What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is May 15, and here are a couple of headlines before we get started:

• The Oklahoma City Thunder can close out the Denver Nuggets tonight with a win in Game 6! Tip-off happens just after 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. If there is a Game 7, it will happen on Sunday. Thunder up! 💙🧡

• Homeland Security chief talks up possibility of suspending habeas corpus.

• TikTok beauty influencer shot dead during livestream in Mexico. Authorities are calling it a “suspected femicide.”

• What’s good for the goose… Judge arrested by Trump administration cites Trump immunity ruling in defense

• Stock futures dip a little amid winning streak. Click here for live updates.

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Weather Update ☁️

A stormy pattern is ahead, but Thursday should be warm and at least partly cloudy.

🌡️ Wednesday's high in OKC 82°
🌡️ Wednesday’s high in Tulsa 83°

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Gov. Kevin Stitt, GOP leaders announce agreement on budget, tax cut

By Steve Metzer, Tulsa World
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt and Republican leaders in the Legislature announced an agreement Wednesday on a $12.59 billion state budget for fiscal year 2026 and a plan to cut the income tax paid by Oklahomans.

Stitt, who held a press conference with Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, budget committee chairmen from both chambers and other lawmakers, said an agreement among the leaders had been reached to cut the income tax by a quarter-point and to eliminate three tax brackets that have applied to lower-income Oklahomans. The new rate to be paid would be 4.5%.

Stitt said the plan also includes a “true path” to zero income tax in Oklahoma, which would help keep the state competitive with surrounding states.

Stitt and the Republican leaders said their “comprehensive agreement” not only would cut taxes but also would make substantial investments in infrastructure and strengthen Oklahoma’s business-friendly climate.

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DEI ban on Oklahoma college campuses signed into law

By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill banning the use of state funds for “diversity, equity and inclusion” jobs, activities or programs at Oklahoma college and university campuses. 

Senate Bill 796 also prohibits schools from requiring DEI statements on applications, disclosure of pronouns, and DEI-related training or education.   

Critics of the bill who debated against its passage previously said the measure claws back at advancements in civil rights and inclusion. Democrats debating against the bill said they were worried the ban would bleed into other inclusion programs like Oklahoma Promise and affect access to students with disabilities. 

Supporters said that DEI discriminates against white men and merit-based outcomes. 

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Oklahoma education standards say students must identify 2020 election 'discrepancies'

By Beth Wallis, StateImpact Oklahoma
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TULSA, Okla. — New academic standards in Oklahoma call for the teaching of "discrepancies" in the 2020 election results, continuing the spread of a false narrative years after it was first pushed by President Trump and his allies.

The standards were enacted last month after the Republican-controlled Legislature declined to block them. And while the process to advance the standards has drawn ire from members of Oklahoma's majority party, the question of the standards' content has gotten little pushback.

What the standards say — and how they took effect

The social studies standard for high school U.S. history references baseless claims about the ballot counting process and the security of mail voting.

It says students must "Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities and in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of 'bellwether county' trends."

The new standards have been championed by Ryan Walters, the state superintendent of public instruction and a conservative firebrand.

"These new standards will ensure that kids have an accurate and comprehensive view of historical events, while also reinforcing the values that make our country great," Walters said at a February State Board of Education meeting.

The new standards were quietly introduced just hours before that February meeting, and Walters falsely told board members that to make legislative deadlines, the standards needed to be approved that day. They were.

New board members spent the next two months asking the state Legislature to return the standards back to the board, saying there had not been enough time to review the changes.

Citing that rushed process, Senate Republicans authored a joint resolution to reject the standards, and GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt also requested that the Legislature send the standards back to the board.

But in April, after a closed-door meeting with Walters, the state Legislature declined to block the standards.

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The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

A concise summary of the latest news from across the state:

• Hispanic festivities combine cultural celebration with immigration anxiety at Oklahoma Capitol (Oklahoma Voice)

• Sewage Happens: Twice-Neglected Section 8 Tenants Live in Squalor (Oklahoma Watch)

• Oklahoma's small farms feel outsized impact from USDA grant cuts (KOSU)

• Some Oklahoma lawmakers push to override Gov. Stitt's veto of MMIP bill (KOSU)

• Edmond developer officially cans long-delayed downtown brewery (NonDoc)

• Amid budget meetings, legislators told latest ODMHSAS shortfall figure is $30.6 million (NonDoc)

• A Tulsa County Judge will allow a police union to review disciplinary actions after it sued to keep records secret (The Frontier)

• Jenks residents weigh in on new parking downtown (2 News Oklahoma)

• 'Don't know where we would be': Okmulgee homeless shelter keeps doors open (2 News Oklahoma)

• FIGHTING BLIGHT: McAlester City Council passes property maintenance ordinance (2 News Oklahoma)

• Biggest Special Olympics team in the state departs from Owasso High School (News On 6)

• Tulsa City Council to feature Hindu prayer amid new moment of silence policy (KTUL)

• Durant High School salutes seniors headed to military service (KTEN)

• New superintendent is no stranger to Lone Grove schools (KTEN)

• Fieldhouse vandalism investigation progresses in Ringling (KXII)

• Police investigate man found dead at car wash as homicide (Oklahoma City Free Press)

• OKC James Beard Semifinalist is working to raise funds, awareness with The Recovery Center (Oklahoman)

• This century-old railcar in Heavener was named the most beautiful restaurant in Oklahoma. See why (Oklahoman)

• How this rural Oklahoma school has established itself as one of the best in the state (Oklahoman)

• OKC metro security guard shot, killed while on duty (KOCO)

• Edmond community rallying around beloved janitor after surgery complications (KOCO)

• Oklahoma County commissioners vote against land swap with school (KOCO)

• Software glitch cancels thousands of medical marijuana business licenses, OMMA says (KFOR)

• Driven by love: A teacher’s legacy rolls on with the Scooby-Doo reading van (News 9)

• City settling legal action against Great Plains Improvement Center (Lawton Constitution)

• OU softball gears up for first round of NCAA Tournament behind young team (OU Daily)

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