. And it will harm everyone’s ability to work together to make their communities better.
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]]>A poster reads, "bell to bell, no cell" at the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center on Nov. 13, 2024. All Oklahoma public schools are under a yearlong ban on student cellphone use from the morning bell until dismissal. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Rep. Chad Caldwell’s tagline last session when passing a one-year statewide cellphone ban in schools was “try it before you buy it.”
Now, Caldwell, R-Enid, and the law’s Senate author, Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, are ready to buy. Both have filed bills that would permanently ban student cellphone use during the school day.
“I think the reason we got to that is because it’s been clear from our educators and from our parents and communities that they want the state to buy it,” Caldwell said. “I think it’s been well received, and it just, to me, makes sense to make that change permanent.”
Caldwell and Seifried said they’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response to the policy, which bars students in public schools from using their cellphones from the morning bell until dismissal.
Under the current law, each school district will have the choice to continue the ban or make a change after the 2025-26 academic year.
Neither lawmaker said they worry many districts would reverse the policy once it becomes optional. Rather, Seifried attributed part of the success to the fact that “the state was the bad guy,” rather than local schools having to take criticism for requiring the ban.
“There is a part of me that (thinks), ‘Maybe having the law gives everyone the sort of cover that they need,’” she said. “There were a couple of conversations that I had that said it was so successful because everyone was all in it together. It was a collective decision. There was no option. It was state law.”
Educators and school leaders have told Oklahoma Voice the policy has had a positive impact by removing a major distraction and that families have been willing to comply because of the equal implementation statewide.
House Bill 3715 from Caldwell and Seifried’s Senate Bill 1719 would strike statutory language allowing local school boards the opportunity to change their district’s cellphone policy after the current academic year. Cellphones and non-school-issued personal electronic devices would be prohibited during the instructional day for “each school year thereafter.”
Both bills will be up for consideration once the 2026 legislative session begins Feb. 2.
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]]>The Oklahoma state Capitol dome is pictured on Dec. 13, 2023. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A former Republican Speaker of the Oklahoma House has entered the race for lieutenant governor.
T.W. Shannon said his leadership skills and accomplishments make him the best candidate for the job. Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell is term limited.
Shannon served eight years in the House. He was House Speaker from 2013 to 2014.
While in the House, he championed welfare and workers compensation reform.
Shannon most recently served as senior adviser to the Secretary for Rural Prosperity in the Trump administration.
“I got to see firsthand how, when you have a leader that has a vision, how that can make a difference,” said Shannon, who holds a law degree. “I’m coming home because I want to take that same type of America First agenda and make sure we in the state of Oklahoma are applying the same principles.”
He previously made two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate and served as the former CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank in Oklahoma City and on the Oklahoma Transportation Commission.
Shannon, 47, said because he has run for public office before, he has some name recognition, which is an advantage.
He is among seven Republicans, one Democrat and one independent who have announced plans to seek the post.
Formal candidate filing for state and legislative posts runs from April 1-3.
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Members of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission discuss proposed rule changes during a meeting at the state Capitol on Jan. 15, 2026. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The former deputy director of Oklahoma’s mental health department settled with the Ethics Commission Thursday and will pay the state $2,500 for violating lobbyist registration and reporting law.
Heath Hayes, 41, communicated with state officials “for the purpose of influencing governmental action” without being registered as a lobbyist, according to a statement from Lee Anne Bruce Boone, executive director of the Ethics Commission.
She would not disclose who Hayes was lobbying on behalf of.
Scott Adams, Hayes’ legal counsel, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Bruce Boone signed the settlement Thursday following its approval by the Ethics Commission at its meeting. Hayes and Adams signed the settlement Tuesday.
The Ethics Commission found Hayes had not violated Oklahoma conflict of interest rules, but had violated the lobbyist registration rules, according to the settlement.
“Ethics Rule 5 exists to ensure transparency in the lobbying process and fairness for those who comply with the law,” Bruce Boone said in a statement. “When individuals engage in lobbying activity without registering, it places those who follow the rules at a disadvantage and undermines public confidence in government.”
Hayes must make his payment in the next 30 days and provide proof of payment to the Ethics Commission, according to the settlement.
Hayes also faces ongoing criminal charges, separate from Thursday’s ethics settlement, after Oklahoma City police alleged he embezzled $17,500 from Healthy Minds Healthy Lives while serving as a board member of the nonprofit foundation, which was affiliated with the State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Hayes is charged in Oklahoma County with one felony count of embezzlement in excess of $1,000, according to court records. The offense is punishable by up to up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 and restitution.
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]]>The Oklahoma County Courthouse in downtown Oklahoma City, pictured Aug. 15, 2024. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Voice and its parent organization have sued the state Department of Transportation to obtain unredacted and complete copies of the agency’s flight logs.
The open records lawsuit, filed by States Newsroom doing business as Oklahoma Voice, alleges the agency unlawfully redacted the lists of passengers who flew on the state plane, which is maintained by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and also failed on dozens of occasions to disclose the purpose of the flights as required by state law.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation declined to comment as the state agency had not yet been served the lawsuit.
Oklahoma Voice in July requested that the agency provide a copy of travel logs for all individuals who used the Transportation Department’s plane, including the “date, time, passenger list, duration and purpose of the trip along with the total cost.”
ODOT provided the records, but redacted some passenger names for flights involving the Governor’s Office. In addition, the purpose of over 50 flights was left blank or contained a statement that it was “not provided.”
Of the different agencies that used the plane, only the Governor’s Office and Department of Public Safety left the purpose blank, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the purpose for those flights was omitted because both agencies did not provide ODOT with the information.
The lawsuit also alleges some flight purpose information provided by other agencies was inadequate. Four trips identified the reason for the trip as “visits” or “airport visits” while 13 only listed “meeting” or “event,” according to the lawsuit.
Leslie Briggs, an attorney with Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who is representing Oklahoma Voice, wrote in the lawsuit that ODOT’s attorney responded that while the agency maintained the records, “it can not provide information that has not been received. If the purpose is not included, ODOT does not fill in the blanks.”
The agency’s attorney also cited a provision of the Oklahoma Open Records Act that allows the Department of Public Safety to keep confidential records related to personal information along with other information that could be considered of a tactical nature, according to the lawsuit.
ODOT said in November that it had unredacted copies of the records, but would not release them, according to the lawsuit.
The Governor’s Office previously said passenger logs on prior flights were redacted if they contained Department of Public Safety employees or the names of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s children.
The lawsuit contends that state law requires the printed name of each person traveling on an aircraft and the purpose of each landing, “including whether the purpose of a landing is for a speech, meeting or performance of a service.”
State law requires that those travel logs be maintained and made available to the public upon request under the Open Records Act.
Among other things, the lawsuit, which was filed in Oklahoma County District Court, requests that Oklahoma Voice be provided unredacted copies of the records, and that the Department of Transportation be required by the court to properly maintain complete records as required by law. It also seeks “reasonable” costs and attorneys fees.
Briggs said this lawsuit aims to ensure “maximum transparency allowed by law.”
“The goal of this lawsuit is to clarify what information may be redacted under the (Open Records Act) and what information must be gathered as required by statute in order to maintain complete records of expenditures of public funds relating to the use of the state plane,” she said in a statement. “Taxpayers deserve to know for what purpose their money is spent when public officials use the state plane.”
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]]>Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, speaks about his education policy priorities for the 2026 legislative session during a news conference with Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, left, on Thursday at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Education committee leaders in the Oklahoma Legislature have put literacy laws at the forefront of their yearly policy goals, further entrenching childhood reading as a top focus for the 2026 legislative session.
Only 26% of Oklahoma public school students made a proficient score on statewide reading tests last year. Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, and Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, who lead Senate and House committees on K-12 schooling, both announced legislation this week aimed at improving those outcomes.
While groups like the Oklahoma State Chamber advocate for more students to repeat third grade if they’re too far behind in reading, Pugh and Lowe’s literacy plans would make student retention a possibility in first and second grade, as well.
Third grade is too long to wait, Pugh said.
“My approach is we identify and intervene as early as possible so that we never have to get to that point,” he said in an interview with Oklahoma Voice. “For kids that do get to that point, then yes, there’s going to be a retention component, but as early as possible, you identify and you intervene.”
Lowe and Pugh both suggested schools give students summer tutoring and an end-of-summer reading test before finalizing retention decisions.
Pugh’s plan, outlined in Senate Bill 1778, also would require a transitional year before retention. Students in a transitional year would stay with their age-group cohort but spend the school year receiving extensive remediation in reading concepts they still need to master. If not caught up after a transitional year, a student could repeat a grade.
Oklahoma’s current reading instruction law, which Pugh co-wrote in 2024, removed a requirement that students repeat third grade if they score well below their grade level.
Only 2% of third graders were retained even with the requirement still in place, according to a 2023 report from the Oklahoma State Department of Education.That’s because the state allowed students multiple exemptions and other avenues to avoid it.
“To me, with all the exemptions on the books, it was almost like we needed to start over and reevaluate,” Pugh said. “And now we have.”
Lowe’s House Bill 3023 would prohibit schools from using only digital technology for reading intervention. Most instruction would have to come directly from a teacher, specialist or literacy coach trained in the science of reading.
