Articles
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Health Care
Bill to expand insurance coverage quietly becomes law
Senate Bill 943, authored by leadership in both chambers of the Legislature, updates and aligns Oklahoma law with federal regulations regarding the creation of association health plans.Ray Carter | May 13, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Education
PLAC supports Democrats’ education budget
The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee (PLAC) has endorsed a Democratic budget plan. The proposal put forth by the House Democrats not only spends the entirety of this year’s $570 million surplus, but would increase total spending by more than $800 million. To fill the financial gap, Democrats would raise taxes on income and investment.Ray Carter | May 9, 2019
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Health Care
Medicaid expansion could crowd out disabled
An Arkansas state representative warns that individuals with developmental disabilities may be among the people most harmed, indirectly, by expanding Medicaid to able-bodied adults.Ray Carter | May 8, 2019
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Education
Stitt nominee passes committee over Democratic opposition
Democrat legislators opposed the appointment of William Flanagan, Jr. to the State Board of Education after he voiced support for charter schools and virtual education and said officials could reduce administrative duplication and waste in Oklahoma schools.Ray Carter | May 8, 2019
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Higher Education
Officials give glimpse of plans for OU
The future of the University of Oklahoma will involve a continued focus on efficiency, fewer new buildings and an expansion of online learning, based on the comments of officials appearing before the Senate Education Committee.Ray Carter | May 7, 2019
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Education
Tax-credit program helping rural students
A state tax-credit program, derided by union activists, is helping increase educational opportunity in rural public schools.Ray Carter | May 6, 2019
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Education
OEA’s liberal stances escape many lawmakers’ notice
The divide between the stances many Republican lawmakers claim to champion and the positions embraced by the OEA/NEA is stark.Ray Carter | May 3, 2019
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Criminal Justice
Trump cited as model for Oklahoma on corrections
A former inmate freed as the result of a federal corrections-reform law championed by President Donald Trump urged state lawmakers to follow the president’s lead and enact similar reforms in Oklahoma.Ray Carter | May 2, 2019
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Higher Education
Nazi fears stoked in free-speech debate
Opponents of a free-speech bill signed into legislation argue the law's unintended consequences will turn college campuses into recruitment centers for white supremacists and similar groups. However, according to one expert, those claims are contradicted by real-world outcomes and the text of the law.Ray Carter | May 2, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Stitt committed to state savings effort
In 2016, state lawmakers voted to create a Revenue Stabilization Fund that would hold any oil-and-gas tax collections that exceed a rolling five-year average. It’s possible the savings fund could receive a deposit of as much as $400 million next year. But Gov. Kevin Stitt says some lawmakers already want to reduce and redirect those savings.Ray Carter | April 29, 2019