Category Archives: State

Protecting Pension Progress

By Jonathan Small, OCPA

Oklahoma was once ranked among the worst states in the nation when it came to the financial stability of our state pensions. That meant many state workers, including teachers, were at risk of reaching retirement without sufficient income to live out their golden years in comfort. Fortunately, reforms that took full effect roughly a decade ago have now made Oklahoma a national model.

“What you did, starting in 2010 all the way to now, really is the gold standard for other states to look at,” said Caren Lock, a managing director with TIAA-CREF, a national financial services firm.

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Rep. Gann Challenges PSO

By Staff Report

An appeal brief filed Thursday by Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to invalidate some $700 million in ratepayer-backed bonds issued to cover costs incurred by Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) during February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri. Payments for those bonds have been collected on the monthly bills of PSO’s customers since the bonds were issued in September 2022. They are scheduled to continue for another 17 years.

Gann’s brief tells the court that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) failed to provide a required audit of the bonds in PSO’s most recent rate case. He also argues PSO’s original 2021 Uri costs that were securitized into the bonds were never audited either.  Gann asserts the audit failures are fatal in both cases, making the OCC’s orders void.

Rep. Tom Gann
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Gov. Stitt Challenges Tulsa Mayor Nichols

By David Arnett

Governor Kevin Stitt Wednesday announced an emergency filing with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to compel the City of Tulsa to enforce state and municipal laws within its jurisdiction.

Recently, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols entered into a proposed settlement agreement with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In the settlement agreement, he agreed to bar Tulsa Police from enforcing municipal and state laws against tribal members within city limits. This goes beyond crimes covered under the McGirt decision, including but are not limited to, DUI, reckless driving, child endangerment, and domestic assault.

“More than anything, this is a public safety issue,” said Gov. Stitt. “No mayor has the authority to pick and choose which Oklahomans are subject to the laws of our state. By entering into this agreement, Mayor Nichols has essentially made Tulsa a sanctuary city with two systems of justice. One for those with tribal membership and one for everyone else. This makes our state less safe.”

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Teacher Guilty of Abuse: 42-years

By David Arnett

Former Choctaw-Nicoma Park High School teacher Samuel Melton has pleaded guilty to sexual crimes against a young student, receiving a 42-year sentence—the longest ever for an Oklahoma sexual predator in the classroom according to a release from OK Attorney General Genter Drummond.

Melton pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape by instrumentation, second-degree rape, sexual battery and sodomy as an adult employed by a school district.

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OK’s 20.2% Manufacturing Drop

By David Arnett

Oklahoma saw a 20.2% decline in its manufacturing employment between 2000 and 2024. This translates to a loss of 35,569 jobs during that period. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis new data released August 1 shows U.S. manufacturing employment continued to fall in July 2025—reaching its lowest level since April 2022—even as billions of dollars pour into new plants and reshoring initiatives nationwide.

While policymakers often cite job creation as a central goal of bringing manufacturing back home, today’s highly automated factories mean employment is unlikely to return to past levels. U.S. manufacturing jobs have declined sharply over the past two decades, even as output has grown and Oklahoma’s manufacturing GDP increased by 10.6% over the same span.

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