Walters filed more than $4,000 in claims for out-of-state travel expenses during his first year in office, according to reimbursement forms obtained by The Frontier. He expensed the trips despite an order from the Governor’s office banning public spending for most out-of-state travel.

• Walters claimed $489 in travel reimbursements to cover the cost of mileage, per diem and a hotel room in the Dallas area in April 2023 and attend the premiere of the anti-abortion horror film Nefarious. The film was shot in Oklahoma City and is about a serial killer who is set for execution but is possessed by a demon.

• He spent $1,102 for airfare, lodging and other expenses for a trip to National Harbor, Maryland, later that same month to speak at a conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. 

• Walters also billed the state between $1,025 and $1,220 for a speaking appearance at the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors Summit in Philadelphia in June, according to travel forms that included estimated airfare costs. Moms for Liberty covered the cost of his hotel room. 

• He claimed another $552 for airfare, mileage and per diem for an appearance as the keynote speaker at the Freedom Foundation’s Teachers for Freedom Summit in Denver in July. The event featured sessions such as “Teachers Unions: An International Problem” and “Is woke curriculum taking over your subject?”  

• Walters traveled to Washington D.C. for two days in August. The estimated total cost of Walters’ travel including airfare and lodging was between $989 and $1,067, documents show. The trip was for “policy meetings,” according to a state travel form and airfare estimates. An itinerary shows Walters had two meetings with representatives from conservative think tanks but most of the trip was spent making media appearances, including talk shows affiliated with the far-right media outlet The Epoch Times, which has ties to the Falun Gong religious movement and a podcast hosted by the president of the Heritage Foundation. 

Walters’ first stop during his August trip to Washington was for coffee with a representative from Fox News in charge of booking guests for the program America’s Newsroom to discuss “national media opportunities,” according to a travel itinerary. Jenna Thomas, Walters’ chief of staff at the State Department of Education, accompanied him on the trip, billing the state for an additional $1,059 in travel expenses. 

State travel request forms require a manager’s signature, but as the head of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Walters signed off on his own trip expenses. The Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services paid the travel claims. A spokesperson for the agency said Walters submitted all the required documentation for the trips.

Dan Isett, a spokesperson for Walters at the State Department of Education, did not answer The Frontier’s requests for more information about the purpose of the trips and why Walters was able to approve his own travel requests.

“Oklahomans are not surprised or fooled by another attack and fake controversy from the liberal media. Superintendent Walters will never stop leading Oklahoma and the nation to reform our schools, get back to basics, and improve student academic outcomes,” Isett said in an email. “There is a story to be told and travel throughout Oklahoma and around the country is a normal part of the duties of any statewide office holder. Superintendent Walters continues to meticulously protect Oklahoma taxpayers from the wasteful spending we’ve seen under previous administrations.”

Walters has rapidly become a rising star in conservative politics. Since taking office as State Superintendent in January 2023, he’s booked appearances on Fox News to talk about the “woke ideology” in public schools and testified before Congress in support of Republican lawmakers’ efforts to investigate educational programs funded by the Chinese government. He is also a frequent guest on right-wing podcasts and talk shows. 

The Frontier obtained records documenting Walters’ travel expenses from Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, who requested the information from the State Department of Education last year. Boren said she is concerned Walters has put personal promotion above his duties to oversee public education in the state. 

“It’s more fun to stir the pot and get pats on the head and lovey-doveys from the radical right than it is to actually ensure that we recruit and retain teachers,” Boren said. 

Walters’ administration has touted a recruitment program it says has brought 117 out-of-state teachers into Oklahoma classrooms. 

Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a moratorium on all non-essential, state-funded, out-of-state travel in 2019 that remains in effect. Stitt has banned most out-of-state trips for state officers and employees unless the travel is “critical to the performance of core agency functions,” to obtain professional accreditation not available in Oklahoma or for matters involving the federal government.

As a separately elected official, Walters did not seek permission from the Governor’s office for his travel, said Abegail Cave, a spokesperson for Stitt. 

“Governor Stitt thinks all elected officials and government employees should be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Cave told The Frontier.

During Walters’ two-day trip to the Dallas area last year, he attended the red-carpet premiere of the film Nefarious and appeared on conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s podcast. Beck also made a cameo appearance in the movie. 

Walters’ room at the Drury Inn & Suites in Frisco, Texas, was booked under the group name Nefarious Movie LLC, according to a travel reimbursement form. The form shows Walters claimed mileage for the drive from the Beck-affiliated American Journey Experience museum next door to the studio where Beck records his podcast to a movie theater in Plano on the same date that the Nefarious film premiere was held there. Ted Cruz, the U.S. Senator from Texas, also attended the premiere. 

Walters praised ​​Nefarious and spoke about attending the premiere in Texas during an interview in May 2023 with conservative talk show host Steve Deace, who co-wrote the film. 

“Folks are getting to see on the big screen what we are up against, what evil looks like in today’s time, what Satan is doing in the world today, ” Walters said. “It is an absolutely incredible film.”

In interviews, Deace credited Walters with helping to end a film crew strike on the set of the film. Walters “went to war for us,” Deace said.  

Walters wrote on a travel expense form that his trip to Texas was to meet with “educational stakeholders,” but he didn’t include any details about who he met with or what was discussed.  

Isett did not provide the names of the stakeholders Walters met with when The Frontier asked for more detailed information.

“Yes, he was able to meet with many essential stakeholders and spread Oklahoma’s story of how we are fighting wokeism in the classroom,” Isett responded in an email. “All of Ryan Walters’ travel has been essential to attract new teachers, fight against radical wokeism and the over-sexualization and grooming of our kids. There is nothing more important than Oklahoma’s mission to educate and protect our kids.” 

The post Oklahoma paid for Ryan Walters’ travel for speaking engagements, media appearances and a horror movie premiere appeared first on The Frontier.

Among the dozens of bills pre-filed for the legislative session that begins Feb. 5, at least two seek to make changes to the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act. The 2022 law requires the State Treasurer’s office to make a list of companies it believes are boycotting the fossil fuel industry. Under the law, state pension systems are required to divest any retiree funds managed by blacklisted firms. State, county and city governments are also not allowed to contract with those companies.