Retired teachers would be allowed to contract with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to work as reading coaches, under the bill.
“Literacy remains a major concern for Oklahoma parents, educators and policymakers,” Lowe said in a statement. “House Bill 3023 might not be exactly the right solution, but now is the time to bring ideas to the table and have thoughtful discussions about how we can all help improve literacy for all students.”
The state should increase funding for districts to hire reading specialists to work with students, Pugh said, and to grow the Education Department’s literacy instructional team that provides professional development to schools. He said he also will push to increase public school funding overall with the goal of offsetting inflation and adding more school days.
He and the Senate Appropriations Committee will reveal the potential budget impact and a funding source for the investment in the coming weeks, Pugh said.
As the state continues to grapple with a shortage of qualified educators, Pugh also proposed several new incentives for teachers: a $2,500 base salary increase for all teachers, a $10,000 tax credit for teachers who work in the same district for at least seven years, six weeks of paternity leave for school employees and doubling the college scholarship funds available for aspiring educators.
Not all of the new incentives have a fiscal impact estimate yet, Pugh said, but he expects the $2,500 teacher pay raise to cost between $135 million and $140 million.
Lowe’s HB 3022 would prohibit schools from hiring uncertified adjunct instructors to teach core subject areas in pre-K through sixth grade. That would include math, science, English language arts and social sciences. Senate Education Committee Vice Chairperson Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, filed a similar bill.
Lowe’s legislation also would require adjunct teachers to have at least a high school diploma. State law currently doesn’t require a minimum education level for adjunct instructors, only that they have “distinguished qualifications in their field.”
“These bills reflect years’ worth of conversations with educators, parents and community leaders,” Lowe said of his policy agenda. “My goal is to build thoughtful, practical policy that strengthens Oklahoma’s education system and better prepare students for life after graduation while providing consistent, reliable support for our teachers.”
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]]>The Illinois River is seen from an overlook at Sparrow Hawk Wildlife Management Area in Northeast Oklahoma. (Photo by GracedBytheLight/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma has reached a settlement with one of the poultry companies it successfully sued over pollution in the Illinois River Watershed.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Wednesday announced the settlement with George’s, Inc.
George’s, Inc., a company headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, committed to remove poultry litter from the watershed over seven years and reduce the remaining amount.
The company agreed to pay $5 million to the state for remediation and conservation projects and attorney fees. It will also pay a special master $250,000 to monitor compliance.
The company also agreed that poultry litter removed from the watershed will not be applied to land in any other nutrient-sensitive watersheds in Oklahoma.
In exchange, the state released all claims against the company.
“This settlement demonstrates that fair, good-faith negotiations can produce outcomes that serve everyone’s interests – protecting Oklahoma’s water resources while respecting the economic realities facing our agricultural partners,” Drummond said. “George’s willingness to come to the table and work toward meaningful remediation, rather than prolonged litigation, reflects the kind of responsible corporate citizenship I hope to see from all parties in this case.”
George’s could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Last month, a federal judge issued a judgment holding seven large poultry companies jointly responsible and requiring them to pay for decades of cleanup along the Illinois River Watershed. The judge also imposed strict restrictions on poultry waste application.
The settlement announced Wednesday does not affect ongoing proceedings with the other defendants: Tyson, Cobb Vantress, Cargill, Simmons, Peterson Farms and Cal-Maine.
“I remain committed to working with all parties to achieve comprehensive solutions for the Illinois River Watershed while preserving the economic vitality of Oklahoma’s poultry producers,” Drummond said.
In 2005, former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson sued the companies, alleging the excessive spreading of poultry litter as fertilizer had degraded the watershed, which runs through Eastern Oklahoma and the Northwest Ozark Mountains in Arkansas.
Edmondson said Wednesday that George’s should be entitled to a break because they were the first to settle, which deserves an incentive.
“There is a significant amount they are going to pay in for restoration of the watershed and there is also an amount that they are going to pay toward a special master,” Edmondson said. “Those are good things.”
But Edmondson said he is concerned that the company will be able to walk away after seven years, unless that time frame is extended by mutual consent.
“I find that a little dangerous,” Edmondson said.
Edmondson said George’s settlement should incentivize the other companies to settle, “but I’ll be surprised if it does.”
The settlement only affects one grower, said Gov. Kevin Stitt, adding that he is concerned for all of the others.
He said he was renewing his call for Drummond to seek a stay from the federal court order and continue settlement discussions that include his Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Environment.
Edmondson said a map of the impacted area shows that it is nutrient impaired or nutrient sensitive.
“There’s unusual algae growth,” Edmondson said. “The biosphere of the water has been changed. The fish that can survive are different.”
It is no longer as attractive of a watershed as it was in the past, Edmondson said.
The poultry industry has become a “sacred chicken,” rather than a sacred cow, he said.
“Legislatively and administratively, we have violated our own act, we the people, by allowing that to happen,” Edmondson said. “And the worst player in the watershed has been poultry.”
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]]>Barbed wire and fencing surrounding the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester is pictured on Sept. 5, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma County killer on Wednesday apologized for killing two young men in a drive-by car shooting.
“Although I don’t deserve it, I ask for your collective mercy,” said Kendrick A. Simpson during a Pardon and Parole Board clemency hearing that included his victims’ family members and a survivor, London Johnson. “I’m not the worst of the worst. I’m not a monster.”
The Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against recommending clemency to Gov. Kevin Stitt ahead of his scheduled execution.
Simpson, 45, is set to die by lethal injection on Feb. 12 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, where he made his appearance by way of video conference before the board.
Simpson is set to be the first person executed by Oklahoma this year.
Simpson, 45, who relocated to Oklahoma City following Hurricane Katrina 2005, said he was young, traumatized, ignorant and compelled by paranoia when he in 2005 fired about 20 rounds from an assault-style rifle into a Caprice carrying Glen Palmer, Anthony Jones, 19, and Johnson. Palmer and Jones were killed.
The murders followed an altercation at a club.
Prior to the murders, Simpson was incarcerated for an armed home invasion robbery in which he shot a business owner, who survived.
Simpson’s attorneys argued he suffered from a traumatized upbringing that included drugs and violence and childhood sexual assault. He was also a victim of a drive-by-shooting, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and paranoia when he arrived in Oklahoma City, they said.
Johnson, the survivor who is now the father of six children, said “part of me died in that car as well. Those were my best friends.”
He said he has had sleepless nights going over the images of his friends “bleeding out” in the car.
“This ruthless and violent killer hunted and executed his victims without remorse,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “I commend the Pardon and Parole Board for rejecting clemency today.”
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]]>Julie Bisbee, executive director of TSET, discusses the nearly $150 million in grants awarded by the trust to 14 recipients at the Oklahoma History Center on Jan. 14, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust announced millions in grants Wednesday to expand patient access to trained doctors and cancer treatments.
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences regents and the Oklahoma State University Medical Center were the largest recipients, being awarded $25 million and $30 million respectively, receiving over 36% of all funding awarded.
The OSU Medical Center will use its funding to develop a new facility for graduate medical education with a goal of creating 100 more physician residency positions, supported by the TSET grant.
Oklahoma has a shortage of health care providers, especially in rural areas, according to Metriatch, an Oklahoma-focused research and policy organization.
Increasing the number of available residencies in Oklahoma is important because, according to the American Medical Association, a majority of physicians who complete their residency training choose to practice in the state where they were trained, varying by location and specialty.
“Oklahomans deserve not only the ability to see a health care provider, but they deserve a well trained provider,” said Dr. Mike Herndon, a member of the OSU Medical Authority and Trust. “And they deserve a provider that is convenient and close to them and can do it in a timely manner. So this grant helps us to provide that very access and that ability.”
OU Health Sciences will use the $25 million grant to support construction of a new location of the Stephenson Cancer facility in Tulsa, which officials said will increase access to cancer treatments in northeast Oklahoma.
Dr. Gary Raskob, provost for the OU Health campus, said that “few challenges are more urgent than cancer” in Oklahoma and the support of the TSET grant will bring greater access to treatments and clinical trials.
“This is not a little satellite expansion,” he said. “This is a full fledged facility that will provide the range of services that patients can get here in Oklahoma City, including all these phases of clinical trials, so that patients across northeastern Oklahoma have the same opportunities for cutting edge life saving care.”
Julie Bisbee, executive director of TSET, said the group is able to award larger grants as the endowment has “matured” since its creation.
Oklahoma voters approved a constitutional amendment to create TSET in 2000, the only state to do so with the funds from a nationwide settlement agreement with tobacco companies. The entity oversees nearly $2 billion in public dollars and uses the endowment earnings to improve health outcomes in Oklahoma.
“The focus that we have with our legacy grants is on durable capacity, facilities, workforce, systems change that improve outcomes over time and help Oklahomans live healthier lives,” Bisbee said.
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]]>Oklahoma Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Dana Kuehn speaks July 10, 2025, to the Stillwater Frontier Rotary Club. (Photo by Barbara Hoberock/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A new law that could have injected politics into the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for health improvement initiatives is unconstitutional, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
In an 8-1 decision, the state’s highest court struck down House Bill 2783. The measure, which became law in 2025 without Gov. Kevin Stitt’s signature, would have let Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust board members be removed at will and sought to limit them to a seven-year term.
