Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for minors in May. Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond is signing on to an agreement to not enforce that law for now.
Despite fervent protests from the state’s few Democratic lawmakers and trans-rights advocates, the ban on gender-affirming care passed through the state legislature and was eagerly signed by the governor.
But now, Attorney General Drummond is joining with the ACLU, the families of transgender adolescents and medical providers in a non-enforcement agreement as federal litigation over the law continues.
While the agreement makes it clear the AG isn’t conceding anything or acknowledging any harm, it does instruct him not to enforce the law for the time being.
In a statement, Drummond's office says a temporary stay of enforcement allows more time to mount the strongest possible defense of the legislation.
Oklahoma lawmakers are considering measures to cut Gov. Kevin Stitt out of negotiations with the state’s Native American tribes on tobacco and fuel compacts.
Stitt’s frosty relationship with tribal nations has made negotiations tough in the past.
During his first term, the governor and the tribes publicly feuded over gaming compacts.
Representative Kevin Wallace says the two measures up for consideration – House Bills 2898 and 2899 would simply keep the status quo on tobacco and fuel compacts.
"This just extends the existing language of the compacts that was already in place. And of course the sunset or the expiration would be January 2028," said Wallace.
That’s after Stitt will be term limited out of office.
It’s unclear if the bills will ultimately pass both chambers, and Stitt has used his veto pen liberally so far this session. But, lawmakers did recently take action to potentially override his vetoes and take up other matters after the traditional end to the legislative calendar next week.
The education funding stalemate is coming to a close. So after months of negotiations, what made the cut? Here's a break down one of the recent additions to the final package — a 3-year pilot program supporting reading proficiency.
Senate Bill 1118 would put $10 million over three years into the program, which would employ a literacy instructional team of five people placed regionally around the state. The team would help districts with screening and support for dyslexia and other reading disabilities. A minimum of ten additional people would also be designated as literacy specialists.
Tulsa Republican Sen. Dave Rader presented the bill, and he says more specifics are still to-be-decided.
"The details are for the state board to set up, and for them to use the funds in this pilot program as best they can to improve, or meet the goals, or attempt to meet the goals that are set out in the bill," said Rader.
The department would submit a report to the governor, pro tem and house speaker by the end of 2026, which includes districts’ evaluations of the program, data on the program’s literacy impact, and any recommendations on the Reading Sufficiency Act — that’s the state’s effort to ensure all Oklahoma third-graders are reading on-level.
The joint committee report still needs to go through the House before it hits the governor’s desk.
A former Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor will be the next president of the University of Central Oklahoma.
The Board of Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma announced they were appointing Todd Lamb as the next president of the Edmond school.
Lamb was Lt. Governor during the Mary Fallin administration after serving as a state senator for six years.
He will officially start his new job July 1.
A collaboration between the Chickasaw Nation and Apple is helping bring the Chickasaw language into the digital age-one keyboard stroke at a time.
The Chickasaw language is called Chikashshanompa. And for the first time, a keyboard for it is available now for iPhone, iPad and Apple computers.
The new keyboard enables users to type in the Chickasaw language on their apple device and includes a special character for pitch accents and nasal vowels.
Gov. Bill Anoatubby says this device and collaboration with Apple is a positive step towards language revitalization, a major priority for the tribal nation.
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