The law leaves it up to the treasurer to decide what financial firms end up on the state’s blacklist, though heavy emphasis is placed on companies with environmental, social and governance investment vehicles. Oklahoma’s law is mostly a word-for-word copy of a Texas law passed a year earlier.

The Frontier reported in May 2023 that the Oklahoma State Treasurer’s office applied criteria for blacklisting companies inconsistently, leaving some firms claiming they have been arbitrarily and wrongly banned from doing business with the state. 

Oklahoma state pension systems said they were not given guidance on implementing the law, and retirees could lose millions if the state were to fully divest from blacklisted companies. At least one municipality said it would have to pay higher interest rates on new bonds.

The list was later pared down to six companies.

The law allows pension funds to claim an exemption if divesting from blacklisted companies would cause them to act against the best financial interests of state retirees. Russ conceded that some of the state’s pension systems may have to take an exemption, but he later criticized the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System for doing so. Russ’s office later also took an exemption  from the law to continue to do business with Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. 

In advance of the upcoming legislative session, Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, has filed Senate Bill 1536, which would require the State Treasurer’s office to seek an opinion from the state Attorney General if it disagrees with a state agency’s decision to continue to do business with a blacklisted company. 

Rader said the goal is to have a third party arbitrate disagreements between the treasurer’s office and state agencies on how the law is applied. The bill comes out of an interim study at the Oklahoma Capitol in October on the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act.

“There seemed to be confusion as far as the meaning or implementation of the bill,” Rader said. “One of the things that came out of the study is there was not a defined person or process to determine if the law was being followed. You might have the interpretation of the agency and the interpretation of the treasurer and they might not be in sync.

“To me, this was one of the more glaring needs that came out of the study,” he said.

Senate Bill 1510 by Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, would make cities and counties exempt from the law. Hall, who is also CEO and chairman of the Perry-based lender Exchange Bank & Trust Co., did not respond to a phone message at his office.

Jordan Harvey, chief of staff for Russ, said the Treasurer’s Office is watching the bills, but declined to comment on whether the office supports or opposes the measures.

Two other bills introduced last year dealing with the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act didn’t get passed but are still alive, including Senate Bill 469 and Senate Bill 470, both by Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle. Senate Bill 469 would extend the prohibitions in the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act to state universities and colleges, while Senate Bill 470 would require financial firms to act in the best financial interests of retirees and beneficiaries when they participate in shareholder votes on behalf of public retirement funds.

The deadline to file bills in the Legislature is Jan. 18.

The post Bills seek changes to Oklahoma’s ‘woke’ investment ban appeared first on The Frontier.

JJ Stitt, who lost the 2022 Republican primary in Senate District 26, just west of Oklahoma City, said he also filed formal complaints with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission against the group. As of yet, the group has not faced any publicly revealed fines or penalties. But the Ethics Commission doesn’t make enforcement actions public unless they vote to release details or take legal action. 

The phantom group, Common Sense Conservatives LLC, resurfaced in the special election for state Senate District 32 near Lawton, this fall, where it spent money on a direct mail advertisement against conservative Baptist minister Dusty Deevers in the Republican primary. 

Records uncovered by The Frontier show that Common Sense Conservatives LLC is one small piece of a larger, nationwide dark money network that conducts most of its operations out of Ohio, has been involved in numerous federal and state-level campaigns in other states including Oklahoma, and has ties to at least one bogus charity. Outside groups that keep their donors secret have a growing influence on Oklahoma elections. Despite some calls for reform, state lawmakers have yet to take any meaningful action. 

Common Sense Conservatives was one of several outside groups that spent at least $227,667 leading up to the Oct. 10 Senate District 32 primary, slightly less than the combined $233,527 that all four candidates in the race spent themselves. And though some of those groups reveal who is funding them, most do not.

In 2020, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law making it more difficult for voters to see who is behind dark money groups.

This year, Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, requested an interim study on the flood of seemingly unlimited amounts of anonymous money in Oklahoma’s elections. House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, denied the request, but Humphrey said he hopes to bring the matter up again in the future.

“I think Oklahoma kind of sits around and thinks ‘this is on a national level, on the East Coast or West Coast, that’s in Georgia, that’s in Arizona, it’s not here,’” Humphrey said. “We have people saying our elections are great here and there’s no problems here. Bullshit. We’ve got all kinds of problems. We’ve got big problems. And we need to bring attention to it. We need to know where the money is coming from.”

Independent political organizations spent a record $45.3 million in races around the state during the 2022 election, according to a Frontier analysis of spending records. Nearly two-thirds of the organizations either did not reveal any information at all about donors or hid the true source of funds by passing the money through a tangle of political action committees and nonprofit organizations. 

Deevers, who won the Senate District 23 primary and will face Democrat Larry Bush in the Dec. 12 general election, faced negative attacks by several dark money groups, including one that purchased a television ad during the OU-Texas football game. He also claimed he alerted law enforcement to threatening social media posts against him before the primary. 

“If they are destroying my reputation, and thereby destroying some of my means and livelihood for my family and other people, I think that there needs to be some measure of protection,” Deevers said. “I mean, what do we have, if we don’t have a good reputation? Then it affects our family and our future for potentially generations to come.”

Americans United For Values, a federally-registered Super PAC funded by the national dark money group the American Exceptionalism Institute, also dumped money on negative ads against Deevers and other candidates in the primary. 

The American Exceptionalism Institute was also at the center of a campaign finance scandal in Mississippi and was recently revealed by The Daily Beast to have been the recipient of the lion’s share of a $25,000 donation from QuikTrip co-founder and Tulsa resident Burt Holmes, who told the Daily Beast he was unaware that his donation to a separate group had been steered to a right wing dark money organization. The individual running the Oklahoma-registered Super PAC that Holmes donated to was later fraudulently listed as embattled New York Congressman George Santos’s campaign treasurer.

Both the American Exceptionalism Institute and Commonsense Conservatives are part of the nationwide dark money network based in Ohio.