The seven board members are appointed by the governor, treasurer, state superintendent, attorney general, state auditor, the House speaker and Senate president pro tem, and serve staggered seven-year terms.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court found the new law affects TSET’s independence by making tenures on the board dependent on the goodwill of the appointing authority.
“There is no law authorizing this statutory change to the constitutional language,” said the order written by Vice-Chief Justice Dana Kuehn.
Oklahoma voters in 2000 approved State Question 692, a constitutional amendment to create TSET. The entity oversees nearly $2 billion in earnings from the master settlement agreement with tobacco companies to recoup medical costs associated with tobacco use.
Creators of TSET sought to protect the funds from legislative diversion, and placed them in a trust with the earnings going toward improving health as determined by TSET.
Legislators in 2025 sought to overhaul the board’s appointment lengths after TSET declined to immediately allocate $50 million requested by lawmakers for a University of Oklahoma children’s pediatric hospital in Oklahoma City.
TSET’s governing panel in July filed suit, challenging the law’s constitutionality. The Oklahoma Supreme Court put it on hold.
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court agreed that Oklahomans voted to protect the nearly $2 billion of Oklahoma’s share of the tobacco settlement a quarter of a century ago and that the legislature cannot override the Constitution,” said Bob Burke, a TSET attorney.
Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said he was disappointed in the decision, but he respected it.
“Lawmakers acted with the intent of ensuring greater accountability and transparency over how public dollars are used, particularly given the significant size and importance of the TSET fund,” Paxton said. “While today’s ruling limits legislative authority in this instance, it does not end the conversation. As legislators, we want to ensure greater input and oversight of these funds continue to be used in the best interests of Oklahomans.”
Justice Travis Jett issued the dissent, saying a district court should have decided the case.
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Ben Gamla Charter Schools founder and former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch speaks to the Statewide Charter School Board on Monday in Oklahoma City to present an application to open an online Jewish charter school in Oklahoma. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — After unsuccessfully backing a Catholic charter school, an Oklahoma board will “more than likely” have to deny a proposal to found another publicly funded religious charter school in the state.
The Statewide Charter School Board is expected to vote next month on a Jewish charter school’s application for approval.
Chairperson Brian Shellem said the state board is legally bound to obey an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that rejected opening a religious charter school with taxpayer funds. A deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court let the state-level ruling stand.
That means, “we will more than likely have to deny their application,” Shellem said, though he suggested the school could do an “outstanding job” academically.
If rejected, the school founders would have an opportunity to reapply a second and final time.
Shellem said he expects the founders also might file a lawsuit if denied.
“I would not be shocked or surprised if this ignites another legal battle,” Shellem said. “So regardless of whatever happens, I really do believe our board would be sued no matter what.”
Ben Gamla would provide an education that is “intellectually rigorous and deeply rooted in Jewish knowledge, values and lived tradition,” according to its application.
Each employee, though allowed to have different religious beliefs, would be considered a “servant of the Jewish faith” and would be expected to “uphold the standards of the Jewish tradition in their day-to-day work and personal lives,” the application states.
A Florida charter school founder and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch said he is committed to making Ben Gamla a success in Oklahoma.
“This is something that’s been in my head for at least 10 years, if not longer, and I think the opportunity is probably the best in Oklahoma of any state in the United States of America today,” Deutsch said when presenting to the state board on Monday.
Brett Farley, who sat on the board of the now-defunct Catholic charter school, is also listed among the founding board members for the Jewish school.
The application promises a K-12 online-based education with rigorous academics. Ben Gamla, named for a high priest in Israel 2,000 years ago, also would provide instruction in Jewish religion, culture, values, rituals, texts, holidays and practices.
Like Deutsch’s secular Ben Gamla charter schools in Florida, the Oklahoma school would teach Hebrew classes. Deutsch said the Oklahoma school, though bearing a similar name, is an entirely separate organization from his Florida charter school network.
While presenting to the statewide board, Deutsch said the online school would be open to students of any background. He said he first visited Oklahoma a few years ago to explore the possibility of founding a school and visited with about 20 people, including 10 Jewish parents.
“My sense of talking to parents was there are a lot of parents that are looking for a sort of a faith-based, rigorous academic program, but there was nothing there,” Deutsch said.
State law and recent court precedent don’t allow charter schools, or any public school, in Oklahoma to adopt a particular religion. No existing charter schools in the state emphasize the Hebrew language or Judaic studies as Ben Gamla would, though multiple synagogues and Jewish community centers in Tulsa and Oklahoma City do.
An estimated 8,900 Jewish people live in Oklahoma, or .22% of the state’s total population.
The Ben Gamla application proposes opening later this year with a goal year-one enrollment of 400 students K-12. Its goal enrollment is 1,150 students in five years.
During Deutsch’s presentation, Shellem brought up the “elephant in the room” — why apply for approval after the board’s experience with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School? Deutsch gave a succinct response.
“We have presented an application for you that we believe meets and exceeds all of your criteria,” Deutsch said. “And so, we expect and hope that you’re going to approve that application.”
The statewide board isn’t interested in “paying for Sunday school,” Shellem said after the meeting Monday. Rather, the board is hunting for charters that would produce strong academic results.
“I believe the Ben Gamla school could deliver that,” he said. “I think St. Isidore could have delivered that. And we are going to be bound by the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling no matter what, and we will comply with those orders. But, I think it’s unfortunate that we have to potentially deny schools that are highly qualified that could do an outstanding job for students in the areas of mathematics, science, reading (and) literature because of their desire to teach a religious component.”
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]]>Cleaning crews work to remove graffiti from the south side of the Oklahoma Capitol building on Jan. 13, 2026. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Crews began cleaning up the walls of the Oklahoma State Capitol on Tuesday after someone wrote derogatory comments about the governor and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the building and the surrounding area.
Officials Tuesday morning quickly used brown paper to cover what authorities called “violent and vulgar rhetoric.” They said the vandalism occurred overnight, but was discovered Tuesday morning.
While Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Mark Southall would not disclose the content of the messages graffitied on the south side of the Capitol building, he said they included “anti-ICE propaganda and threats against politicians.” He would not say if any politicians were named specifically.
Graffiti was also inked along a nearby underpass on 23rd Street, which cuts underneath the Capitol Complex. One of the most prominent messages named Gov. Kevin Stitt while another encouraged violence against ICE, which has been actively arresting immigrants in the country without proper authorization.
Another message said, “We are the Sons of Liberty,” an apparent reference to a secret colonial-era group that is best known for mastermining the Boston Tea Party and that focused on undermining British rule ahead of the American Revolution.
The underpass messages had yet to be covered up or cleaned Tuesday morning.
Southall said there is video of the act and the agency’s Criminal Investigations Division is “processing evidence.”
“It’s really disheartending because the Capitol is the people’s house where conversations happen,” Southall said. “Desecrating the Capitol is an affront on all of Oklahoma.”
He said the cleanup efforts are expected to take multiple days and cost “several thousand dollars.” The Office of Management and Enterprise Services is responsible for the cleanup, Southall said.
A spokesperson for Stitt referred comment to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Southall said the underpass is city property so it is the responsibility of the Oklahoma City Police Department.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma City Police Department said they are not the investigating agency for these incidents.
The vandalism will be federally investigated, the department said.
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]]>Proud To Partner Leadership Academy, pictured Nov. 11 in southwest Oklahoma City, has been ordered to close after the 2025-26 school year ends. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A state board governing charter schools has decided it’s seen enough from Proud To Partner Leadership Academy and voted Monday to “pull the plug” on the school.
The Statewide Charter School Board made the rare decision to issue a notice of termination to the charter high school in southwest Oklahoma City. Seven board members voted in favor and two abstained.
The decision sets in motion the process of closing the school once the current academic year ends and voiding its charter contract. The 100 students attending the school, known as PTPLA, then would have to return to their neighborhood school districts or find another educational option.
The board placed PTPLA on probation in November over financial, operational and academic quality concerns. Members of the state board grew frustrated with what they considered to be an uncooperative response from the school’s leadership.
“That’s what we always ask for is a spirit of cooperation and desire to work together to improve the outcomes at the school,” board Chairperson Brian Shellem said after Monday’s meeting. “As it continued to progress, it seemed like it got harder and harder.”
State officials said they still had more questions than answers after three months of probation and multiple meetings with PTPLA.
The board’s staff made three visits to the school this fall and reported seeing only one teacher giving instruction. PTPLA leaders contend the report is inaccurate.
Rebecca Wilkinson, executive director of the state board, said she observed students with a computer open but not logged in, others not completing any work, seven who were sleeping or had their heads down, and some who were unable to say what course or topic they were studying, all of which raised concerns about the school’s educational quality.
PTPLA, which opened in 2024, faced scrutiny over weak finances, as well. It laid off four teachers in October and finished the previous school year in a budget deficit.
State officials also complained of missed deadlines and other unfulfilled obligations by the school’s administration.
