Oklahoma Dried Out in a Single Week, and the Burn Ban Machinery Is Switching On
Thursday's Drought Monitor caught a flash drought at full sprint — nearly 96 percent of the state is now dry. Here is the law that turns maps into burn bans.
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JUL 15 — AUG 6 · 19 FILEDEvery Registered Voter Gets a Ballot on August 25, Including the Half Million Shut Out of the Runoffs
The August 25 election is usually described as a runoff, and it is — Republicans will settle nominations for governor, state superintendent, labor commissioner and insurance commissioner, Democrats w…
Oklahoma's Private School Tax Credit Keeps Drifting Toward Its Wealthiest Applicants
Three years into the Parental Choice Tax Credit, the taxpayer-funded program that helps Oklahoma families pay private school tuition is tilting further toward its highest earners. Allocation data fro…
A $4 Billion Aluminum Smelter Now Divides the Two Republicans Left in the Governor's Race
Attorney General Gentner Drummond and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei shared a debate stage Monday night, televised statewide on News 9 in Oklahoma City and News On 6 in Tulsa, three weeks before the A…
State Question 844 Would End a 40-Year Constitutional Promise to Repay Schools for Manufacturers' Tax Breaks
In 1985, Oklahoma voters struck a bargain with industry. State Question 588 gave new and expanding manufacturers a five-year exemption from local property taxes, and in exchange the constitution prom…
On August 25, State Question 846 Asks Oklahoma to Write Voter ID Into the Constitution
When Oklahomans go to the polls August 25, every registered voter — Republican, Democrat, independent or Libertarian — will find State Question 846 on the ballot. The measure would add a new section …
On November 1, Trading on Government Information Becomes a Felony at the County Level Too
Oklahoma made it a felony in 2025 for an officer, employee, or contractor of a state agency to use non-public information acquired in that role for personal financial gain. House Bill 3419 takes the …
Two Names Most Voters Cannot Place Are One Election From Running Oklahoma's Schools
The office that sets accreditation, publishes the report cards, and moves the money that reaches classrooms is open, and it is being decided in an August runoff almost nobody is watching. Lindel Fiel…
The Paperwork Starts in December. The Work Requirement Starts After That.
Two changes to SoonerCare are coming in sequence, and the first one is not the one people are arguing about. Beginning in December, adults in Oklahoma's Medicaid expansion population renew their elig…
The Wheat Came in at Half, and the Herd Is Being Sold Into It
Oklahoma harvested roughly half a wheat crop this year. Production was put at 48.9 million bushels against 101.1 million in 2025 — 2.043 million harvested acres at an average of 23.93 bushels. The es…
Two Utilities Signed a Pledge in July. The Document That Binds Them Is Still on the Commission's Docket.
On July 24, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma announced its support for the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a White House initiative under which participating companies commit to paying for the gen…
Four-Tenths of a Point Sent This to August, and August Is a Different Electorate
Oklahoma picks its Republican nominee for governor on August 25, and the margin that produced that runoff is smaller than most people think. The June 16 primary put Attorney General Gentner Drummond …
Your District Is Writing Its Phone Policy This Month. You Have About Three Weeks.
The statewide school cellphone ban is settled law. House Bill 1276, signed in May, made the previously temporary bell-to-bell restriction permanent, and it took effect July 1. Phones, smart watches, …
One Contract in Stillwater Is About to Become the Template for All of Them
A 75-megawatt threshold, a Google deal, and the tariff every future data center will be judged against.
A COLA for Retired Public Employees, and a Literacy Bet on the Early Grades
Ask legislators what the 2026 session produced and two answers come back: a cost-of-living adjustment for retired public employees, and a literacy overhaul aimed at the early grades. The COLA is over…
A Security Fee for Campus Events, and a New Claim on What Faculty Invent
Two of the higher-education measures that took effect on July 1 will generate more argument than their length suggests. Senate Bill 1725 allows colleges and universities to charge a security fee for …
The Court Drew a Line Between Criminal Jurisdiction and the Tax Bill
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal in Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, leaving in place an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that tribal citizens remain subject to state income tax. …
Who Gets to Call a Burn Ban, and Why Counties Have Been Asking
Oklahoma spent part of 2026 under a zero-tolerance burn ban covering 43 counties, Tulsa, Creek and Rogers among them. Under a ban, outdoor burning stops: controlled burns, bonfires, fire pits, chimin…
Every Six Months, Then Eighty Hours: The SoonerCare Calendar Is About to Change
SoonerCare covers about 1.1 million Oklahomans. The rules that keep them covered are about to change on a schedule worth marking now, because the failure mode here is paperwork rather than policy. Un…
Oklahoma Promised Automatic Expungement. The Software Is Late.
Oklahoma's Clean Slate law was supposed to remove the paperwork from a process that has always punished people for not having a lawyer. Records that already qualified for expungement under existing l…
