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Bills that would apply Oklahoma's Open Records and Meetings Law to the state Legislature haven't gotten so much as a committee hearing in recent years. Lawmakers’ emails to lobbyists, calendars, call logs and other records that could give the public insight into the bills they craft are set to remain secret for at least another year. A bill that would’ve ended Oklahoma’s status as one of a handful of states that allows the legislature to exempt itself from open records and meeting laws quietly, and with little fanfare, failed to clear a key l...
Several Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to add hurdles for citizen-led groups to pass the type of state questions that legalized medical marijuana, expanded Medicaid and won voter support despite Republican leaders opposition in recent years. More than a dozen bills up for consideration, all authored by GOP legislators, seek to either tighten requirements for citizen-led voter initiatives to get on the ballot or increase the threshold for some of the proposals to pass on election day. These...
EDMOND — Paul Blair says he doesn’t have a stance on whether his congregation should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The 58-year-old cancer survivor is convinced he doesn’t need the shot. And he tells members of Fairview Baptist Church that it’s up to them to decide if they need it. But when Blair, a former Oklahoma State and Chicago Bears offensive lineman and two-time unsuccessful Republican legislative candidate, stands in the pulpit on Sunday mornings, he leans into what he really thinks about the virus that has killed about 14,000 Oklahom...
Driving south from downtown Oklahoma City, it is hard to miss the sudden culture shift. Spanish-language signs and billboards line many streets, such as Southwest 29th Street, where the number of Hispanic-owned bakeries, restaurants, mechanic shops and other businesses has significantly increased over the past decade. Oklahoma's Hispanic population grew more than any other demographic group over the last 10 years, with Oklahoma City's southwest side fueling much of the growth. The increase in... Full story
Oklahoma's only competitive congressional district over the past decade could return to firm Republican control - or it could be changed to give Democrats the best chance they've seen in years. State lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Nov. 15 for a special session to complete their once-every-decade redistricting work. In addition to rewriting the boundaries for legislative districts, the Legislature is also tasked with creating a new map for the state's five congressional seats. Since... Full story
Lawmakers will be returning to the State Capitol this fall for a special session to carry out the once-a-decade task of redrawing legislative and congressional boundaries. Gov. Kevin Stitt announced last week that he is calling lawmakers into a special session on Nov. 15 to solely focus on redistricting work that must be completed this year. State officials originally hoped to finish months ago. A delay from the U.S. Census Bureau in delivering the data caused states, including Oklahoma, to scramble to finish in time for the 2022 elections....
Dr. Douglas Drevets recalls feeling a burst of optimism when the year began. The state’s long and deadly battle against Covid-19 seemed to have turned a corner as Oklahoma emerged as one of the top states in vaccinating eligible populations. But that wouldn’t last long. Oklahoma, once in the top 10 states for getting residents vaccinated, is now 12th worst in the country with more than 57% of the state still unvaccinated. “I think we are all tired and we feel extremely disappointed that we had an opportunity and lost it,” said Drevets, who is...
Oklahoma is about to go on a multi-billion dollar spending spree – but there’s a catch, actually several. Oklahoma, like other states, has already doled out hundreds of millions of federal dollars on Covid-19 response efforts through Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) funding that was approved by Congress last year. State leaders, however, have another reservoir of money to spend thanks to a new relief package – the American Rescue Plan Act – that President Joe Biden signed into law in March. The new law will send ab...
Dr. Daniel Joyce has been giving out a different type of news to patients at Lawton’s Hearts That Care Clinic. Joyce, who runs the non-profit free clinic, has been talking to them to see if they’ll be eligible for free health coverage under the state’s Medicaid expansion that took effect Thursday. Time after time, he’s found many have been shocked – albeit pleasantly so. “I have one patient who’s been without insurance for about 10 years,” he said. “We got them the information (about Medicaid expansion) and they came back in tears saying ‘I g... Full story
Armed with its largest supermajority in the state’s history, Republican lawmakers found increased legislative success this year as the number of successful bills written by Democrats fell. An Oklahoma Watch review found that of the nearly 600 bills that made it through the legislative process, only 28 had Democrats as the bill’s original lead sponsor. That total is the lowest number of Democratic-originated bills to be signed by the governor during the opening year of a new Legislature since at least 2013. With Democrats introducing about 540...
Oklahoma lawmakers closed this year’s legislative session after spending four months debating and voting on bills that will have lasting impacts. Here’s a look at how different segments of Oklahoma’s population will feel the impact of some bills that the Legislature passed, or didn’t pass. Taxpayers The Big Impact: All Oklahomans will see their personal state income taxes go down slightly due to House Bill 2962. The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2022, cuts individual income tax rates by 0.25%, by lowering the top rate from 5% to 4.75%.... Full story
It didn’t take long for arguably the most important bill of the 2021 session to work its way through the often-times tedious and laborious legislative process. A week and three hours after Gov. Kevin Stitt and Republican leaders announced the framework of the state’s $8.8 billion spending plan, the annual budget bill passed the Legislature Thursday on its way to the governor’s desk. The budget, along with companion bills that include hundreds of million in tax cuts, passed largely along party-line votes in the GOP-controlled House and Senat... Full story
Robin Gurwitch knows all too well about loss. Gurwitch was working as a psychologist and program director at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center on April 19, 1995. After the bombing at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, she was among the first responders to provide mental health services to victims and their families. Now a professor at Duke University Medical Center, Gurwitch is one of the nation’s leading authorities on grieving with a resume that includes working with victims of 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and a long list...