“My opinion is it’s time to pull the plug,” statewide board member William Pearson said before the vote. “It’s time to move to termination.”
Despite the school’s struggles, PTPLA leaders told the state they had “nothing to fix.”
School founder and Superintendent Dawn Bowles said her students now face the prospect of returning to “schools that were not serving them in the first place.”
“Our next feat will be, what is our next move to make sure that we don’t drop the ball on the ones that we’ve committed to serving,” Bowles said. “We will continue to serve them. We will continue to educate them. We will continue to provide opportunities outside of education, and we will continue to be their village as we move forward because this is what we consider to be the greater way.”
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]]>Financial forensics expert Ben Kincaid from Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC presents a report to the Statewide Charter School Board of his firm's investigation into the finances at Epic Charter School on Monday at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — An investigation of Epic Charter School’s finances determined inexplicably poor budget management, misguided enrollment projections, a lack of transparency and too few questions asked all contributed to a fiscal crisis last school year.
The Statewide Charter School Board heard the investigation results on Monday after calling for the probe in July. The board ordered the forensic audit after Epic carried out two rounds of mass layoffs and other major cuts to avoid insolvency during the 2025 fiscal year.
Investigators from the accounting firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC said they found no evidence of embezzlement.
Rather, the audit found Epic administrators placed too much faith in a flawed enrollment projection model and overestimated their 2024-25 school year student count. A public school’s enrollment is typically the top factor that determines its annual funding.
Epic then hired far too many employees and aggressively added facilities that its revenues couldn’t support, said Ben Kincaid, a financial forensics expert from Carr, Riggs & Ingram.
Epic’s former superintendent, Bart Banfield, didn’t carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the extra expenses, and the school’s governing board didn’t ask enough questions, Kincaid said when presenting the investigation’s findings to the statewide board on Monday.
Instead, he said too much independent control of the budgeting process rested with Jeanise Wynn, Epic’s former assistant superintendent of finance. Investigators were unable to explain some of Wynn’s budget projections, particularly her expectation of a $60.4 million carryover balance from Fiscal Year 2024 into Fiscal Year 2025.
“So, we have the CFO winging it, and then a superintendent who really wasn’t as engaged as he should have been,” statewide board Chairperson Brian Shellem said during the meeting.
Investigators interviewed Wynn and learned she kept a private budget that Epic’s school board and several fellow administrators had not seen, according to Kincaid’s report. Investigators were unable to schedule an interview with Banfield, Kincaid said.
Both Banfield and Wynn resigned last year. Oklahoma Voice was unable to reach either for comment.
Epic recently hired a new superintendent, Shaun Ross, from Oklahoma City Public Schools, and revamped its financial department.
“I don’t know a lot of the answers to these questions that came up,” Ross told the statewide board. “What I can assure you, on behalf of the board of Epic, on behalf of the staff of Epic, on behalf of myself, we are going to make corrective actions.”
With 28,500 students, Epic is the state’s largest virtual charter school and the third-largest public school district in Oklahoma.
The school eliminated 144 jobs and implemented pay cuts in October 2024 after enrollment came in 4,000 students below administrators’ projections. Those cuts weren’t enough to account for all the new employees hired for the 2024-25 school year, Kincaid said.
Epic then laid off another 357 administrators and teachers in June, slashed several programs and closed multiple in-person learning centers to avoid a budget shortfall. It also had to take out a $30 million line of credit to ensure it could cover its financial obligations over the summer when public schools receive no state funding.
The most urgent issues still facing Epic, the audit found, are a lack of budget oversight and documentation to explain budget changes. The school also should have an internal auditor on staff, investigators found.
“Our team will be actively involved in ensuring Epic fully addresses all findings and the risks that still exist,” said Rebecca Wilkinson, executive director of the Statewide Charter School Board.
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]]>An Oklahoma Highway Patrol vehicle is pictured. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety requested over $25 million to train highway patrol troopers.
Commissioner Tim Tipton told House lawmakers during budget hearings Monday that the funding to hold more academy classes is necessary to in order to train and hire the number of troopers needed to adequately patrol the state amid retirements and other attrition.
“I’m here asking for what I need,” he said. “This isn’t me asking for anything extra. This is me asking simply what we need to be able to do our job that I think you all and the citizens expect us to do.”
The $25.8 million would cover the first year salary, equipment and training for new cadets, Tipton said. DPS would plan to use this money to fund two future academy classes with 72 cadets each with hopes of graduating at least 50 troopers from each class, an agency spokesperson said.
DPS would need between 1,200 and 1,300 troopers to ensure 24/7 coverage for all of Oklahoma’s counties, Tipton said. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol currently employs over 760 troopers, according to the DPS presentation.
It’s a “perpetual problem” for troopers to be overworked, he said, which can be a mental health and wellness issue, as well as a safety concern.
“You’re working without a partner,” Tipton said. “You may be covering two or three or four counties by yourself, your own call, your entire life. There is no free time when you get your days off. … We’ve done everything that we can to think outside the box.”
The funding would “restore operational balance” and allow for 24/7 shift coverage, reduce reliance on excessive overtime, and improve officer availability in rural and high-need areas, according to the DPS presentation.
Tipton had previously attempted to pull Highway Patrol troopers off interstates in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas, but that plan was stymied after an opinion from Attorney General Gentner Drummond found this to be illegal.
“I tried to make efficiencies this past year to be able to accomplish the mission and quit harming my troopers that are out working the road,” Tipton said. “I got hammered for that, and I understand everybody’s got their own opinion about that. I’ve got to worry about the well being of the troopers and for the citizens that are most vulnerable, and we tried to make adjustments for that.”
Every state agency submits a budget request to the Oklahoma Legislature ahead of session, but lawmakers have the final say on what is funded.
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]]>Barbed wire and fencing surrounding the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester is pictured on Sept. 5, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma County killer will ask the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board for clemency following the shooting deaths of two.
Kendrick A. Simpson, 45, is set to die by lethal injection on Feb. 12 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
He could be the first inmate executed in Oklahoma this year.
A clemency hearing is set for Wednesday before the five-member Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
He was sentenced to death for the 2006 shooting deaths of Glen Palmer, 20, and Anthony Jones, 19, in Oklahoma City.
Simpson, a felon prohibited from possessing guns, used an AK-style assault rifle and shot 20 times at the car carrying the victims.
“Kendrick Simpson hunted his victims, executed them without hesitation, and then boasted about what he had done,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “The families left behind have endured unimaginable pain, and nothing in Simpson’s decades on death row has shown that he deserved the mercy he refused to give others.”
Simpson is expected to argue that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after being the victim in a 2004 shooting in New Orleans and because he was a child victim of sexual abuse.
Prosecutors say the PTSD, if he has it, does not explain or excuse the murders.
Simpson is also expected to go into details about a traumatic childhood that included violence and drugs. His attorneys allege he had an “anemic defense,” which failed to show the jury the truth about his history.
According to his clemency packet, Simpson is “profoundly remorseful,” and takes responsibility.
He is asking the panel to “look at the whole of his life rather than a snapshot of the worst thing he has ever done and show mercy,” according to his clemency packet.
If the panel recommends clemency, Gov. Kevin Stitt will make the final decision.
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]]>A family makes its way down rapids on the Illinois River near Watts, Oklahoma, on June 1, 2024. (Photo by dlewis33/Getty Images)
One of the earliest lessons parents teach their children is if they break someone else’s things — even if it’s by accident — they have a responsibility to make it right.
This virtue transcends into adulthood in practical ways, such as carrying automobile insurance in case of a crash or paying restitution following a crime.
But a group of influential Oklahoma Republicans apparently believe this moral code applies to everyone except our state’s poultry industry. Because otherwise, they’d be celebrating a long-awaited decision mandating those big businesses to fix the damage they’ve caused to our waters while spreading too much phosphorus-rich chicken manure as fertilizer. The practice has damaged the ecosystem in eastern Oklahoma and neighboring Arkansas.
Over the past few weeks, it’s been embarrassing to watch these Republicans — including Gov. Kevin Stitt, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, several gubernatorial hopefuls and a number of other elected lawmakers — publicly bow before their agricultural overlords and kiss their ring in a bid to gain favor.
Usually this obscene obsequiousness occurs behind closed doors, but apparently the Farm Bureau has grown so powerful that lawmakers are more fearful about being viewed as disloyal to this group than to their constituents.
The poultry industry, meanwhile, is panicking.
They’ve been on notice now for at least two decades that their practice of spreading copious amounts of chicken poop across the Illinois River Watershed has been polluting the area that millions of people in two states rely on for drinking water and recreational purposes. The 100-mile Illinois River begins in the Ozarks in northwest Arkansas and runs through the mountains in eastern Oklahoma before dumping into Tenkiller Ferry Lake.
Former Democratic Attorney General Drew Edmondson first sued several large companies over 20 years ago to stop their contractors’ pollution and to press the companies to repair it. While there has been some movement to fix the issue, it’s been slow, and a judge has found it’s been insufficient to restore the contaminated ecosystem.
And the industry continues to spread poop.
The case languished in court for decades, but now these bad environmental policies are coming home to roost thanks to a rare Republican leader: Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who refuses to let the industry get away with it.
