This is from the 20th, but it's newsworthy enough to go ahead and post despite being "old news" at this point. Attorney General Gentner Drummond is once again lining up against Governor Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Ryan Walters, this time over the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board's approval of a Catholic public charter school, which is touted (or decried, depending on the perspective) as the first publicly funded religious charter school in the nation.

Drummond thinks the approval violates the state and federal constitutions, while Stitt and Walters disagree and think it would instead violate religious liberty to deny the charter.

OKLAHOMA CITY (October 27, 2023) - Governor Kevin Stitt and Treasurer Todd Russ today celebrated Oklahoma's strong financial standing after Moody's Investors Service revised the state's credit outlook from stable to positive.

Arguments against religious charter schools fall short

The Catholic Church wants to open the nation’s first religious public charter school here in Oklahoma. After reviewing the application, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board has voted to approve creation of the online St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.

That decision has drawn pushback from some, but opponents’ arguments are weak.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, today held an interim study to detail his ideas on restructuring the state's entire criminal justice system.

IS23-025 was heard by the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee, which Humphrey chairs.

"We believe the criminal justice system in Oklahoma is broken and that what we are doing as legislators is simply putting Band-aids on the system," Humphrey said. "This isn't going to work. We need a new system, one that actually changes criminal behavior and reduces our prison population while keeping our people safe."

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and their colleagues sent a letter to address the US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) recently proposed rule that would eliminate “gender-specific” words like “paternity,” “mother,” and “father” from federal regulations guiding the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program. The letter urges President Joe Biden to rescind this “Don’t Say Dad” rule and to stop attempting to erase biological sex from federal law. 

Senate committee looks for ways to increase state’s turkey population

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate Tourism and Wildlife Committee heard from wildlife experts Monday about why Oklahoma has seen a significant decline it its turkey population. Sen. Blake “Cowboy” Stephens, R-Tahlequah, requested the study to find possible legislative solutions to increase their numbers.

“As someone who grew up hunting in rural Oklahoma, I’m extremely concerned and saddened by the disturbing drop we’ve seen in our state’s turkey population in recent years,” Stephens said. “We have a legislative and moral responsibility to protect not only our state lands, but the species that inhabit them, including the wild turkey.  I appreciate the recommendations we received from our state’s wildlife experts and am looking forward to working with my colleagues to help better protect the majestic thunder chicken as it is fondly referred to.”

Anti-ESG law having impact

In recent years, state lawmakers voted to prevent state funds from being invested by entities that boycott energy production through “Environmental Social Governance” (ESG) policies.

The goal was two-fold. First, the law would keep Oklahoma taxpayer money from being used to harm the overall state economy, which remains heavily dependent on oil-and-gas production. Second, it would maximize the return on state pension fund investments, benefitting retirees.

The 2024 primary will be here before you know it. Here's an announcement from a candidate in Oklahoma State House District 22:

October 17, 2023 – Conservative Republican Troy Golden announces his candidacy to serve Oklahomans living in Johnston, Murray, Atoka, and part of Coal County that comprise Oklahoma House District 22. 

While the Republican primary election takes place next June 18, 2024, Troy’s campaign is well underway, working to earn votes in this open seat election. The seat is open due to current House Speaker Charles McCall reaching the years of service legal limit, which requires the seat to be vacated.