The Senate District 32 primary was the first time since the 2022 primary election that Common Sense Conservatives LLC purchased an ad in an Oklahoma political race. Common Sense Conservatives sent out mailers to registered Republican voters in Senate District 26 before the June 2022 Republican primary accusing Stitt of animal abuse and domestic violence, neither of which is true, he said.

Stitt, who is not related to Gov. Kevin Stitt, filed a defamation suit against Common Sense Conservatives and three unnamed individuals four days before the primary. He told The Frontier he was forced to drop the lawsuit in August, because none of the individuals behind the group could be identified and the group’s mailing address listed on its filings  — which checks back to a Tulsa supermarket — was invalid. The  group did not file incorporating paperwork with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. Other addresses for the group in Oklahoma City and Ohio have also emerged. 

Stitt said he has mostly given up on trying to find out who was responsible for the group.

“On paper, they showed up four days before the election, and the day after the election everything went away,” he said. 

Common Sense Conservatives’ most recent Ethics Commission filing lists an Oklahoma City address that leads to a private mailbox service.

An Ohio attorney registered Common Sense Conservatives LLC in May 2022, about a month before the Oklahoma Republican primary.

The Ohio attorney, Kimberly Land, was also the registered agent for a bogus charity that allegedly stole $131,000 from donors under the guise of providing bottled water and emergency aid to East Palestine, Ohio, residents after the toxic Norfolk Southern train derailment in February 2023. The Ohio Attorney General is prosecuting that case against the group, The Ohio Clean Water Fund LLC.

Land is also the registered agent for several dark money groups registered in Ohio that participated in elections in other states, including Securing Louisiana’s Future LLC, Freedom Wins LLC, Unify America LLC, Georgia Jobs and Opportunity Alliance LLC, Oklahomans for Patient Care LLC, Coalition to Secure Elections LLC, Give Buckeyes a Voice LLC, Protect Our Freedoms LLC, Integrity Idaho LLC, Citizens Against Cannabis Corruption LLC, Public Safety Alliance of Oklahoma LLC, Real Story of America LLC and the Conservative Integrity Project.

In nearly all cases, Land’s name is the only name listed on the incorporation documents.

Secretary of State records show that Land is also the registered agent for a company named FEC Compliance Group LLC, originally as a trade name for the Clark Fork Group, a political consulting firm out of Columbus, Ohio. The FEC Compliance Group is listed as the employer for the managers of multiple dark money groups.

Joel Ritter, one of Clark Fork Group’s founders, was also listed as the treasurer or head of several PACs, including some that participated in Oklahoma elections.

Land did not return phone messages or emails from The Frontier, and the phone numbers listed by the PACs either did not exist or went to an answering service.

During his State of the State Speech in February to kick off the legislative session, Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was himself the target of dark money attack ads in the 2022 election, called for greater transparency, saying that Oklahomans deserve to know who is funding their elected leaders’ campaigns.

“A democracy is doomed when special interests can spread lies and leverage blank checks to buy elections,” Stitt said.

However, no bills were introduced by lawmakers that session to require more transparency from those groups.

Humphrey said the issue of secret donors financing many of Oklahoma’s public elections first came to his attention in 2018, when Conservative Alliance PAC, a federally-registered Super PAC that masked its donors, began running advertisements against several deeply conservative candidates in 2018. The Oklahoma Ethics Commission sued the group in June 2022 for failing to file disclosure reports.

That case was settled earlier this year for $45,000, a little more than 4% of the total funds the PAC raised during 2018. Such enforcement actions are rare. The Ethics Commission, which was enshrined in the state constitution by a vote of the people in 1990 and receives funding from the Legislature, has a staff of only five with a budget this fiscal year of less than $700,000.

Ethics Commission Director Ashley Kemp, who has announced she will step down in December, told Oklahoma Watch in June that the commission has evidence of campaign finance rules being broken by outside spending groups, but the commission does not have the resources to go after all of them. 

“What you’re seeing is corporate buy legislators,” Humphrey said. “That’s what’s happening. It’s not just nationwide, it’s here in the state of Oklahoma.”

In 2022, Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure known as the Voters Right to Know Act that would require those groups to publicly disclose the true source of their funds. The ballot measure has survived a court challenge, but faces other challenges from dark money groups and legislative leaders there.

Humphrey said a similar measure may work in Oklahoma.

“The ideal is the same. The ideal is we have transparency,” Humphrey said. “For me, that’s where we have to come back to and say ‘look, we’ve got to come up with where’s this money coming from and who is receiving it. To me, that’s not that hard. Why would anybody disagree with that?

“Right now, it’s murky as mud.”

The post A phantom attack ad group surfaces again in an Oklahoma election appeared first on The Frontier.

Stitt hired Oklahoma City-based attorney Ryan Leonard in 2020 to help address legal issues in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision that found that Congress never disestablished the Muscogee Nation reservation in eastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Secretary of State’s office under then-secretary Brian Bingman also contracted with Leonard and paid Stitt’s office nine $10,000-monthly reimbursements. 

State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd issued an audit last week that found the payments from Secretary of State’s office violated state law because they benefitted Bingman in his separate, unfunded position as Stitt’s cabinet secretary for Native American Affairs. A member of the governor’s cabinet is not allowed to bill a state agency for services it doesn’t benefit from, the report found. Invoices to the Secretary of State’s office classified the payments as program reimbursements for litigation costs. But the invoices contained little information about the services Leonard was providing, according to the audit.

Stitt’s office signed a memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of State’s office,  citing state law it claimed allowed for the payments, but Byrd’s audit found that the agreement did not adhere to those laws.

The audit found that the governor’s office didn’t provide the Secretary of State’s office with any labor or equipment or get any benefit from the deal.

The audit recommended that management at the Secretary of State’s office take steps to ensure the office actually receives a service or benefit for payments made to other agencies. 

Bingman has since left the Secretary of State’s office, and is now campaigning to replace the term-limited Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony.

Jeffrey Cartmell, an attorney for the Secretary of State’s Office, said the audit did not uncover any misspending and that Leonard provided services to the office.