Just before Christmas, federal Judge Gregory Frizzell, who was appointed by former Republican U.S. President George W. Bush, found several large poultry companies that have operated across the watershed responsible for polluting it.
He ordered the companies to pay to fix it and to immediately put $10 million into a fund to begin. He also limited how much manure they can spread.
The companies, including Tyson, Cargill, George’s, Simmons, Cobb-Vantress, and Cal-Maine, have appealed.
In recent weeks, the debacle has revealed unsavory flavors of Oklahoma politics and the role that agriculture lobbyists still play in shaping our political outcomes, even as our state becomes increasingly urban and suburban.
At a Dec. 16 poultry industry rally backed by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau in Adair County, Republicans vied to be seen.
Speaker Hilbert told the crowd that the Oklahoma Legislature has proven to poultry producers that “we’re going to have your backs.” He said they’ve done that not just with words, but with actions. He celebrated a new law that limits the poultry industry’s liability.
What about having the backs of the rest of us who don’t have as much money or influence and that don’t work in agriculture?
Why aren’t our lawmakers passing legislation that makes sure that we all have clean water, unpolluted lands and stringent environmental protections? Why do the interests of a minority of agriculture producers outweigh everyone else’s?
Stitt, meanwhile, told the industry that he’s standing with them. Bizarrely, he’s convinced that this is an issue of trial attorneys trying to get rich.
He told the crowd that he fired his previous secretary of energy and environment because he refused to write Judge Frizzell a letter stating that Oklahoma is not “trying to go after your (poultry) industry” and instead attended a court hearing supporting the litigation.
One would think that it’s good that former secretary Ken McQueen chose to stand up for the average Joe.
“I fired him on the spot,” Stitt said to cheering and applause, adding that he appointed Jeff Starling to the post.
Take note, Starling, who Stitt said also attended the rally, is running as a Republican for attorney general. I suspect we all know exactly what will happen to this lawsuit if Starling wins.
Stitt said he’s pushing for a “common sense settlement” that protects both the environment and food producers. He believes if spreading poultry waste is banned, nobody is going to want to grow chickens in Oklahoma.
The industry has had decades to sort this out and could have if they wanted. Clearly, they’re not willing to do so in a manner that best serves public interest. And we should not give away the farm to settle this, not when we have a group of lawmakers championing weak environmental protections that favor industry over people.
Maybe the better solution is for the industry to leave Oklahoma and spread their manure in another state if they won’t make things right. It’s not like we’re getting discounted eggs at the grocery store.
According to Stitt, former House Speaker Charles McCall was one of four 2026 Republican gubernatorial hopefuls that attended the rally. Chip Keating, Mike Mazzei and Jake Merrick were the others. Drummond, who is also running, did not attend.
McCall is particularly proud of his decision to champion Senate Bill 1424, which he said “protects growers from lawsuits when they follow environmental rules set by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.”
What McCall omits is that the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has the reputation of being an ankle-biting chihuahua, not an attack dog that passes regulations that clearly protect the public and environment. If they did, we wouldn’t be here.
One can only hope our politicians won’t forget who actually elects them and who they’re supposed to be serving — people, not special interests.
But if this rally, candidate pool and pandering is any indication of what’s to come, don’t count on it.
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]]>Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks in the school library of Eisenhower International School in Tulsa on Oct. 2. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt is expected to advocate again this year for eliminating the cap on how much Oklahoma can spend to help children attend private schools, though the state hasn’t hit its current limit.
With the 2026 legislative session set to begin Feb. 2, Stitt remains committed to removing the $250 million spending cap on the Parental Choice Tax Credit program, his press secretary Tevis Hillis told Oklahoma Voice. The tax credits provide $5,000 to $7,500 to families to offset the cost of private school tuition and fees.
“Demand far exceeds current funding, leaving families on waitlists,” Hillis said. “His goal is simple: let more kids attend the school of their parents’ choice.”
However, the Oklahoma Tax Commission confirmed to Oklahoma Voice it hasn’t had to turn away any applicants this school year because of the budget limit.
The Tax Commission reported last week that nearly $1 million in tax credits were still available for the 2025-26 school year with under two weeks left before the application window closes. Families have been able to apply since Feb. 18 of last year, according to the commission’s website.
When asked for clarification, Hillis said her reference to waitlists “pertains to students seeking those schooling options.”
The Oklahoma Legislature would have to agree to adjust the program’s spending cap, but lawmakers didn’t give even a committee hearing to a Senate bill last year that sought to remove the limit entirely. State officials estimated the policy would cost the state $13 million.
The state Senate’s top leader has continued to express reservations about uncapping the program.
“Any changes must be done responsibly,” Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said in a statement this week. “Removing the cap entirely at this time could lead to unintended consequences and strain the state’s ability to ensure the program is meeting its intended purpose. Our priority is making sure those who need help the most are the primary beneficiaries.”
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, didn’t return a request for comment.
The state is projected to have $692 million less to spend than the year before, raising doubts about the feasibility of major new investments.
Stitt first advocated for eliminating the maximum spending limit on the Parental Choice Tax Credits in his state budget proposal last year. In a recent guest column in The Oklahoman, the governor pledged he would work this year to make the tax credits available to more families.
So far, only one new bill has been filed that would expand the program. Senate Bill 1389 from Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, would allow the spending limit to increase by 20% if at least 90% of the available funds are claimed.
Daniels filed last year’s bill to completely remove the spending cap. She said her new legislation is a “much more fiscally conservative, responsible way to go.”
“My bill this year allows us to grow the program in a responsible, measured way because we now see that it is very successful, and more Oklahoma families are choosing to take advantage of it,” Daniels said. “We should allow that credit limit to increase gradually as participation increases.”
Stitt and Republican lawmakers have celebrated the Parental Choice Tax Credit program, created in 2023, as a way to help financially disadvantaged families leave public schools and access the private school of their choice.
Legislative Democrats have long criticized the policy for giving funds to wealthy families and for diverting millions of dollars that they say should instead go to public schools, which educate the vast majority of Oklahoma students.
Last week’s report from the Tax Commission shows the state so far has spent $249 million this school year on tax credits for 39,485 students. Just over 3,700 of those students had attended a public school the semester before the 2025-26 academic year, according to the report.
Students who qualified for the $7,500 maximum tax credit made up the largest share, 28.4%, of awarded applicants, according to an Oklahoma Voice analysis. These are children from households that earn no more than $75,000 a year or receive income-based government benefits like SNAP and Medicaid.
The state spent $79.6 million on private school tax credits for these students.
The second-most-awarded group of applications, 27.3%, came from families with a yearly income between $75,001 and $150,000. These households, which qualify for $7,000 per student, collectively received more than $72 million from the program.
Households earning over $250,000 a year were the third-most common, representing 24.5% of total recipients. Oklahoma spent $48 million this school year to support the private school costs of these families, who qualify for $5,000 per student.
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]]>A drone flies above a city at sunset (Photo by Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished without a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Choctaw Nation will be home to one of the country’s two new testing sites for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, the Federal Aviation Administration announced.
The sites, which were awarded to the Oklahoma tribe and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, are the first two testing grounds for drones and other unmanned aircraft created in nearly a decade, according to the FAA.
In a statement Friday, James Grimsley, the Choctaw Nation’s executive director of Advanced Technology Initiatives, said the “designation is a meaningful step” for both the tribe and the future of aviation in Oklahoma.
The test site program is designed to evaluate the safety, operations and navigation systems of public and civil drone technologies prior to their use in national airspace, he said.
The Choctaw Nation said that the designation “comes at a critical time” as the FAA moves to create new rules that allows drones to be flown beyond line of sight, or where operators can’t see them, which will expand their commercial and public safety uses.
“Drone technology is already changing how services are delivered and how critical infrastructure is inspected, monitored and protected,” Grimsley said. “The next chapter is about proving what works safely at scale, and our role as a test site is to generate the data, operational insights and best practices that help make that possible.”
In a separate statement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the new test sites will help gather critical data so “we can safely unleash innovation in our skies.”
The FAA said Duffy unveiled a proposed Beyond Visual Line of Sight rule to expand drone usage in August.
“From delivering lifesaving medicine to surveying pipelines, drones are already reshaping industries and changing how people and products interact,” Duffy said in a statement. “It’s our job to make sure the United States safely leads the way with this exciting technology – not China. We’ve added these new test sites to help us gather critical data and test new systems so we can safely unleash innovation in our skies.”
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]]>A child receives a vaccination. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished without a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — While the number of Oklahoma flu cases is down, health officials said it’s too early to know if the state has already hit its peak.
The data, released by the Oklahoma State Department of Health on Thursday, shows a drop of over 7% in positive influenza cases and 40 fewer hospitalizations during the week of Dec. 28, which is the most recently available data.
The drop followed a spike in positive flu cases and hospitalizations over the Christmas holiday week.
Positive cases hit a peak of nearly 22% positivity during the week of Dec. 21, according to a flu data dashboard operated by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Hospitalizations also peaked that week, reaching 165, according to the dashboard.
Erica Rankin, a spokesperson for the Health Department, said one week of fluctuation is too early to say if cases are truly decreasing.
