Gov. Stitt Vetoes Measure Meant To Protect Oklahoma Cabinet Members From Recent AG Opinion
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt broke out his veto pen for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday afternoon.
The state’s chief executive says a bill protecting one of his cabinet members from a recent Attorney General opinion is unnecessary.
Gentner Drummond’s opinion rules Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur, and other cabinet members who are also the directors of state agencies, have to pick one appointed or elected office to serve in.
Senate Bill 1196 was meant to safeguard Arthur from having to vacate her office following the opinion, as she is also Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.
Stitt says he appreciates the proposed legislation, but that it’s “unnecessary because the law is already clear.”
His veto comes days after Stitt sued Drummond. He argues Drummond’s opinion is a political attack, not based in the law, and Arthur can keep her posts.
“[Arthur] is one of the most respected Agriculture professionals in the nation and we are lucky to have her here in Oklahoma,” Stitt wrote in his veto message. “Without question, she will continue to operate as my Secretary of Agriculture and as the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.”
Drummond responded with a statement, criticizing the governor for the veto, referencing Arthur as well as Susan Winchester, who serves as a regent for the Regional University System of Oklahoma and Secretary of Licensing and Regulation.
"The Governor could have approved these exemptions and allowed his appointees to continue serving without any uncertainty regarding their proper status. However, his veto makes clear that he is more interested in pursuing needless litigation than working with policymakers to solve the problem," Drummond said in the written statement.
Two former members of the governor’s cabinet have recently left their roles in the wake of the opinion.
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell resigned as Secretary of Workforce Development Wednesday morning, hours before Drummond’s press release containing the opinion was published.
Pinnell was followed later that day by Department of Transportation director, Tim Gatz, who gave up his appointments as Secretary of Transportation and Executive Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
Indigenous Language Programs Increase In Popularity
Enrollment in Native American language programs is growing in Oklahoma public schools, according to information from the state Department of Education.
At least 3,314 students, from elementary through high school, participated in an Indigenous language program at their public school in the 2022-23 school year. That’s over 1,000 more students than the previous school year and 2,500 more than in 2020-21, according to state data.
Last year’s total includes about 1,600 elementary and middle school students who participated in Indigenous language programs.
Another 1,700 students earned high school world language credits by taking Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Comanche, Mvskoke, Osage, Pawnee, Potawatomi, the Otoe-Missouria language of Jiwere-Nat’Chi, and other courses. The right to take an Indigenous language for high school credit was encoded in state law in 2014.
Choctaw and Cherokee classes had the most participating students and were offered in the greatest number of schools, according to the state Education Department.
The Cherokee Nation aims to grow its numbers with plans for a $30 million language immersion middle school. The investment would expand the capacity of its existing immersion middle school that teaches in the Cherokee tongue.
The tribal nation has pledged to spend at least $18 million a year on various language-preservation initiatives.
“We know we’ve got people on the way to fluency in what is a very difficult language to learn,” Hoskin said. “We just need to have more of them, given what we’re up against.”
The Cherokee language has 2,000 first-language speakers and thousands more at a beginner or proficient level.
UNESCO labels Cherokee as a language in danger of extinction. Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Potawatomi and other tribal languages found in Oklahoma also are designated as endangered.
Generations of Indigenous children were discouraged or forbidden from speaking their tribal languages at federally run boarding schools across the country for 150 years, according to a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The boarding schools existed to culturally assimilate Native American children, and Oklahoma had more of these schools than any other state, the report found.
Tribal nations are now working to rebuild their ranks of fluent speakers.
The Choctaw Nation, for example, has its language taught in the greatest number of high schools in Oklahoma, as well as at colleges, early childhood centers, community classes and online. Fifteen adults are taking Choctaw as a full-time job through the tribal nation’s apprenticeship program.
Many Native American languages have a high degree of difficulty for English speakers to learn, according to state academic standards.
