Oklahoman
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed bipartisan legislation for the state to seek federal funding to address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous Oklahomans.
The legislation has been praised by tribal members across the state as a concrete step to tackle an epidemic of violence against Native Americans. Far too often, when a Native person goes missing or is found murdered, their families have to navigate a complex checkerboard of jurisdiction, Stitt said. That confusion makes it so difficult on victims’ families during what’s already a traumatic time.
Senate Bill 172 from Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, directs the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to work with the U.S. Department of Justice to secure federal funding to create a local Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons.
The clock is ticking for Gov. Kevin Stitt to decide on bills that would put major limits on abortions in Oklahoma.Two bills seek to limit or prevent abortion almost entirely in the Sooner State. One would cause a doctor’s license to be suspended for up to a year if they perform an abortion in most cases; and the other would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which can happen before people know they’re pregnant.“The reason a woman has a heartbeat is because she was born,” said state Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville.The fetal heartbeat bill doesn’t ban all abortions but sets a very early limit on them. In some ways, it was set up as a test to see what a solidly conservative U.S. Supreme Court would do with that type of bill.The other bill that passed Tuesday is sure to draw court challenges by adding abortion to the list of unprofessional conduct acts for doctors.“To be very clear, abortion kills babies in the womb. And one of the fundamental princi
Oklahoman
Leaders of the Oklahoma Legislature are in the midst of a political showdown that has one conservative activist calling for the head of the state Senate to be removed from his leadership position.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat’s decision not to hear House Bill 1236 in its original form has the president of the powerful Oklahoma Second Amendment Association calling for Treat to be removed as Oklahoma’s top senator.
Grassroots opposition
On the Senate floor Tuesday, Treat defended his decision to amend the bill to create a unit within the attorney general’s office to evaluate federal actions and defend the state’s rights.
By Janelle Stecklein/ CNHI State Reporter Apr 21, 2021 1 of 4
OKLAHOMA â The stateâs urban areas will pick up additional seats in the Legislature under new House and Senate redistricting maps unveiled Wednesday.
Oklahoma lawmakers said they likely wonât attempt to redraw the stateâs congressional maps until fall â after the U.S. Census Bureau is expected to release final numbers from last yearâs population count thatâs required every decade.
The state Constitution requires the Legislature to adopt new legislative districts by the end of session, so lawmakers said Wednesday that they relied on the best data available â the Census Bureauâs American Community Survey from 2015-2019 â to set the new House and Senate district boundaries for the stateâs growing population thatâs estimated to top 3.9 million people.
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