Rankin said this week’s dip could be due to a shift in the number of people visiting the doctor or a change in provider reporting with offices having altered hours during the holidays.
“We have observed an increase in the influenza percent positivity rate in many areas of the state, along with many states across the country,” Rankin said. “This is what we would expect to see this time of year, being in the middle of respiratory season.”
Nationally, the most recent CDC data shows flu cases are elevated and the number of cases continues to increase in most states.
A majority of Oklahoma’s confirmed positive flu cases are a subset of Influenza A strain. Known as the H3N2 subtype, health officials have said the strain is more resistant to the flu shot.
Rankin said it isn’t too late to get the flu shot.
“We would encourage individuals to speak with their trusted health care provider to determine if the flu shot is right for them and to bring any concerns or questions they may have to them,” she said in a statement. “Even if the flu shot is not a perfect match to the strain circulating, it can still help to reduce the severity of illness someone may get from the flu.”
The flu dashboard is updated every Thursday, excluding state holidays, using data from the previous Sunday through Saturday.
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]]>A sign on a building marks an Oklahoma DHS office in Oklahoma County on Aug. 31, 2023. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A popular pandemic-era subsidy program that has helped offset the cost of child care for families and providers will end in April, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services announced.
The state agency said the COVID-era program, which provides a $5 per child, per day subsidy to child care providers, will end April 6.
“This temporary enhancement was funded through time-limited federal pandemic resources that are no longer available,”a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “Sharing this update now is meant to give families and providers time to plan ahead.”
The Licensed Child Care Association of Oklahoma, which represents providers, said in a statement that the industry relies on these subsidies and that the cuts “will directly impact families and the availability of child care statewide.”
A spokesperson said in a statement that providers rely on the $5 subsidy to cover “rising wages, utilities, food and insurance.”
“These changes return child care funding to pre-COVID levels, despite the fact that operating costs are dramatically higher than they were before the pandemic,” the spokesperson said. “Providers are already operating on razor-thin margins, and many say these cuts will force closures, reduce enrollment, or push families out of care entirely.”
The announcement that the program will end entirely comes after DHS last year said that one-time federal relief funding had been exhausted, and that the agency could no longer afford to fund the full program. New applications and renewals for many school-age children ended Nov. 1.
The Licensed Child Care Association in December sued DHS in Oklahoma County District Court, seeking an emergency injunction that would require the agency to continue to pay the $5 per day subsidy for school-age children. A judge declined to immediately order DHS to fully restore the pandemic-era subsidy program, but litigation in the case continues.
DHS said this week that the receipt of partial federal funding will allow it to resume paying the subsidies for children ages 6 to 8 until the program ends in April, but the pause on the subsidy remains in place for children 9 and up. Exceptions remain for children in foster care, adoptions, children with disabilities, experiencing homelessness or whose families are receiving emergency financial assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to the news release.
In July, further changes will be made to subsidy eligibility for Oklahoma families. Income eligibility will be 55% of the state median income, down from 85%. This is a return to pre-pandemic guidelines, according to the release.
“Together, these updates help strengthen the child care subsidy program by expanding support where funding allows and making thoughtful adjustments over time,” a spokesperson for DHS said in a statement. “Our goal is a more stable, predictable program that families and providers can rely on today and in the years ahead.”
Child care providers have expressed concern that losing these subsidies will cause facilities to close, which could harm rural communities where child care deserts are more prominent.
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]]>Attorney General Gentner Drummond speaks about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to vacate Richard Glossip's sentence during a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The head of a statewide Islamic advocacy group Wednesday questioned whether Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s decision to investigate a proposed mosque was a proper use of his office and taxpayer dollars.
Veronica Laizure, Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma executive director, called the attorney general’s plans to use state resources to investigate a proposed mosque in Broken Arrow a “publicity stunt” and “witch hunt” by Drummond, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor.
Drummond on Wednesday issued a press release saying his office would investigate whether the proposed mosque and retail development in Broken Arrow complies with state and federal law and its funding.
“Given the realities of global terrorism, there can be no compromise on public safety and security,” Drummond said. “In our state, we have already seen a radical Islamist sentenced for plotting mass murder. Several 9/11 hijackers had attended an Oklahoma flight school. It is only appropriate to act with caution when the project in question might have connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The Islamic Society of Tulsa is seeking permission from Broken Arrow city leaders to open a 42,000-square-foot community center. It would include a worship area, public medical clinic and retail space.
The mosque is to be built on 15 acres south of the Creek Turnpike along Olive Avenue.
The Broken Arrow Planning Commission approved a rezoning request. The Broken Arrow City Council is set to take up the issue next week. The land was purchased in 2014 by the North American Islamic Trust.
Drummond said the North American Islamic Trust “reportedly has ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood.” The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is an Islamic political movement. President Donald Trump last year created a process to designate certain chapters as foreign terrorist organizations.
Drummond did not provide proof of the Oklahoma group’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in his press release, but also said there are questions about the project’s ownership structure, governance and financing.
In a statement, the Islamic Society of Tulsa said land was purchased through charitable donations from residents of the Greater Tulsa region. No foreign funding was sought or received for either the acquisition of the property or planning.
The mosque and development are intended address persistent overcrowding at the group’s existing Midtown Tulsa location, particularly during Friday prayers and Ramadan services, officials said.
“The Islamic Society of Tulsa remains committed to working constructively with the City of Broken Arrow to move this much-needed community center forward in a manner that serves both its members and the broader community,” the group said.
Drummond’s decision to investigate the proposed mosque “mirrors a broader pattern of anti-Muslim initiatives we are seeing from public officials in multiple states,” Laizure said.
Laizure questioned whether Drummond had launched any similar investigations into other places of worship in Broken Arrow or elsewhere in the state.
“If not, that would seem like a pretty targeted attack on the Muslim community of Tulsa,” Laizure said.
She said there are many other concerns Drummond could address rather than the construction of an above-board and transparent house of worship for a minority faith community.
The Council on American Islamic Relations is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.
Unrelated anti-Islamic remarks Drummond made in June drew pushback from a variety of sectors.
Drummond said Afghan evacuees that have resettled in Oklahoma should be sent back.
Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees were resettled in the United States after military forces pulled out of the country. Many of those relocated had assisted the U.S. military.
Drummond, a pilot, served in the Gulf War and participated in the first combat mission of Operation Desert Storm.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:05 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8 to include comment from the Islamic Society of Tulsa.
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]]>The Illinois River is seen from an overlook at Sparrow Hawk Wildlife Management Area in Northeast Oklahoma. (Photo by GracedBytheLight/Getty Images)
Rather than taking steps to reign in the clout of the growing poultry industry and protect the public, Oklahoma lawmakers have chosen to further deregulate and shield it from legal attacks.
This has given Big Agriculture and its corporate lobbyists license to despoil our natural resources, wreak havoc on our region’s waterways and exploit our state farmers.
The inflection point was reached in 2005 when then-Attorney General Drew Edmonson sued several large agricultural producers, including Tyson, Cargill, and Simmons Foods, that commonly contract with Oklahoma’s poultry farms. The lawsuit sought to hold these major poultry companies accountable for polluting the Illinois River Watershed with phosphorus from spreading chicken waste.
A trial was held in 2009, but it took 14 more years before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled for the state, finding the companies financially responsible for decades of pollution, ordering them to fund cleanup efforts, and imposing strict limits on poultry waste application to prevent further damage.
Despite no farmers being named as defendants in the case, the response from supporters of the poultry companies has been to redirect blame and portray the litigation as an attack on agriculture.
The issue has put Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Attorney General Gentner Drummond at odds. Drummond continued to pursue the lawsuit while serving as state attorney general in order to ensure the companies were held liable. Stitt has sided with the poultry industry, recently meeting with producers in Adair County and saying the suit is only lining the pockets of the trial attorneys.
Tyson Foods, for their part, stated that if a sensible solution is not reached, it would be compelled to phase out its contracts with producers in the watershed. AG Drummond has called Tyson’s threats “gamesmanship” and part of a coordinated misinformation campaign by Tyson Foods to intimidate Oklahomans and deflect accountability. He said reports show Tyson is seeking to increase its production capacity in the watershed which contradicts claims that it has been forced to scale back operations due to the lawsuit.
What were the factors that helped to create and maintain this clash between corporate interests and the safeguarding of our environment that has transformed life for rural residents?
As many as 99.5% of U.S. chickens are raised by contract farmers for major processors, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A few large companies like Tyson control the majority of the market, giving them immense leverage over farmers.
Farmers invest heavily in barns and equipment but receive payment based on short-term contracts, often in what’s known as a “tournament system” that pits them against each other for bonuses.
The system traps farmers in debt and limits their ability to find other buyers, especially as large processors control the processing plants.
In essence, while farmers own the land and buildings, the large corporations own the birds, feed, and market, creating a heavily controlled environment where most farmers are dependent on Big Ag.
Yet this begs the question of why these operators are often granted protections to escape responsibility for the damages they cause.
The answer is that Oklahoma’s regulatory environment, shaped by powerful agricultural interests, has prioritized and shielded large-scale poultry production.
