With new law, Oklahomans can donate to scholarships under new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit

Crosswhite Hader Celebrates Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Becoming Law

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 30th) – Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, today is reminding Oklahomans they can opt-in on a federal income tax credit next year for individual contributions to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). Funding is to be used for scholarships for elementary and secondary education expenses.

Crosswhite Hader is the House author of House Bill 3704, which recently was signed into law by the governor. She said the federal program is similar to the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship program, a state tax-credit program that supports scholarship efforts in Oklahoma.

State Senate amends bill to protect Oklahomans from higher utility costs from data centers, increase transparency

Senate Passes Data Center Ratepayer Protection Act with Added Transparency Requirements

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 28th) – The Oklahoma Senate today unanimously passed legislation from Sen. Grant Green, R-Wellston, to protect Oklahomans from higher utility costs as a result of the growing number of data centers across the state. 

The Senate passed an amended version of House Bill 2992, the Data Center Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act of 2026, that adds greater transparency requirements and community input for new developments.

“This legislation makes it abundantly clear that all developments that would put significant strain on Oklahoma’s electric grid must cover their own costs,” said Green, chair of the Senate Energy Committee. “Under no circumstances should Oklahoma families, farmers, ranchers and small business owners be left footing the bill.”

Small: Sweeping reading reform puts state on right path

Sweeping reading reform puts state on right path

By Jonathan Small

This week, surrounded by school children, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a sweeping reform that will dramatically improve literacy outcomes.

Based on Spring 2025 state tests, just 27 percent of Oklahoma third graders read at or above grade level. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests show only 23 percent of fourth-grade students scored at or above proficient in 2024. Only two states did worse.

Oklahoma’s abysmal reading outcomes have occurred even as public schools’ per-pupil revenue has surged more than 50 percent since 2018. The problem was not money, but execution.

Fortunately, Mississippi provided a guide map.

Since the 2013 passage of Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA), Mississippi has climbed from 49th to ninth for fourth grade reading, according to NAEP. Mississippi is the only state where the bottom 10 percent of students scored better in 2024 than their 2013-2014 school-year counterparts.

Senate passes bill to criminalize delivering (but not ordering!) abortion pills

This is another piece of legislation that dances around actually abolishing abortion in Oklahoma and treating all participants in the murder of the unborn equally. Under this bill, it would be a felony crime to deliver — but not to order — abortion pills. 

That's right. An individual ordering a murder pill and originating the process of this infanticide would be exempt from prosecution, but the person "knowingly or intentionally delivering" the pills would be criminalized. 

Why must pro-life Republicans try so hard to be 'cute' and play around the edges when it comes to ending abortion? For decades now, the Republican-led legislature has advanced piecemeal half-measures, rather than attacking the issue in a full-fledged, all-encompassing, equal-justice manner.

This bill passed by a vote of 37-10, with abolitionist State Sen. Warren Hamilton (R-McCurtain) debating and voting against it, arguing for a measure that actually accomplishes the goal of ending abortion, rather than nibbling around the edges. Hamilton was a coauthor of a bill in 2025 that would have addressed the pro-life "loopholes" that Attorney General Gentner Drummond is using to not enforce Oklahoma's existing ban [Oklahoma Statute 63-1-733] on self-managed abortions, i.e. abortion pills at home. 

It's not that Sen. Bullard or Rep. Hader's motivation is bad; their hearts are in the right place, seeking an end to abortion. It's just that this isn't the way. It's that we can do better, but the leadership won't allow it.

We absolutely can pass a bill to fully abolish abortion. There's a bill in the legislature that does that very thing. Leadership could still allow it to be heard, but they refuse to.

The only thing preventing the Oklahoma Legislature from abolishing abortion is the cowardice of the GOP leadership. Instead, they want to placate the grassroots who want to see abortion ended by giving them tiny bites at a time.

Senate Gives Final Passage to Bill Creating Crime of Abortion Pill Trafficking

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 30th) – Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, has advanced to the governor’s desk legislation that would outlaw the home delivery and distribution of abortion pills.

Today, in a vote of 37 to 10, the Senate passed House Bill 1168 to make it a felony crime to traffic abortion pills.

The measure creates a felony offense for anyone to knowingly possess or deliver abortion-inducing drugs — including mifepristone, misoprostol and methotrexate — to someone who intends to use them for an abortion.