TRANSCRIPT
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher, Shawn Ashley. Shawn, this year's general election is just over two weeks away, and if you haven't registered to vote, it's too late. Registration ended October 9th, with a surge.
Shawn Ashley: More than 1,900 people registered to vote through the State Election Board's online voter registration system on October 9th, the most of any single day in 2026, the State Board reported on October 12th. Now, the State Election Board did acknowledge the interface between its online voter registration system and Service Oklahoma's data system experienced a temporary communication outage for a couple of hours later in the afternoon. But once that issue was identified, the matter was quickly resolved in nearly 800 applications. Approximately 40% of the daily total were then successfully submitted via the online system, according to the State Election Board.
Dick Pryor: Interim studies are coming fast and furious at the Capitol these days. Quorum Call covers those studies extensively. The House Appropriations and Budget Committee is looking at ad valorem tax exemptions. What are they focusing on?
Shawn Ashley: Who may not get the tax exemption going forward. Governor Kevin Stitt pocket vetoed Senate Bill 237 at the end of the 2026 session. It would have removed solar companies and battery energy storage systems from qualifying for the five-year exemption on property taxes for manufacturing facilities, an incentive that was approved in 1985 to help bring manufacturing firms to the state of Oklahoma. Qualifying industries have been added and subtracted since then, the committee was told. Representative Mike Dobrinski, a Republican from Okeene, who authored Senate Bill 237, said he is concerned about the potential fiscal impact of continuing to allow solar and battery storage facilities to remain within the program. He said the purpose of the study was, “I wanted to make sure everyone understands what's at stake.”
Dick Pryor: What do ad valorem taxes pay for in Oklahoma?
Shawn Ashley: In short, local government. The bulk of the revenue goes to public schools. It also funds county government operations and things like public libraries and other local government services.
Dick Pryor: Another interim study is examining how cold cases are handled in Oklahoma. Lawmakers from both chambers are involved in the discussion. What's the problem and what did legislators hear in the study session?
Shawn Ashley: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has 463 cold case homicides it has yet to resolve, Executive Director Greg Mashburn told lawmakers Tuesday. But no one knows how many cold cases local law enforcement agencies have. The purpose of Tuesday's bipartisan bicameral hearing was to decide whether something like the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Task Force, the SAFE Task Force, might help resolve some of those cases.
The Safe Task Force originally was established by executive order in 2017. It was put in state statute in 2024 to ensure its continuity. The basic purpose of the task force is to ensure that sexual assault test kits are not becoming backlogged again. A statewide audit at the time showed more than 7,250 sexual assault test kits had not been tested. They were sitting on the shelf and the evidence could not be used to resolve cases. The task force has worked with lawmakers and law enforcement to significantly reduce those numbers. So, lawmakers like Senator Carri Hicks, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, are asking whether a similar model might help reduce the number of cold cases.
Dick Pryor: Interesting. There's been a lot of understandable attention being given to construction projects in Washington D.C., but there's one of particular note in the State Capitol Complex. It's a building that was definitely in need of modernization, the Jim Thorpe Memorial Office Building.
Shawn Ashley: On Wednesday, state officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony and announced the majority of the $700 million renovation of the building, which was originally constructed in 1938, nearly 90 years ago, was completed after three years of work. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Oklahoma Arts Council, Oklahoma Water Resources Board, and part of the State Election Board will move back into the building later this year.
Dick Pryor: What's coming up at the Capitol in the week ahead?
Shawn Ashley: More interim studies as we near the deadline for those studies to be considered by House and Senate committees.
Dick Pryor: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU You Tube channel. Audio and transcripts are at kgou.org. And look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
Announcer: “I haven't seen my son since 2012. This is Deborah Tice. The disappearance of her son, Austin, is one of the biggest missing person cases in the world. “What do you want from me? I just want to solve the mystery I know that my son is somewhere alive.” Listen to Where Is Austin Tice? from NPR's Embedded and BBC Radio 4 on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listeners like you provide essential funding for KGOU’s news reports, including Capitol Insider, available in podcasts, online, on the air and on You Tube. Support Capitol Insider and this station at KGOU.org.
KGOU is the winner of the 2025 Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Metro Radio Division “Best of Show” award.