“Mr. Leonard’s services were shared between the Office of the Secretary of State and Office of the Governor because of the overlap of responsibilities and duties of the two offices,” Cartmell said. “Utilizing a shared services agreement, which was edited, reviewed, and approved by the Office of the Attorney General, resulted in savings for the state – and the taxpayer.

Specifically, Mr. Leonard acted as a liaison with various tribal leaders throughout the state. His activities for our office were in coordination with the outreach performed by Secretary Bingman.”

Abegail Cave, spokeswoman for Stitt, did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Stitt has recently faced criticism for his use of state money in his legal fights with the tribes. 

In August, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond questioned Stitt’s use of nearly $2 million in tribal gaming compliance unit funds — which come from fees paid the state’s tribes pay to the state as part of gaming compacts. Stitt used the money to pay for outside law firms and attorneys to defend him in lawsuits brought by some of the larger tribes over tribal gaming issues.

Drummond said he was not aware of any law that allows the governor’s office to use those gaming compliance funds for legal defense, though a spokeswoman for Stitt said nothing restricts the funds from being used for that purpose.

In a letter responding to the audit, Bingman said his office did receive services and benefits from Leonard and that multiple attorneys and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office reviewed the memorandum of understanding and said the arrangement complied with state law. Then-Attorney General Mike Hunter signed off on the agreement, the letter said. 

“Mr. Leonard helped the Office fulfill its duty of representing the state to other governments in a variety of ways,” Bingman’s letter states. “This included meeting with tribal leaders and tribal delegations from a wide range of tribal governments during the term of the MOU. Secretary Bingman and staff were kept apprised of Mr. Leonard’s interactions at weekly and bi-weekly meetings where the office would provide Mr. Leonard additional direction.”

Bingman’s letter also said the Secretary of State’s office has historically been the primary representative to foreign and tribal governments.

The post Secretary of State’s office spending on attorney for tribal issues broke the law, state audit finds appeared first on The Frontier.

Conley said in a press release: 

“Recently, comments I made about the Tulsa Race Massacre were published in a story regarding the impact of House Bill 1775 on education curriculum in Oklahoma. I want to take the opportunity today to clarify those comments. The Tulsa Race Massacre is a well-established and tragic part of Oklahoma history. My comments were in no way meant to downplay the horror of this event nor to say that it did not have anything to do with race. It is a well-established historical fact that the Tulsa Race Massacre was motivated by race. I was attempting to convey that I can never know another individual’s true intent because I cannot think their thoughts, nor was I alive during the time this event happened. I would like to apologize for any hurt caused by my statements; that was never my intent. We must all work together as a state to examine the root causes of these traumatic events in our history and find solutions that help us move forward. I believe that the history of our state and nation should be taught fully, the good and the bad, so we can confront the difficult challenges of our past, and work together toward a unified future.”

Conley is one of the authors of HB 1775, legislation that has sometimes been called a ban on “critical race theory” in Oklahoma public schools. The 2021 law banned teaching certain concepts about race and gender. 

The Frontier reported Thursday that some teachers say the law has affected how they teach certain topics including the Tulsa Race Massacre. The teachers said they fear punishments including losing their teaching certification or an accreditation downgrade for their school districts. 

Conley told The Frontier  in an interview for the story that she thinks the Tulsa Race Massacre was motivated by race but hesitated to say the perpetrators were racist. 

“It’s just a terrible tragedy in our state, and whether or not it was actually racism that caused the thoughts of the people that started it — we can try to speculate but to know for sure, I don’t think that we can,” Conley said.

In July, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters also faced backlash for his remarks about what students should learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre during a Cleveland County Republican Party meeting in Norman where he said “let’s not tie it to the skin color.” Walters also later clarified his remarks and said the 1921 massacre was “racist.”

The post Rep. Sherrie Conley apologizes for her remarks on the Tulsa Race Massacre appeared first on The Frontier.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he is looking into whether the funds were properly used to pay for legal counsel for Gov. Kevin Stitt in several lawsuits.

More than $1.9 million in gaming compliance program funds was paid to outside law firms representing the governor in legal actions over the past three years. The figure, which is more than previously reported, comes from state payment records reviewed by The Frontier.

The money to pay legal fees came from the state’s gaming compliance fund, a separate pot of money from the exclusivity fees the tribes pay the state for the rights to run gaming operations in Oklahoma. Tribes pay more than $1 million a year into the gaming compliance fund.

One of the architects of the model gaming compact Oklahoma voters approved in 2004 told The Frontier and KOSU that Stitt should have gotten approval from the Legislature before using the money for lawsuits with the tribes. 

Attorney Scott Meacham worked under Gov. Brad Henry as secretary of finance and revenue and then State Treasurer and helped negotiate the original gaming compacts with the tribes nearly 20 years ago. Gaming compliance money is not intended to be used for legal fees for outside litigation to negotiate a new compact, he says.

Meacham went further and said that tribes who remit money to the state could take legal action if they believe the money is not being used for its original intent.

“Because that’s a contract between the tribe and the state, the tribes could have a cause of action against the state now for potential misuse of those funds,” Meacham said. 

Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Drummond, said the Attorney General’s Office isn’t aware of any legislative approval to support using the money to pay legal fees. 

“This is a matter of interest and concern that he intends to explore further,” Bacharach said in a statement. 

Abegail Cave, a spokeswoman for Stitt, said the payments to law firms is a proper use of the money and language in the state’s model gaming compact with the tribes allow for it. Cave said Stitt’s predecessor Gov. Mary Fallin also used some of the money to pay for legal fees from gaming-related lawsuits with tribal governments, but did not provide specific examples. 

“Use of the funds is not restricted, and to the extent anyone were to stretch to argue a restriction should be read into the compact, current and historic usage would still be appropriate,” Cave said. 

Matt Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said the money can be used for litigation, but only in certain circumstances. 

Morgan, an attorney and former gaming regulator, said state regulators are obliged under the model gaming compact to try to resolve issues with the tribes before going to court. He said he believes Stitt’s use of the funds is unlawful and not in the spirit of the gaming compact.

