Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/author/paulmonies/)
The share of Oklahoma kindergartners up to date on all their vaccines rose slightly last year, but the percentage who were granted exemptions from at least one vaccine increased, according to the latest survey’s preliminary results. Exemption rates keep rising, which has worried health officials.
Backers of an approaching law allowing Oklahomans to carry a gun without training or a permit say they’re willing to test compliance with the law by showing up in certain places carrying a firearm.
The back-and-forth between the Oklahoma governor and Native American tribes over gaming compacts appears to be amping up: Some tribes have launched a multi-faceted media campaign promoting the benefits they bring to the state.
With no background in government or politics, Gov. Kevin Stitt has turned to personal and formal networks to find people to serve in his administration. One of those got noticed in some circles: YPO, an exclusive, invitation-only group of executives.
Mass shootings in Texas and Ohio have put gun deaths and firearm laws back in the spotlight. This Q&A provides some of the Oklahoma facts you need to know.
In advocating on state policies, Oklahoma’s 27 district attorneys operate on two fronts: the District Attorneys Council, a state agency, and the District Attorneys Association, a private group that contracts with lobbyists. Advocacy groups say the setup stacks the deck against criminal justice reforms. (Use our slider image to compare attendees at both groups’ meetings.)
Glenn Coffee has withdrawn as an outside attorney in the state’s ongoing opioid trial, saying his work on pretrial strategy and settlement discussions with drug companies had come to a close.
Vaccination has become a dirty word at the Oklahoma Capitol. As Oklahoma joins 25 other states in the worst measles outbreak in a generation, vaccination policies have become so politically toxic that few lawmakers want to take a recorded vote on the issue.
Vaccines flared briefly as an issue in the 2018 gubernatorial campaign when a news outlet discovered an online video in which then-candidate Kevin Stitt said not all of his children were vaccinated. Stitt later dismissed the report, saying his and Sarah Stitt’s six children, who attended a school with high vaccine-exemption rates, had received various vaccines.
Oklahoma lawmakers closed out the 2019 session Thursday after nearly four months of debate on hundreds of bills that could impact the state for years to come. Here’s what the Legislature did, and didn’t do, this year, from the $8.1 billion spending bill to criminal justice reform.