Articles
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Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
Tribal plates allow drivers to evade Oklahoma tolls
Tribal car tags are creating public-safety problems and financial challenges for the state. To make up for drivers not paying tolls, says one Oklahoma Turnpike Authority official, “we have to charge everybody else a little bit more.”Ray Carter | July 25, 2023
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Law & Principles
Senate overrides Stitt veto, creates one-year tribal compacts
Primarily due to the unified support of Democrats, who rely heavily on campaign donations from tribal entities, the Oklahoma Senate overrode Gov. Kevin Stitt’s recent veto of two bills that authorize one-year state-tribal compacts.Ray Carter | July 24, 2023
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Education, Culture & the Family
OEA parent organization vows to support youth sex-change surgeries
The national parent organization of the Oklahoma Education Association has vowed to spend member funds fighting against state laws that restrict school bathroom access based on sex and laws that prevent children from undergoing sex-change surgeries.Ray Carter | July 14, 2023
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Law & Principles
Document shows Cherokee political donations favor Democrats
Oklahoma politicians often refer to tribal governments as state “partners.” A recently obtained Cherokee Nation document indicates the tribe financially partners with politicians from both parties through campaign contributions, but especially with Democratic lawmakers.Ray Carter | July 13, 2023
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Good Government
Brecheen demands federal transparency on transgender study
U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate, is continuing his fight for greater transparency from the federal NIH after the agency drug its feet in response to requests for information about an NIH-funded study on transgender youth in which two participants committed suicide.Ray Carter | July 12, 2023
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Higher Education
Public confidence in universities plunges amid controversies
Gallup finds that public confidence in higher education has declined to a new low point.Ray Carter | July 12, 2023
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Education
Support for school choice remains strong after pandemic
A new national poll shows that extremely high levels of public support for school-choice programs persist today among all demographic groups, and new state polling shows the same trend in Oklahoma.Ray Carter | July 11, 2023
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Law & Principles
Public-safety reality contradicts tribal claims
After a federal court ruled that city police within historic tribal reservations in Oklahoma cannot enforce local ordinances, such as speed limits, when the violator is an American Indian, tribal officials have downplayed the decision, saying tribal law enforcement who are cross-deputized by cities like Tulsa can handle the workload. But the manpower of tribal police forces, and the tribes’ own calls for federal bailouts, suggest the tribes cannot handle much of that responsibility.Ray Carter | July 3, 2023
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Law & Principles
Tribes hail ‘get out of jail free’ card for Indians
Tribal leaders are praising a federal court decision that effectively gave Indians a “get out of jail free” card by ruling that tribal citizens are exempt from local law enforcement in Tulsa and other communities located on historic reservation land throughout eastern Oklahoma.Ray Carter | June 30, 2023
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Law & Principles
Stitt offers tribes status-quo deal on tobacco compacts
Gov. Kevin Stitt has offered tribal governments a one-year extension of state-tribal compacts that maintains the status quo as it has existed for nearly a decade, including payment of millions of dollars to tribes that the state does not legally have to provide.Ray Carter | June 29, 2023