Cherokee, for instance, is a Class IV language, indicating it would take a similar number of hours to gain proficiency as it would to learn Greek, Hebrew or Russian. Languages more similar to English — like Spanish, Swedish and French — would take fewer hours of study to reach the same proficiency level.
Indigenous language courses must be sanctioned by the state Education Department for students to earn class credit.
In most public schools, the language teachers and lesson plans come from tribal nations, said Jackie White, the state agency’s program director of American Indian education.
“We wanted to make sure, whomever taught, that they were fluent speakers and that what they taught was credible,” White said.
White joined the agency in 2020. Since then, the department has expanded its Native American education staff, helping to boost communication between tribes, schools and the agency about Indigenous-focused programs.
Those conversations have included expanding tribal language courses to more schools through both in-person instruction and online teaching, White said.
Bartlesville High School is among the schools to recently add a face-to-face Indigenous language course. Only minutes away from the Osage Reservation, the northeast Oklahoma school is in its third year offering Osage language classes.
The school has 35 students enrolled in Osage I and 27 in Osage II, said Principal Michael Harp. He said the courses have attracted a diverse group of students, not only those who are Native American.
Interest in Indigenous culture has grown, he said, especially with movie filming of “Killers of the Flower Moon” taking place in the Bartlesville area.
“There definitely has been an uptick in the last couple of years of just students wanting to know more about their heritage, the culture (and) the culture that is around them,” Harp said.
*This story by Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.
Tulsa's transit system has a new name: MetroLink
Members of the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority were joined by Mayor G.T. Bynum, Councilor Jeannie Cue and others Monday to officially unveil the transit system's new look and name.
"MetroLink Tulsa," a rebrand which was approved by the MTTA board in December, will begin popping up on the sides of busses and vans in the coming months.
"A lot of work went into this," said Scott Marr, the MTTA's general manager, in front of a small audience at Midtown Memorial Station. Marr said it took nearly two years for the transit authority to finalize the rebrand.
"We've been Tulsa Transit since 1980. 45 years. We've made so many changes to our services. No bigger change than this name change today."
Bynum praised the new look, emphasizing it was part of a larger metamorphosis.
“Our public transit system in Tulsa has really radically transformed over the last decade," Bynum said. "It is not just the old clunker bus system that so many of us knew for decades."
The MTTA began operation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in 2019, which runs straight along Peoria Avenue. The transit authority is still working on one for Route 66, which has been delayed due to budget constraints.
MTTA reports ridership numbers are in recovery after plunging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We’ve seen our ridership increase by 100,000 a month," said Marr. "So, we’re getting back to those pre-COVID numbers.”
Marr, who took over the the city's top transit job in 2022, is confident the uptick in ridership shows a strong future for MetroLink.
The new name could also open up optional partnerships in the greater Tulsa metro area, something Bynum alluded to.
"Connecting people throughout our metro area is going to make us more economically competitive in the future," he said.
"We want to shift public transit from being a vehicle of last resort to a vehicle of choice."
In addition to the BRT, Tulsa's existing fixed bus routes have been complimented over the years by additions like Micro Transit, a quasi-ride-sharing option within certain zones that connects riders to other bus routes.
Bynum emphasized that the transit system's improvements must be small before major investments, such as light rail, can be put on the table.
"15 years ago, being in town hall meetings, people were saying 'oh, we want light rail, we see all these great cities have light rail.' Well, light rail is extremely expensive," he said.
Bynum said Tulsans need to become more accustomed to public transit as a choice mode of transportation before moving on to bigger investments.
"You don't jump out and do that when you don't have proven ridership," he said.
Will Rogers World Airport Adds To Accessibility Options
Will Rogers World Airport launched a new program for people who have hidden disabilities like autism, anxiety or epilepsy.
Travelers can request a branded lanyard to inform airport employees that they may need some extra time or in some cases, extra help.
The airport says passengers can discreetly pick- up a lanyard from the volunteer information booths.... located in baggage claim and the ticket counter level.
Airline agents at the ticket counters can also provide the special lanyard.
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