Compliance fees are supposed to be used for oversight and to hire accountants and other staff to pore over the books of gaming operations. If the state needs to hire attorneys to ensure a tribal nation is in compliance with the compact, money could be spent on that. 

“If you have to hire a lawyer related to that purpose, I think that would be within what that was intended for,” Morgan said. 

Last week, Drummond announced he was going to take over representation of the state in a federal lawsuit in Washington D.C. brought in 2020 by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Citizen Potawatomi tribes against the U.S. Department of Interior, Stitt and tribal officials from a few, relatively smaller tribes that signed new gaming agreements with the governor. The larger tribes argue the gaming compacts those smaller tribes signed with Stitt, who was being represented by outside attorneys in the case, are not valid. They point to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Ruling  in 2020, which sided with the legislative leaders, who were advised by then Attorney General Mike Hunter that the compacts were not valid. 

Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and House Speaker Charles McCall both wrote letters in July supporting Drummond’s intervention in the case.

Drummond wrote in a letter to Stitt dated July 25 that the cost to defend that lawsuit was squandering state funds and harming state-tribal relations.

“Oklahoma’s relationship with our tribal partners has suffered greatly as a result of your divisive rhetoric and refusal to follow the law,” Drummond wrote to Stitt. “The citizens you were elected to serve are the ones who suffer from this irresponsible approach. Instead of working in partnership with tribal leaders to enact compacts that benefit all four million Oklahomans, you insist on costly legal battles that only benefit the elite law firms you hire. Millions of dollars of state resources have been squandered on these futile efforts.”

For that lawsuit alone, the state has spent nearly $600,000 on attorneys fees. Records show the state paid the law firm of Ryan, Whaley, Coldiron, Jantzen and Peters $184,013. Another $17,311 went to the firm Troutman, Pepper, Hamilton, Sanders for their work defending Stitt in the Washington D.C. lawsuit brought by some of Oklahoma’s largest tribes. The state also paid the white-shoe Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell $394,900 to defend Stitt.

But other lawsuits filed against Stitt over the tribal gaming issue pushes the total fees paid to outside attorneys from gaming compliance funds over the past three years to more than $1.9 million.

State vendor payment records show Stitt began paying Ryan, Whaley, Coldiron, Jantzen and Peters, and several other law firms, using gaming compliance unit funds starting in early 2020 for other lawsuits against Stitt involving tribal gaming.

In February of 2023, lawyers received more than $180,000 in fees for legal representation. 

Records show from March 2020 through fiscal year 2023, Ryan, Whaley, Coldiron, Jantzen and Peters was paid about $1.2 million from the state’s tribal gaming compliance unit. During that time, the firm represented Stitt in a 2020 lawsuit brought against him by several of the tribes after negotiations for new gaming compacts broke down. The firm also represented Stitt in two lawsuits legislative leaders Treat and McCall filed against him in June and July 2020 over tribal gaming matters. 

Vendor records also show the state paid $282,609 from gaming compliance funds to the Oklahoma City firm Lytle, Soule & Felty, which represented Stitt in the lawsuit brought by several of the tribes in January 2020 after negotiations on the gaming compacts broke down. 

In addition to the $394,900 paid to Sullivan & Cromwell and the $17,311 to Troutman, Pepper, Hamilton, Sanders, other firms paid from state gaming compliance funds include Washington state-based Perkins Coie, which received $9,975 after being briefly hired by Stitt for compact negotiations with the tribes in early 2020, according to state vendor data. A few weeks later, after the tribes filed suit against Stitt, he announced that Perkins Coie was no longer handling the case and that the Ryan, Whaley and Lytle, Soule, Felty firms had been hired to represent him. 

The state’s vendor data also shows that between fiscal years 2020 and 2022, monthly $8,285 payments totaling $256,835 went from the gaming compliance unit to the governor’s office. Caden Cleveland, spokesman for OMES, said those funds help pay the salary of the Governor’s general counsel as a shared resource to help navigate compliance issues, an arrangement that previous administrations also had.
The state gaming compliance program was created after Oklahoma voters approved Class III gaming in 2004.  The fund originally operated under the Office of State Finance but was later folded into the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. Tribes that have gaming compacts with the state pay a one-time $50,000 startup fee into the compliance fund, as well as an annual  $35,000 annual fee on top of gaming exclusivity fees the tribes pay the state that fund education, mental health and other government programs.

The post Gov. Kevin Stitt paid more than $1.9 million in legal fees for gaming lawsuits with state money appeared first on The Frontier.

A parent from the group Moms for Liberty had complained about the book during the previous year, although her son was allowed to read something else. The Tulsa County chapter of Moms For Liberty said in a statement they agree with the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre being taught but don’t support the idea that any person today is responsible for the event.

“We cried. I cried. The assistant superintendent cried. She felt awful,” Bixby ninth-grade history teacher Jaime Lee said. 

Bixby administrators Rob Miller and Jamie Milligan recommended the educators teaching “Dreamland Burning” review the lesson and cautioned them that the district might be unable to protect teachers from punishments under Oklahoma House Bill 1775, like losing their teaching certifications. The district could also be penalized with an accreditation downgrade. 

Miller told The Frontier he wasn’t concerned with the lesson’s content, but more with how state education leaders were interpreting the law after a vote to downgrade the accreditation status of Tulsa and Mustang Public Schools in 2022 for alleged violations. 

Lee said her administrators were supportive throughout the review process. And, after considering potential consequences, she and her colleagues collectively decided to stop teaching the lesson.

Lee still teaches a nearly month-long unit on the Tulsa Race Massacre. But now she sends parents an email a week in advance so they can access her lessons and opt to have their children sit out of parts they aren’t comfortable with.

Two years after the passage of HB 1775, educators say a chilling effect has fallen on classrooms in teaching on complicated subjects like the Tulsa Race Massacre. The law includes an exception for material in state educational standards like the massacre, but four teachers told The Frontier they avoid some topics because they fear punishment. 

In July, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters drew international backlash when he said he supports instruction on the Tulsa Race Massacre, but he doesn’t think students should learn that the event is linked to inherent racism.  