Oklahoma’s legislative districts are set to look much different for many voters next election season. Republican House and Senate leaders unveiled their proposed legislative redistricting plans this week, setting up potential floor votes on the packages. Because of a delay from the U.S. Census Bureau in releasing its data, Oklahoma and states across the country have yet to receive the final population figures used to redraw state and legislative and congressional districts every decade. That means Oklahoma lawmakers will have to return for a s...
Last year’s vote to expand Oklahoma’s Medicaid program will provide the state with a half-billion-dollar windfall thanks to the recently passed federal stimulus bill. Oklahoma Health Care Authority officials confirmed this week that the state will qualify for a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act that adds a new incentive for the 12 states that have yet to expand their Medicaid programs. Last June, voters narrowly approved State Question 802, which will extend health coverage to an estimated 200,000 Oklahomans. The expansion off...
More than half a year after voters approved a state question that will require Oklahoma to offer health coverage to more than 200,000 low-income adults, state officials are still unsure how they’ll pay it. The passage of State Question 802 last June started a countdown for the state to start enrolling newly eligible Oklahomans in the state’s Medicaid program, known as Soonercare, by July 1. But, with Oklahoma’s legislative session underway, there still isn’t an agreement on how the state will fund it. And Gov. Kevin Stitt’s recent push to priva...
Gov. Kevin Stitt finds himself in much different times than when he took office just over two years ago. As the Covid-19 pandemic has loomed large over much of Stitt's first term, unemployment is down, the state's budget picture is shakier – but not quite as bad as some feared – and much work remains to be done to curb the virus that has already killed more than 3,420 Oklahomans in the last 9 months. After two years in office, Stitt has also found himself on the winning and losing end of sev...
President Donald Trump offered a warning to Oklahoma and other energy-rich states during the final months of his unsuccessful re-election bid. The president cautioned that if Joe Biden won, the new Democratic president would quickly take action on an aggressive climate-change agenda, specifically by banning fracking across the country, a move he said would eliminate thousands of oil and gas jobs. "Well, that means Texas is going to be one of the most unemployed states in our country," the...
Americans across the country woke up Wednesday to an undecided presidential election that could take days, or even weeks, to be decided. The contest between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden hangs in the balance as crucial swing states continue to count votes and process absentee ballots. But in Oklahoma, where all votes were counted and reported shortly after midnight, the results were much more clear as Republicans captured key wins across the state. In addition to the GOP taking back a hard-fought congressional...
The lineup for November’s general election is set. Tuesday’s runoff election finalized Oklahoma’s high-profile congressional fifth district race. Meanwhile, several incumbent Republicans lost key seats in the Legislature and elsewhere, potentially setting up tight races this fall. As the dust settles on Oklahoma’s latest election, here is a look at how Tuesday will impact the general election. Experts Predict Tight Horn vs. Bice Contest The biggest win of the night, at least in terms of statewide and national interest, went to state Sen. St...
Oklahoma, one of 10 states that doesn’t offer online voter registration, has seen a sharp decline in new voter sign-ups this year as COVID-19 has created new challenges for in-person get-out-the-vote efforts. State election board numbers requested by Oklahoma Watch show new voter registrations this year through the end of July are down nearly 22%, or a drop of 30,000 voters, compared to this point in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. What started out as a normal year quickly changed when coronavirus fears began to spread in late Fe...
In a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision, justices ruled Thursday that much of eastern Oklahoma has been, contrary to the state's long-standing belief, part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation. The McGirt V. Oklahoma ruling clarified that the tribal lands, covering millions of square acres including Tulsa and the surrounding area, were never officially dissolved when Oklahoma achieved statehood. In a narrow sense, this means that Jimmy McGirt, a 71-year-old Creek Nation man serving a...
After years of debate and aborted legislative proposals, voters have done what Oklahoma lawmakers have long resisted. With a razor-thin 50.5% of the vote, Oklahomans approved a state question Tuesday to expand the state's Medicaid program and extend health coverage to an estimated 215,000 low-income adults. Tuesday's vote capped off a long-running and high-stakes dispute in the State Capitol over whether Oklahoma should join the 36 other states that have accepted the expansion, a key part of...
Months before the Memorial Day death of George Floyd and the weeks of nationwide protests that followed, Oklahoma's Legislature had a chance to take up issues that today dominate the headlines. Lawmakers introduced a set of bills at the start of the year that would curb the use of excessive force by police, broaden the use of body cameras, require lawmakers to consider the impact of new laws, create an Oklahoma Commission on Race and Equality and set up a policing standards task force. All...
As protests over racial policing practices continue to rage across Oklahoma and the nation, a milestone in Oklahoma's racial history will quietly pass later this week. Friday, June 5, will mark the 20th anniversary of the passage of a state law that for the first time explicitly banned racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. The law made it a misdemeanor crime for officers to stop, detain or arrest someone based on their race or ethnicity. Shortly after the bill was signed into law in June...
