On Tuesday, the National Day of Teacher Appreciation, the Oklahoma House of Representatives rejected a hefty teacher pay raise proposal and passed a voucher-like tax credit program — sort of. Here's the newest legislative chess move and what that could mean for education funding.
House Bill 1934 would give public dollars to families to use for private school or homeschool tuition and expenses. The issue has spawned weeks of back-and-forth at the Capitol, with the most recent iteration including a few guardrails the House doesn’t love, but appears to be stomaching. But it’s not hitting the governor’s desk just yet.
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to serve notice that on some future legislative date, I might like to reconsider the vote whereby House Bill 1934 passed," said House Speaker Charles McCall.
That's House Speaker using the rare procedural move of capturing a bill. That gives the House some leverage to negotiate on the Senate’s newly amended version of the other big education bill — House Bill 2672. That includes teacher raises, school employee stipends and new school funding. But House leaders claim the measures aren’t fully funded, and the bill lacks the House’s Oklahoma Student Fund, which gives smaller districts disproportionately more money per student than large districts.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat says the House is trying to force the Senate’s hand to revisit the funding bill, or else the House will kill the tax credit bill. He calls for state leaders to hold a public meeting with all plans on the table, to “let the public see what we continue to argue about.”
The Oklahoma County Jail Trust has selected a new CEO.
Brandi Gardner, who has served as the jail trust’s interim CEO since last December, was chosen to take on the position permanently earlier this week.
She succeeds Greg Williams, who resigned in December amid safety and health concerns about the Oklahoma County Jail, including many inmate deaths at the facility. Forty-three inmates have died since the trust took control of the jail in 2020 - seven of which died since Gardner became interim CEO.
This comes after a multi-county grand jury released a report in March which cited issues with the administration as the main causes of inmate deaths. The report also recommended the jail trust dissolve and return control of the jail to the county sheriff.
Oklahoma's tribal nations may not be able offer sports betting, but in neighboring Kansas-that's not the case.
The Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation is on track to become the first tribal nation in Kansas to offer sports betting at its casino after the state legislature updated its existing gaming compact.
The tribal nation negotiated a gaming compact with the state in 1995. In 2017, it was a multimillion dollar enterprise with an expansion to its casino and resort that included more floor space and gaming machines.
Sports betting was legalized in Kansas in 2022. Oklahoma's efforts to legalize sports betting have failed in both the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions.
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