HB 1775 prohibits students from learning eight concepts about race and gender. The ban includes teaching that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive” and that people bear “responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.” 

Putnam City North High School government teacher Aaron Baker has the eight concepts printed and pasted on the wall of his classroom to help him avoid violating the law. 

Baker said he thought HB 1775 had no teeth until the State Board of Education’s vote to downgrade the accreditation status of Tulsa and Mustang Public Schools for violating the law. That, coupled with Walters’ campaign against critical race theory and calls to revoke a Norman teacher’s certification for sharing information on how to access banned books, has left some teachers petrified to teach complex historical topics.  

Rep. Sherrie Conley, R-Newcastle, one of the authors of HB 1775, said the law is intended to prevent teachers from teaching critical race theory — which posits that race is a social construct and racism is embedded in systems that uphold racial inequality.

Conley said if there’s a historical consensus that the Tulsa Race Massacre was caused by racism, then teachers should feel safe to teach it without violating the law. She said students should be able to feel upset about what they learn regarding the destruction of the Greenwood district, but teachers shouldn’t tell white students to feel guilty about it. 

Conley told The Frontier she thinks the Tulsa Race Massacre was motivated by race but hesitates to say the perpetrators were racist. 

“It’s just a terrible tragedy in our state, and whether or not it was actually racism that caused the thoughts of the people that started it — we can try to speculate but to know for sure, I don’t think that we can,” Conley said.

Conley believes there’s a lack of understanding from teachers on what the law means. She said she thinks educators could benefit from training to clarify what they can and can’t teach about history and an analysis of their curriculum to ensure it doesn’t include banned topics. 

Rep. Rick West, R-Heavener, another author of HB 1775, also told The Frontier he believed the law was needed to keep critical race theory out of Oklahoma classrooms. 

“Critical race theory is not a good thing and it never will be,” West said. “We have to teach our history. We have to teach it no matter what, but we don’t add or take away from it. It should be taught. And the Tulsa Race Massacre should be taught because there’s lessons to be learned. We’ve got to know our history.” 

But West said he didn’t know of any school districts where critical race theory is being taught.

What Oklahoma students learn about the massacre

Oklahoma’s academic standards have required education on the Tulsa Race Massacre since 2002. The standards require freshman and 11th-grade U.S. history classes to include lessons on the topic, without mandating any specific curriculum. History classes are required to examine multiple points of view regarding the evolution of race relations in Oklahoma. 

The standards were updated in 2019 to include the emergence of the Black Wall Street in Greenwood, the causes of the massacre and its continued social and economic impact and the role labels play in understanding historical events, such as past references to the destruction of Greenwood as a riot instead of a massacre. 

The state department paired these with a resource for teachers in 2020 to help clarify the standards and provide recommendations for things like lesson plans. 

Walters said in July he is continuing to work to develop an “even more robust curriculum” around the Tulsa Race Massacre. As state superintendent, Walters can suggest changes to Oklahoma’s academic standards, but he cannot mandate a specific curriculum or dictate how  teachers should teach the standards. 

The Frontier reached out to Walters multiple times asking for clarification on what changes he hoped to make and didn’t receive a response before publication. 

Emily Harris, the K-12 social studies academic content manager for Tulsa Public Schools, said Tulsa’s curriculum surrounding the Tulsa Race Massacre hasn’t changed since the passage of HB 1775. 

Third-grade students learn about discrimination and segregation in Tulsa by watching an animated version of the Dr. Seuss story “The Sneetches.” They also read the book “Up from the Ashes,” which talks about the development, destruction and rebuilding of Greenwood from a child’s perspective. 

Sixth-grade students learn about the gentrification of Black Wall Street in geography. Eighth-grade Oklahoma history students learn about racial violence in the Tulsa Race Massacre. High school students in U.S. history analyze cases of racial terror after World War I, including the Tulsa Race Massacre. Students also tour the Greenwood Rising Black Wall St. History Center, which was established in honor of the massacre’s centennial in 2021.

Tulsa historian Hannibal Johnson, author of “Up from the Ashes,” who also served as a curator for Greenwood Rising, said it’s impossible to teach about the Tulsa Race Massacre without including its root in systemic racism. 

“This ideological notion of white supremacy and black subordination is ultimately at the root of these events,” Johnson said. “We shouldn’t be afraid to acknowledge that horrific history, because if we don’t first acknowledge it, we can’t begin to remediate.” 

But some teachers have become more cautious about what they include in their instruction about topics like the massacre since the passage of HB 1775. 

At Union Public Schools, ninth-grade Oklahoma history teacher Will Buffington said lesson planning has become a more careful process for him and others in his department. They worked together to ensure lessons didn’t include things people could misconstrue as breaking the law ahead of time so they could address potential misinterpretations. 

When Shawna Mott-Wright graduated from Daniel Webster High School in 1998, she knew about the Tulsa Race Massacre when others in her Oklahoma State University courses didn’t because of her Tulsa Public School teachers. Now, as a Tulsa Public School teacher and president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association, she said she has spoken with educators who have quit over HB 1775. 

“Because of all of the rhetoric surrounding it, they’re afraid they’re going to inadvertently say or do something wrong,” Mott-Wright said. 

As Mott-Wright prepares to send her daughter back to a Tulsa Public School this August, she worries about what long-lasting effect the law will have on students. 

“If we don’t learn about history, we are doomed to repeat it,” she said. “Some people are out there spouting some nasty, hateful rhetoric, and maybe they want it repeated. But most of us don’t.” 

A law with far-reaching consequences 

In 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against defendants including former Attorney General John O’Connor, former State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister and the state Regents for Higher Education, arguing HB 1775 limited the First Amendment rights of teachers and students. Anthony Crawford, an Oklahoma City English teacher who asked that his district not be named because he’s not authorized to speak on its behalf, was one of two teachers who joined as plaintiffs. 

When he first learned about the law, Crawford asked a district administrator about its impact on his teaching. The administrator reassured him he’d be safe if he stuck to the state standards, which provide some flexibility in how he teaches his material. 