The 2024 Oklahoma Legislature created a new law, Senate Bill 1424, that forbids property owners in the Illinois River Watershed whose lands and surface waterways have been polluted by runoff from poultry litter from pursuing legal action against contracted poultry growers unless an enforcement action has been taken by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.
The law also provides legal immunity to poultry corporations.
Additionally, there are regulatory loopholes that have eased the path for large-scale operations.
Oklahoma allows many large industrial chicken farms to register as Poultry Feeding Operations rather than the more strictly regulated Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Poultry Feeding Operations have less restrictive setback requirements and do not require the same public notice to neighbors before construction.
Successful lobbying by the poultry industry in the 1990s also led to a loophole where a permit isn’t required if a property owner claims the water is for “domestic use” rather than for commercial purposes. As reported in the Arkansas Advocate, water usage is essentially unlimited. The state Water Resources Board relies on an honor system for water reporting, and the agency has never revoked a permit or penalized anyone for exceeding their allowed water usage.
HB 2053, which was passed in 2023, limits opposition to industrial water permits. The legislation’s clear intent, to which even the bill’s author, Republican state Sen. Brent Howard admitted, was to make it harder for people to oppose large poultry operations.
And in 2024, Stitt vetoed a HB 3194 that would have required metering devices on all groundwater wells across the state — a move praised by the agriculture industry and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
As lawmakers prepare to convene for the upcoming session next month, they will undoubtedly face continuing pressure to acquiesce to Big Ag interests.
I hope they will bear in mind that it’s possible for the poultry industry and clean water to coexist.
But as AG Drummond cautioned “what we cannot accept is allowing massive corporations to pollute our waterways without consequence.”
]]>A child playing with brick toys at daycare child care facility. (Photo by Vanessa Nunes/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma state agency is accepting proposals to open a five-story child care facility at a building near the Capitol that would “offer priority for admission, at all times, to children of State of Oklahoma employees.”
The Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services is investing over $45 million legislatively appropriated dollars into renovating a building on the Capitol Complex, located at 2409 N. Kelley Ave., which will be turned into a facility for 250 children, from infants to 5-year olds. Proposals are being accepted through Feb. 20.
This comes as Oklahoma, which is considered a child care desert, faces a shortage of qualified workers and lawmakers continue to grapple with finding solutions.
The Legislature originally began planning for the project in 2023, appropriating money to OMES “to accept transfer of the Kelley Building and Kelley Annex owned by the Department of Human Services and renovate the facilities for lease to a public operator as a day care facility,” according to the bill language.
The appropriation does not pay for day-to-day expenses of the child care facility, only renovations.
Bonnie Campo, a spokesperson for OMES, said in a statement that a vendor that was previously awarded the contract withdrew in November for “financial reasons.”
Demolition is complete at the Kelley Building and Annex, Campo said, but work continues on the annex mechanical, electrical and framing systems.
“When completed, the main building will serve as office space for state agencies, and the annex will serve as a day care facility for state employees,” she said in a statement. “All renovation is scheduled to be completed by August 2026. However, opening the facility is contingent on selecting an operator.”
The building currently houses the Child Support Enforcement Division, which will be moved, Campo said.
OMES would be charged with renovating the building, providing fencing for an outdoor playground area, building maintenance, utilities, lawn care, pest control and other related services, according to the request for proposals.
The operator of the proposed child care facility would be responsible for hiring and paying employees and the other day-to-day expenses of running a child care center.
They would also need to provide interior furnishings, liability insurance, equipment for both an indoor and outdoor play area, janitorial services, and other similar responsibilities.
Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, said he wasn’t aware of OMES’ request for proposals as of Wednesday morning. Pae is the vice chair of the House Committee on Children, Youth and Family Services.
“When it comes to state employees, specifically, they do a lot of tremendous work to keep operations functioning and oftentimes they’re not paid as competitively as they ought to be, compared to their peers and other industries,” he said. “So we want to make sure that they’re taken care of.”
The cost of child care has grown nationwide and COVID-era subsidies in Oklahoma have been cut, raising costs for families across the state. Some providers have voiced their concerns about how the loss of subsidies could lead to more child care centers closing their doors.
“I think in the current economy, if we’re going to truly maximize our potential as a state, to meet our workforce needs, we have to address child care,” he said.
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]]>A bill filed in the Oklahoma Senate would have schools reimplement the Presidential Fitness Test, which was last required nationwide in 2012. (Photo by Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished without a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Presidential Fitness Test could return to Oklahoma schools to evaluate students’ physical performance, under a state Senate bill and a nationwide executive order.
Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, announced Wednesday he filed legislation that would bring the physical fitness test back to public schools statewide, aligning with an executive order from President Donald Trump. Pugh leads two Senate committees on education and is a Republican candidate for state superintendent of public schools.
At the time it was eliminated in 2012, the Presidential Fitness Test included a one-mile run, sit-ups, a shuttle run, a sit-and-reach test, and pull-ups or push-ups.
Oklahoma school districts would have to implement the test starting in the 2026-27 academic year if Pugh’s Senate Bill 1437 passes in the coming legislative session, which begins Feb. 2.
“Physical activity is one of the most important investments we can make in our kids’ future,” Pugh said in his announcement. “Being active and healthy isn’t just about strength or endurance. It’s about building a foundation for better mental health, stronger academic performance and long-term wellbeing.”
Trump’s July 31 executive order reestablished the test and reconvened the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, which will issue recommendations for the test’s administration.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the first iteration of a national youth fitness test in 1956 with an emphasis on military readiness.
President Barack Obama replaced the test in 2012 with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which promoted living a physically active and healthy lifestyle rather than measuring athletic performance.
Pugh’s bill would direct the Oklahoma State Department of Education to create guidelines for administering the Presidential Fitness Test. Those guidelines would have to be based on recommendations from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. The guidance must include training for personnel to administer the test.
Students’ fitness results shouldn’t impact their grade point average, Pugh told Oklahoma Voice.
Rather, school districts should use the test results to promote the physical and mental benefits of daily movement, exercise and good nutrition; modify activity opportunities offered to students; and encourage participating in physical activities inside and outside the school setting, according to the bill’s text.
“This legislation encourages healthy habits early in life and supports a culture of fitness that benefits students for a lifetime,” Pugh said when announcing the bill. “These are foundational habits that support overall health and that should always be our goal.”
Families would have the option to opt out their children from taking the fitness test, according to the bill. Further exemption guidelines would apply to students with disabilities, medical conditions or other factors impacting their ability to complete the test.
The Oklahoma Rural Health Transformation Program, a $233 million federally funded initiative, will provide $4 million to rural schools for exercise equipment, a cardio and walking-focused app for students, and professional development for physical education teachers — all with the goal of implementing the Presidential Fitness Test.
The Rural Health Transformation Program provides federal dollars intended to offset Medicaid cuts that were included in the “big, beautiful” budget policy that Trump signed into law in July.
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]]>A truck transporting an oversized load on Dec. 16 struck six bridges over the Will Rogers Turnpike near Claremore in Mayes and Rogers counties. (Photo by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and provided by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Tuesday approved spending nearly $500,000 to repair six bridges that were struck by a truck carrying an oversized load.
The agency’s governing board approved paying $491,700 to Built-Right Construction following an emergency declaration that allowed immediate repairs to be made to the six bridges over the Will Rogers Turnpike.
The incident took place Dec. 16 on the turnpike near Claremore in Rogers and Mayes counties.
“The bridges sustained significant damage to multiple beams in the eastbound direction,” according to OTA.
Joe Echelle, OTA executive director, said the emergency repairs were completed within a week of the accident, and the bridges are now open and structurally sound.
After the bridges were struck, four were closed and two remained open, said Darian Butler, OTA engineering director.
Butler called the event “monumental,” adding that OTA officials “hadn’t seen anything quite like it.”
Butler said the agency will pursue reimbursement for the cost to repair the damages with the truck company’s insurance carrier.
“This was an illegal load,” he said, adding that the company did not get the required permit.
The driver of the 2021 Freightliner was cited for failure to have a permit, according to a citation provided to Oklahoma Voice by the state Department of Public Safety.
Service Oklahoma on Tuesday did not immediately release the collision report detailing the incident.
Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Tim Gatz told his panel on Monday that the truck was transporting a utility pole base of some kind.
Gatz said had the company sought a permit, a suitable route could have been determined.
“This load was not routed and certainly was not observing the travel ways they should have been sticking to,” Gatz said. “The fact that they hit six of these bridges is on the inexcusable side.”
Because bridges had to be closed, disruption in local travel patterns was significant, Gatz said.
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]]>University of Oklahoma Evans Hall is pictured. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
The American Association of University Professors delivered a petition to OU administrators Friday demanding answers regarding its handling of an academic freedom case that has garnered national attention.
In November, OU psychology junior Samantha Fulnecky filed a formal claim of illegal discrimination after receiving a zero on an essay on gender stereotypes in which she cited the Bible as her sole source, later published by The Oklahoman.
The instructor, Mel Curth, said in her grading comments the paper did not follow the assignment and was at times “offensive.” In the essay, Fulnecky wrote that the “lie that there are multiple genders… is demonic and severely harms American youth,” as well as “lies spread from Satan.”
