TRANSCRIPT
LAYDEN: Let's start with our health reporter, Jillian Taylor. We're going to hear a lot about Medicaid, including cuts on the federal level, new requirements, even expanding coverage related to maternal health.
TAYLOR: Yeah, so there are several policies that address the one big beautiful bill, and so Republicans are following its directive to implement Medicaid work requirements for adults aged 19 through 64, and that's called the expansion population. And then there are other policies that address cost-sharing requirements of $35 for that same population, and then we'll also see some changes to provider taxes, which help finance the state's share of Medicaid.
And then maternal health care is also another big topic with efforts from Democrats to seek Medicaid reimbursement for depression screenings during pregnancy and postpartum.
And then there are some attempts from Republicans to target the distribution of abortion-inducing drugs.
Some Republicans are also renewing efforts to allow providers to object to delivering care if it conflicts with their conscience. This kind of aligns with a recent executive order from Stitt that asks state agencies to review their policies on topics like medical freedom with the goal of weeding out practices that don't support it.
It will also be interesting to see how lawmakers respond to Governor Stitt's ask to send a question to voters that would allow for adjustments to Medicaid expansion. And voters enshrined expansion into the state's constitution, so an amendment is needed to address it.
LAYDEN: Education reporter Beth Wallis, we've seen headlines about the ‘Mississippi Miracle’, which was that state's turnaround for early readers. It looks like lawmakers want to bring that miracle here?
WALLIS: It would seem so. So a little bit of background. On recent national reading tests, only about a quarter of fourth graders tested proficient in Oklahoma. And so there's a hefty handful of bills that would address basically overhauling Oklahoma's literacy policy. So there's some from Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh, as well as the Reads Act from Representative Rob Hall, and several others. But a key provision in all of these bills is third grade retention. And that means holding third graders back if they don't meet literacy targets. It's a key revision. It's also a controversial provision. So we'll see how that fight pans out over the course of the legislative session.
And I think the other policy that should probably be mentioned is making permanent a pilot program to deploy literacy coaches in schools because it's not just about teaching kids how to read, but also about training teachers on the correct way to do that. So it's going to take policy overhaul and it's also gonna take a big price tag and we're not sure if the legislature has the appetite for that this year.
LAYDEN: Well, Beth, we could spend an hour talking about all of the education-related bills up for consideration, but what else stands out to you?
WALLIS: I think as with most legislative sessions, there is also an emphasis on teacher retention and recruitment and the biggest way that that is done usually is through salary raises or proposed salary raises. And so there's one from Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh. He said he's going to be resurrecting a bill from last session but amending it. Rather than it starting minimum salaries at $50,000, which is what it would have done last year had it gone through, it includes a $2,500 pay raise. So a little bit more modest.
There's also another from Senator Carri Hicks that would up the minimum salary schedule. Oklahoma's average teacher pay is about on par with middle of the country, but the minimum salaried schedule, so the starting pay for first year teachers, is quite low. And so this would address that by pushing that bottom floor up.
There's a few other bills that I think probably get quite a bit of attention, especially in terms of retention. There's a tax credit bill from Pugh that would put a $10,000 tax credit in teachers' pockets during their eighth consecutive year. So the teachers claiming the credit, they must continue to teach in that same district for three more years or they could face a clawback. But kind of the idea being that eighth year, that's really kind of make it or break it year, are teachers going to stay in it as a career?
And then lastly, expanding maternity leave. It has just focused on birthing parents so far. Now we would be expanding it to parental leave. So this would include both parents. And that's a six week of paid leave.
And then I don't want to leave out higher education as well. I think one big flag to me whenever I was looking at these bills is there were at least 10 bills that addressed the same issue, which was about international students at Oklahoma institutions of higher education. There's one bill by Senator Pugh. that would prohibit students who aren't lawfully present in the U.S. From receiving financial aid. Another one from Ally Seifried would prohibit those institutions from using state funds for financial aid to any international student from a country designated by the State Department as a country of particular concern. So it does seem like international students' education is also on the menu this legislative session.
LAYDEN: Science and Environment reporter Chloe Bennett-Steel, data centers, AI, the massive amount of electricity they need and how that impacts residents, that's a big part of what you're watching.
BENNETT-STEELE: Yes, we're going to see some conversations about the cost of electricity and how new AI-driven data centers play into that. Oklahoma's utility rates are rising just like the rest of the nation and even as the state welcomes data centers we're seeing pushback from residents about what they mean for their wallets. So lawmakers are considering bills looking at consumer protection and a couple that would direct the state to study data center impacts on residents and grid reliability.
Other bills would change who gets to decide on the fate of infrastructure like data centers and renewables. Republican Representative Molly Jenkins wants landowners to go through an election process before deciding whether to welcome those new structures. That would also go for battery storage and carbon capture.
Lawmakers will consider several other potential regulations for both oil and gas and renewables.
There's also a bill that aims to attract a national laboratory focused on natural gas, AI, and space. Another would establish a nuclear energy office. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is currently working on a nuclear-energy feasibility study that's due in March.
And on the topic of the OCC, Republican Representative Trey Caldwell introduced the Corporation Commission Modernization Act of 2026. It's a shell bill right now, which means it lacks specific language, but that could change later in the session.
LAYDEN: Chloe Bennett-Steele, Jillian Taylor, Beth Wallis, thank you. They'll be guiding us all through the session, so stay tuned. For StateImpact, I'm Logan Layden.
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