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Two days after six Republican senators joined Democrats to defeat legislation opposed by the Oklahoma Education Association, the union is promoting a national day of school readings on transgender issues.

Gov. Kevin Stitt has endorsed Medicaid expansion and urged lawmakers to enact a de facto tax increase to pay for it. A related funding measure was placed on a Feb. 26 committee agenda for a morning vote, but the committee did not convene. The reasons for the delay were not immediately revealed, but challenges continue to surround the tax-increase proposal, ranging from the fact that it will not generate enough revenue to cover the state cost of Medicaid expansion to suggestions the proposal may be illegal .

All new state government workers would be made “at will” employees under legislation that has advanced from a House committee, marking movement on a reform endorsed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Legislation that would increase the appointment power of the governor, House speaker, and Senate president pro tempore has gained easy approval in a Senate committee.

Legislation to reinstate caps on noneconomic damages in certain lawsuits has gained approval from a Senate committee.

The operations of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission have long drawn criticism for excessive secrecy and lack of public transparency. Two bills that have cleared a Senate committee seek to address that problem.

For decades, Oklahoma attorneys have not been allowed to practice law unless they join the Oklahoma Bar Association. Due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding free speech and the right of association, a Senate committee has voted to end that mandate.

Six Republican senators joined Democrats to defeat legislation that would require routine recertification elections for education unions, providing a victory for a teachers’ union that recently gave failing grades to most of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation.

Oklahomans would be protected from having credit scores reduced as the result of “surprise” medical bills under legislation that has gained strong bipartisan support in a Senate committee.

A coalition of Democrats and Republicans in the Oklahoma Senate have voted down legislation that would ensure college students facing expulsion have due-process rights comparable to those provided in a court proceeding. Opponents argued the college system is effectively exempted from legislative oversight.