Oklahoma Commissioner of Health, Dr. Lance Frye, resigned Friday afternoon, just a day after Governor Kevin Stitt lambasted the agency upon learning it had agreed to issue a birth certificate designating the applicant's gender as non-binary, rather than male or female. The governor also directed harsh rhetoric at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals after it ruled, following U.S. Supreme Court precedent, that Congress has never disestablished the reservation of the Quapaw Nation. The decision made the Quapaw Nation the latest tribal nation in Oklahoma to have its reservation judicially confirmed.

Tribal governments responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma have looked to negotiation to resolve differences with the state of Oklahoma. Chickasaw Nation senior counsel Stephen Greetham discusses frustrations Native American tribes have experienced in pursuing tribal-state dialogue. In the previous episode of Capitol Insider our guest was Gov. Kevin Stitt's special counsel for McGirt matters, Ryan Leonard.

In July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court determined, in McGirt v. Oklahoma, that Oklahoma does not have jurisdiction over crimes committed on tribal land against tribal citizens. The decision has raised concerns about how far the ruling extends into other areas of state-tribal relations. We discuss with the special counsel to Governor Kevin Stitt, Ryan Leonard. In our next episode, we will talk about McGirt with Stephen Greetham, senior counsel to the Chickasaw Nation.

Governor Kevin Stitt has rejected a recommendation to commute the death sentence of Death Row inmate Julius Jones, whose case has drawn national attention. The governor will not make a decision about Jones's fate until after a clemency hearing in late October.

Governor Kevin Stitt has set November 15th as the date for legislators to begin a special session to complete their work on apportioning Oklahoma's legislative and Congressional districts. Due to unexpected figures from the U.S. Census Bureau each district is likely to be affected.

Almost one year after an audit showed financial concerns involving Epic Charter Schools, Governor Kevin Stitt has requested a much larger investigative audit of the State Department of Education

The process will begin soon for legislators to recommend to the governor how they believe the state of Oklahoma should spend nearly two billion dollars in new federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The law created by Senate Bill 658 has hit a temporary road block as Oklahoma County District Court judge Natalie Mai orders a temporary injunction against the provision that prohibited mask mandates in schools.

New laws change the way some state agencies spend their money and how people can order alcoholic drinks. KGOU's Dick Pryor and eCapitol's Shawn Ashley discuss new laws in this Capitol Insider.

As classes begin across the state, the impact of the law created by Senate Bill 658 is forcing increased pressure on the governor and Oklahoma legislature.