Curth was placed on administrative leave during the university’s investigation and was later relieved of all instructional duties at the investigation’s conclusion — a decision Curth is appealing, according to a Bluesky post from civil rights attorney Brittany Stewart.
OU claimed Curth’s grading of the paper was “arbitrary.” It did not release the findings of the investigation into Fulnecky’s religious discrimination claim, and the grade appeal was decided in her favor.
The petition, which has 24,571 signatures as of Monday afternoon and is addressed to OU President Joseph Harroz, demands OU:
- Release full details on the process resulting in Curth being placed on administrative leave in December.
- Publicly reaffirm the right of OU instructors to teach, grade and research “free of political interference, unlawful mandates or pressures that inhibit authentic engagement.”
- Work with the campus community to develop a Harassment Response and Prevention plan to provide guidelines for responding to political attacks.
“OU’s decision to place the instructor on administrative leave following a routine grading dispute — a decision it has yet to adequately explain — and subsequent failure to defend her from harassment and discrimination, including reported death threats, raises serious concerns about the University’s commitment to educational standards, academic freedom and instructor safety,” the petition reads.
OU’s Faculty Handbook pulls its definition of “academic freedom” from the AAUP:
“As teachers, faculty members encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students,” the policy reads. “They hold before them the best scholarly and ethical standards of their discipline. Faculty members demonstrate respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors. Faculty members make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to ensure that their evaluations of students reflect each student’s true merit.”
OU-AAUP President Michael Givel said the university’s actions open a “can of worms” for academic freedom and scholarly integrity.
“There’s a crisis at OU,” Givel said. “… are there concrete standards, in terms of academic integrity, scientific values, scholarly research? Or do instructors and anybody else have to worry about somebody who doesn’t like their grade claiming they’ve been discriminated against based on, supposedly, religion?”
Givel said the AAUP chapter wants clarity on the university’s response process for student discrimination complaints — a process he said is not in writing.
The case has drawn backlash from all sides. In November, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt posted on social media, calling for the OU Board of Regents to review the investigation. National publications have taken notice. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the incident “intellectual rot in higher education.”
In December, hundreds of supporters gathered at OU’s Norman campus to protest Curth’s suspension.
Fulnecky has since spoken to media outlets and at a recent event hosted by local conservative group Original Constitutional Principles Affecting Culture.
“I was asked to give my opinion, and I gave my opinion,” Fulnecky said at the event. “I’ve gotten 100% on every essay I’ve written in that class.”
Punitive measures for universities are also making their way to the state Capitol. Last week, Rep. Gabe Woolley (R-Broken Arrow) filed House Joint Resolution 1037, which would grant the legislature the authority to freeze, suspend or withhold up to 100% of state-appropriated funds recommended for allocation to a higher education institution within the Oklahoma State System for Higher Education. If approved, the measure would be placed on a statewide ballot.
OU did not return a request for comment on the AAUP’s petition. Givel said his organization will decide what it will do next if the university does not respond to the demands.
This article was originally published by StateImpact Oklahoma. StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond.
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A homeless man sleeps in a sleeping bag. (Photo by Paul Bradbury/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A legislative measure that seeks to slap restrictions on where homeless shelters can operate across most of Oklahoma is a misguided effort that will cause more harm to an already marginalized community, some advocates say.
Critics of Senate Bill 484, which prevents new homeless shelters from being built within 3,000 feet of a school or school property, said while the legislation appears targeted at registered sex offenders, it would create unintended consequences for unhoused families. They said there are better solutions to address the issue.
Kori Hall, chief programs officer for City Care, an Oklahoma City service provider for homeless people, said lawmakers envision schools and churches as a place where children can access services, and they pass legislation restricting sex offenders from accessing those areas.
But Hall said this bill, which could be considered by the House when lawmakers reconvene in February, has the potential to harm those youth too because a lot of people experiencing homelessness and utilizing services and shelters are families with children.
“Children need to be able to have access to shelters and also to school,” she said. “So creating that distance barrier can kind of be a barrier for them to receive both of the services that they need.”
Hall said her organization is located less than a 0.5 miles from three different elementary schools, and they’ve never had an issue.
“Those schools partner with us because people staying in our shelter have kids who go to their schools,” she said. “It’s actually a benefit for them to have those families close because it makes sure that their kids can go to school and not have truancy.”
The bill would apply to every Oklahoma city with populations of less than 300,000. Only Oklahoma City and Tulsa have populations greater than that. Existing homeless, domestic violence and youth shelters and those operating within places of worship would be exempt.
According to the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress, a report compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 5,467 people experienced homelessness in Oklahoma in 2024, a 17.6% increase from the previous year. Of those, 1,060 were “people in families with children,” and 450 were “unaccompanied youth,” a term for minors who are not under the care of a parent or legal guardian.
State Sen. Lisa Standridge, R-Norman, who authored the measure did not respond to requests for comment, but in January 2025 said the bill is intended to address public safety.
“That’s a constituent bill from my town of Norman which is absolutely a Dumpster fire right now, and what they’ve done to allow the homeless to establish a vagrant nation, if you will … The public safety at Norman is at risk,” she said.
Standridge’s bill narrowly cleared the state Senate last year and is available to be considered by the House when lawmakers reconvene in February.
Norman Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman, whose city would be impacted by the legislation, said the measure seems “arbitrary, capricious, potentially discriminatory” in that it exempts Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
“It obviously doesn’t really address or solve the issue of homelessness at all,” Holman said. “And it aims to take away the ability for local residents to decide for what we think is best for our own communities. (I am) hoping that we can work with Senator Standridge and other state representatives on ways to actually address the root causes of homelessness and why it’s such a big issue in the state of Oklahoma statewide.”
Cleveland County, where Norman is located, experienced an approximate 12.7% increase in the total number of homeless in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to a 2024 Point in Time Count, an annual census of people experiencing homelessness.
Holman said lawmakers could help his community by determining the future of the state mental hospital that is in Norman, as well as the future of the services it provides to the homeless population located in that area.
“And, if we can more adequately address the shortage of housing, we can prevent more people from becoming homeless, then the homeless issue is easier and less expensive to deal with, ideally,” he said.
He said it would also help if lawmakers also adequately funded mental health services.
Alissa Gilmore, program director and treasurer of the Micah Community Movement, an Oklahoma City-based homelessness service organization, said she doesn’t see any positives to Standridge’s bill.
She said systematic issues in society create homelessness.
Increased access to mental health and affordable drug addiction treatment would both be better solutions.
“Those are things that help to solve homelessness, not just move it around,” Gilmore said. “This kind of bill does nothing to solve homelessness. It basically just moves it around. It’s not an attempt to make anything better.”
Editor’s note: This story was produced through a reporting partnership between Oklahoma Voice and the University of Central Oklahoma’s journalism program.
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]]>Voters wait in line outside the Oklahoma County Election Board on Oct. 30 to cast a vote in the Nov. 5 election. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A new political party hopes to gather enough signatures to appear on this year’s ballot.
The Sooner State Party must gather 35,000 signatures by Feb. 20 to become a recognized political party, said co-founder C.J. Webber-Neal.
Webber-Neal said supporters have gathered 22,000 signatures.
The Sooner State Party formed in July and has about 45 members, he said. If approved, the party plans to open its primaries to independent voters for every election, he said.
Currently, independent voters are barred from participating in all state’s partisan primary elections after the State Election Board last year determined no party submitted the proper paperwork to open its primaries.
State law presumes partisan primaries are closed to unaffiliated voters unless a political party notifies the state Election Board within a specific time frame that it will open them to independents, who are not a recognized political party.
Democrats had previously opened primaries to independents, while Republicans and Libertarians had not.
Webber-Neal said when news broke that independents couldn’t vote in any partisan primary, the group received so much website traffic that it crashed their site.
Webber-Neal said the Sooner State Party is more aligned with independents than Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians.
Webber-Neal said the Sooner State Party supports tribal sovereignty and abortion rights.
It also supports the Second Amendment and responsible gun ownership, he said.
The “party is not trying to go to the extreme and putting a bunch of bans on weapons, because that is an infringement,” Webber-Neal said. “But we do believe in responsibility. We do believe that if you take the responsibility to purchase a firearm, you should also take the responsibility to be able to know how to use that firearm.”
The party does support some of the state’s recent tax cuts, but believes reform is needed, he said.
The group also supports increasing the minimum wage to make it livable, he said.
The party does not yet have an official position on LGBTQ+ rights, but has formed an affiliated caucus to create one.
Generally speaking, the Sooner State Party does support LGBTQ+ rights, he said.
The Libertarian Party was the last to gain access to the ballot in 2016 and has retained that access, said Misha Mohr, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Election Board.
“There have been a number of groups that have attempted to get on the ballot over the years,” she said.
Oklahoma law allows the formation of new political parties if supporters can collect signatures from at least 3% of the registered voters who cast ballots during the previous gubernatorial election.
In order to continue to exist, a political party then must have a candidate receive at least 2.5% of total votes for a statewide elected office in one of the two preceding general elections, according to state law.
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