But Crawford said he’s gradually noticed a loss of classroom control. He said he’s been asked by his superintendent to leave books out of his classroom like “Powernomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America,” which analyzes racial inequalities in the United States and how Black Americans can become more economically and politically competitive, and “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing,” which argues slavery and continued oppression has caused psychological trauma across generations.

Crawford said he believes these books helped students build arguments and connect classroom material to their personal experiences. Now he’s signed onto the lawsuit because he fears his teaching certificate could be revoked.

“I probably put myself in a bad position but in the greatest position ever,” Crawford said. 

John Waldron, D-Tulsa, taught history at Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School for 20 years. Waldron said he always took teaching the Tulsa Race Massacre seriously, working in a minority-majority district and in a building that survived the massacre. 

But Waldron said he now fears for the future of teachers covering difficult subjects. 

In 2022 the State Board of Education voted to downgrade Mustang Public Schools’ accreditation after a complaint that a middle school student felt uncomfortable being asked questions in a team-building activity whether anyone in the room ever experienced discrimination. 

Waldron said the punishment could have fallen on just the teacher, who could have taken a warning and changed her lesson plan. But instead, the State Board voted to downgrade the school district’s accreditation. This lower accreditation means the district is subject to extra state oversight and indicates a district failed to meet standards in a way that “seriously detracts” from the quality of its educational program.

And now there’s a delay in Tulsa Public Schools’ accreditation status until the Board of Education’s Aug. 24 meeting. Walters claimed the district “intentionally misled the department about funding spent on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.” 

“HB 1775 has been weaponized by this superintendent and the State Board of Education, appointed by Governor Stitt, to go after entire school districts, and the effect will be to intimidate teachers in just about every classroom,” Waldron said. 

Since HB 1775, Milligan said Bixby administrators talk a lot more about how they can support teachers amid legislation endangering their teaching certifications. They’ve sought to find a balance between helping them teach state standards safely and accurately while allowing them to maintain autonomy and enhance student engagement. 

Miller said they’re cognizant that although they want parents to have a voice in their child’s education, it only takes one complaint for them to circumvent the district to go to the State Board, who can take action without giving districts much recourse.

“There’s no way to defend ourselves, and that sort of makes you feel like you’re walking on eggshells a little bit,” Miller said. “I know these teachers feel that way too because they’re passionate about what they teach. They’re not trying to indoctrinate kids. They’re trying to help kids become open-minded critical thinkers about all the perspectives associated with a historical event.” 

Lee said she makes it a priority to build trust with her students to teach complicated topics. But HB 1775 and the current political climate in education have prevented her from being completely open with her students and engaging in conversations on political issues that naturally come up in a history class. 

She fears she could lose her job if a parent misunderstood her intentions. Instead, she tells students to come back and talk to her after they’ve graduated.

The post After a state law banning some lessons on race, Oklahoma teachers tread lightly on the Tulsa Race Massacre appeared first on The Frontier.

Russ summoned the leaders of Oklahoma’s state pension funds to discuss implementation of the state’s Energy Discrimination Elimination Act. Oklahoma enacted the law in 2022 to crack-down on Environment, Social, and Governance investing. The practice screens investments for ethical considerations including environmental degradation and corporate leadership. 

State pension fund directors and legal experts have already said they are concerned that millions of dollars in state retirement funds could be lost because of the law’s requirements. 

Oklahoma is one of at least seven states to ban business with financial institutions that allegedly “boycott” the fossil fuel industry. Critics say these practices unfairly punish the fossil fuel industry, which contributes to man-made climate change through the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, heating the earth, ocean and atmosphere.

At the beginning of the meeting, Russ said the meeting was not public. No agenda was posted and no meeting notice filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. Russ asked that all attorneys and journalists leave the meeting room.

“First of all, how many attorneys are in the room? How many practicing attorneys are here representing someone,” Russ asked.

Marc Edwards, who serves as general counsel for three Oklahoma pension funds that serve police officers, firefighters and other law enforcement in the state, was present and raised his hand.

Edwards told Russ he was present on behalf of Duane Michael, executive director of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, who could not attend Tuesday’s meeting. Russ again asked him to leave.

“I hate to tell you, but you’ve got to leave,” Russ said, adding “this is not a public meeting.”

Jordan Harvey, Russ’s chief of staff, said the meeting was only for leaders of state pension systems to help implement the new law. State pension fund heads told The Frontier in May they had reached out to the treasurer’s office for guidance on implementing the law, but received little to no feedback.

“You guys have indicated you would like some direction,” Russ said. “I’m here to help. But we have to have some kind of rules for engagement and guidelines to go by.”

Some of those present pushed back, telling Russ it was important for attorneys to be present since there are many legal issues involved in implementing the law. Russ responded that the attorneys will eventually be brought in to the discussion at a future meeting, but wanted this gathering to be held out of public view so everyone involved could speak candidly.

“We want candid, interactive collaboration,” Russ told the group before asking a Frontier reporter to also leave the room. “We don’t want attorneys who can pick up parts or misquote or anything. Rule number-one was no attorneys in the room.”

Russ said implementing the requirements of the law was new ground for him as well, and many of the state pension system heads have been asking for direction in how to implement the new law.

“We’re just just trying to walk through this together,” Russ said. “I’m trying to collaborate with you guys to help us all be successful as best we can. Based on how this turns out in our discussions, and questions and answers and information that we can provide. It may be clear enough that you guys know what your path is.”

Russ later told The Frontier that the meeting was just to go over how those pension systems could implement the provisions of the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act, and that there will likely be some exceptions allowed once the new list is published.

“They just want to be on the same page, to execute the law and understand how to do that and protect the investors and the taxpayers of Oklahoma and still comply with the law,” Russ said. “I think it’s clear, I think there’ll be some exceptions that we’ll have to make and I think there’s some areas that will be much easier for them to transition to new money managers without causing any loss in the pension portfolios.”

In other states, similar blacklists have been blamed for higher government borrowing costs, and some public pension systems have warned that their retirees could lose tens of millions of dollars each year. Oklahoma pension fund directors have similar worries — that the state’s retirement systems could lose millions if they are forced to pull their money from blacklisted investment managers and end contracts for services with blacklisted banks and other financial firms.

