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The Tulsa Beacon

 

Ray Carter

Center for Independent Journalism

Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism.

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ law requires Medicaid recipients to seek work

Tulsa Beacon

When Congress passed, and President Donald Trump signed, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” work requirements for able-bodied individuals on Medicaid were among the changes enacted. Under the legislation, able-bodied adults who have no children and are between the ages of 19 and 64 are required to complete at least 80 hours per month of…

Civil rights complaint filed against the University of Tulsa

Tulsa Beacon

A civil rights complaint has been filed against the University of Tulsa (TU), alleging the school has engaged in illegal discrimination. Adam Kissel, a visiting fellow on Higher Education Reform for The Heritage Foundation who previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for Higher Education Programs with the United States Department of Education, filed the…

Oklahoma ranked as a top 10 state in Education Choice

Tulsa Beacon

A new report ranks Oklahoma among the 10 best states in the nation for parental empowerment and educational choice. The 2025 Parent Power! Index, released by the Center for Education Reform (CER), analyzes educational opportunities state by state and highlights the success and failure of laws to ensure the availability of education that meets the…

Oklahoma Supreme Court declares all Oklahomans must pay Income Tax

Tulsa Beacon

So long as the State of Oklahoma imposes a tax on income, all Oklahomans must pay it, according to a new ruling from the Oklahoma Supreme Court. A lawsuit filed by Alicia Stroble argued that all American Indians living on land affected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma are exempt…

Nichols vows to stop prosecuting crimes committed by Indians

Tulsa Beacon

Under an agreement publicly released this week, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols, a Democrat, has promised that Tulsa police and municipal courts will no longer pursue charges against any alleged criminal who is a member of any of the more than 500 American Indian tribes in the United States, and also promised to dismiss all pending…

Medicaid fraud issues are arising nationwide

Tulsa Beacon

Reviews of Medicaid spending across the nation indicate billions of dollars are being wasted on individuals who do not qualify for the welfare program, echoing similar findings in Oklahoma during a 2020 review. In Ohio, a review launched by state Rep. Mike Dovilla, a Republican, identified a “troubling abdication of oversight” in Ohio’s Medicaid system…

U.S. Supreme Court upholds ban on Child Sex-Change Surgeries

Tulsa Beacon

In a decision with repercussions for the state of Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a Tennessee law prohibiting medical officials from performing sex-change surgeries on minors who identify as transgender or providing those children with puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. Oklahoma has a similar law that has also been challenged in court. The…

After outcry, OSU stops promoting discredited 3-cue reading program

Tulsa Beacon

Policymakers in Oklahoma have banned the use of “three cueing” instruction in Oklahoma schools, a practice that encourages children to guess a word based on context, such as pictures, or even memorize entire words, rather than sound them out phonetically. That instructional approach has come under fire in recent years as a growing amount of…

Advocates of California-style elections sue over Oklahoma Petition Reform

Tulsa Beacon

Activists working to impose a California-style election system in Oklahoma, which routinely limits voters’ choices to two members of the same political party, have filed lawsuits seeking to overturn newly enacted initiative-petition reforms. Senate Bill 1027, by state Sen. David Bullard and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, made several transparency reforms to Oklahoma’s initiative-petition process. Among…

OEA touts transgenderism in schools for ‘Pride Month

Tulsa Beacon

The Oklahoma Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, is touting transgenderism in public schools as part of its “pride” month messaging this year. In social media posts on Facebook and X, the OEA declared, “Wishing all 2SLGBTQ+ students, educators, and community members a happy Pride. All are welcome in Oklahoma public schools.” 2SLGBTQ+ is…