New Minority Leader For State Senate
Democrats in the state Senate have elected new leadership.
Oklahoma City Senator Julia Kirt was selected to be the next minority leader.
Kirt is succeeding Kay Floyd, who is term-limited and will be leaving the chamber after this session.
Kirt flipped a seat formerly held by OKC’s GOP mayor David Holt in 2018. She previously led arts and culture nonprofit organizations for nearly two decades.
The nonprofit newsroom Oklahoma Voice reports it’s common for parties to elect new leaders in advance of a current one hitting a term limit.
It’s unclear if Republicans will replace Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat as he gets ready for his own term limit.
OKC Arena Voter Turnout, Next Steps
When Oklahoma City residents approved a sales tax to fund a new Thunder arena they did so with almost record-setting enthusiasm. Here's how that vote compares to previous sales tax propositions, and what’s next for the arena.
Nearly 58,000 people cast ballots in Oklahoma City’s local election this week, and 71% of them voted for a penny sales tax to fund a new Thunder arena.
That’s the second-largest margin of any other sales tax proposition in the past five decades — only MAPS 4 topped it with 72% in 2019.
Now that voters have approved the tax bump, OKC still has a lot to figure out about the new $900-million arena.
City Manager Craig Freeman says city officials are looking for a location — options include sites directly north or directly west of the Paycom Center.
They’re also seeking architectural and engineering services to design the arena and say they hope it’ll be ready for the 2029 NBA season.
Medical Marijuana Pregnancy Prosecution
Medical marijuana has been legal in Oklahoma since the passage of State Question 788 in 2018.
But since then, multiple women have been prosecuted for using prescribed pot.
That's because the women were pregnant.
Pregnancy Justice, an advocacy group based in New York, filed an application with the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to put a stop to the prosecution of women who use medical marijuana during their pregnancies.
The group said in a news release that Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, which went into effect in 2019, legalized medical marijuana for all adults with valid licenses from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.
Despite this, reporting from The Frontier found at least eight Oklahoma women with state-issued medical marijuana cards have been charged with felony child neglect for using marijuana during their pregnancies since 2019.
This charge comes with the potential of a life sentence.
Oklahoma City Community Foundation Awards $4.1 Million To Students
Nearly a thousand students in Oklahoma are getting financial help from the state’s largest independent scholarship program.
The Oklahoma City Community Foundation awarded more than $4.1 million in scholarships to more than 930 students throughout the state to pursue educational opportunities.
The organization says it set a record for the number of students and scholarship awards for the 2023-24 academic year.
“The cost of higher education has steadily increased over the past two decades and is a major financial barrier for many students,” said Trisha Finnegan, Oklahoma City Community Foundation President and CEO. “To meet these needs, we’ve increased the number and amounts awarded for scholarships and added a new workforce development scholarship program to assist people seeking additional job training to achieve their career goals.”
The average amount awarded was $4,024.
Several scholarships are renewable to assist with costs beyond one year.
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