Nearly all of the language in Oklahoma’s Energy Discrimination Act is copied directly from Texas’s law, which was passed in June 2021 and later picked up by the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization that provides model legislation mostly to conservative state lawmakers to introduce in their legislatures though it was ultimately not adopted by the group’s task forces.

The law requires that state pension systems divest funds invested through firms found to be boycotting the fossil fuel industry — with some exemptions, such as cases where divesting or ending a contract would breach the pension system’s fiduciary duty to pensioners. The law also prohibits any state or local government entity from contracting with firms that end up on the state’s blacklist of boycotting firms.

The Oklahoma State Treasurer also currently uses blacklisted bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. to issue most of the state’s financial disbursements, such as employee payroll and retirement checks. Bank of America, also on the blacklist, contracts with the state for its state debit card system. After Tuesday’s meeting, Russ said no decision has yet been made on whether he will end those relationships with the blacklisted firms.

Early this year, Russ sent questionnaires to numerous investment firms and banks the state’s pension systems do business with asking whether they boycott the fossil fuel industry, as well as questions on specific energy company shareholder votes, environmental group membership.  

Though none of the companies surveyed by Russ said they were  boycotting the fossil fuel industry, Russ presented a list of 13 companies he said were doing so in May, despite some of those companies not qualifying under the law to be placed on the list.

Those companies have 90 days after being notified they are on the blacklist to submit appeals to Russ’s office showing that they have ended their alleged boycotts in order to be taken off the list. For nearly all of the firms on the first list, that deadline comes on Aug. 3.

During the meeting, Russ said he will probably issue a revised list of companies by the end of August, said Chase Rankin, executive director for the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System. That means the firefighters pension will likely take the issue up in September, once the new list is out, he said.

The Firefighters Pension and Retirement System has around $18 million in direct holdings through blacklisted companies, and contracts with the blacklisted State Street Bank for its banking services.

Rankin said it has been more than a decade since the system has requested proposals, and so putting out a request for proposals now is probably prudent, though if State Street does come back with the best offer, the pension system could sign a new contract with the company.

Rankin said he asked during the meeting about exemption reporting — the state pension funds are required to submit a report to the treasurer if they determine it would be a breach of fiduciary duty to divest or end a contract with a blacklisted company. Rankin said he asked what the treasurer wanted in the report.

“I didn’t honestly didn’t get a good answer from that, but I think that I think that there may be some scenarios, and he’s anticipating some scenarios, where the funds may have some exceptions,” Rankin said.

Rankin also said several pension fund directors made clear to the treasurer that he does not have the power to enforce the law. That responsibility, he said, is with the state Attorney General’s Office.

“I think ultimately the Attorney General is going to have to issue some kind of opinion at some point,” Rankin said.

The post Oklahoma treasurer says exemptions for ‘woke’ investment ban likely in closed-door meeting with state retirement fund leaders appeared first on The Frontier.

Update: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 7, 2023, to include a response from Ryan Walters.

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters was met with a crowd of protestors at a speaking engagement at the Norman Public Library on Thursday. In one tense exchange, an audience member confronted Walters about his definition of critical race theory and asked how students should learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre without feeling shame. After backlash on social media, Walters issued a statement on Friday denouncing the Tulsa Race Massacre and blaming the media for distorting his words.

“The media is twisting two separate answers. They misrepresented my statements about the Tulsa Race Massacre in an attempt to create a fake controversy. Let me be crystal clear that history should be accurately taught:  1. The Tulsa Race Massacre is a terrible mark on our history. The events on that day were racist, evil, and it is inexcusable. Individuals are responsible for their actions and should be held accountable.  2.  Kids should never be made to feel bad or told they are inferior based on the color of their skin,” Walters said.

Here is an audio recording and transcript of Walter’s conversation with an audience member.

Question from audience member: So the Tulsa Race Massacre was followed by 100 years of silence. The reason it was followed by 100 years of silence was the shame. It was a shameful event. When I learned about it — and not in public schools — I felt bad. I felt angry. I felt all these emotions. Two years ago, when I learned about the concentration camp that happened the day after, I was even more angry, I was even more ashamed that white Tulsans committed genocide against black Tulsans. What I don’t understand is how that does not fall under your definition of CRT.

Ryan Walters: Thank you for the question. Now, I want to be clear when we wrote — and we’ve got some of the legislators here — appreciate Representative (Sherrie) Conley that helped develop HB 1775, which is, in essence, the critical race theory bill, one of the things that we did, essentially at the beginning, as we wrote in the very beginning, all Oklahoma standards have to be taught. This is not an end-around to say, we’re not going to teach the Tulsa Race Massacre. That is absolutely, certainly not the intention, it was verbatim in the bill to say all of these standards have to be taught.

I believe our kids have to have all of our history. That’s the good, the bad and the ugly. Folks, I believe this is absolutely the greatest country in the history of the world. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. That doesn’t mean there weren’t mistakes. And that doesn’t mean that we didn’t live up to our principles. The only way our kids have the ability to learn from history and make this country continue to be the best country is to understand those times we fell short, a very clear, very direct understanding of those events.

I will always support that our kids should know that about the Tulsa Race Massacre. They absolutely should there are standards around it. I’m continuing to work to develop even more robust curriculum around these events, and I don’t want to hide any part of history. It all needs to be right there, very plain, very direct so that we can learn from it. So I think it’s very important.

Audience member: Follow up?

Ryan Walters: Yes. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Audience member: How does the Tulsa Race Massacre not fall under your definition of CRT?

Ryan Walters: Okay, thank you. I’m sorry, I didn’t address that part. I would never tell a kid that because of your race, because of your color of your skin, or your gender or anything like that, you are less of a person or in or are inherently racist. That doesn’t mean you don’t judge the actions of individuals. Oh, you can, absolutely, historically, you should. This was right. This was wrong. They did this for this reason. But to say it was inherent in that because of their skin is where I say that is critical race theory, you’re saying that race defines a person. I reject that. So I would say you be judgmental of the issue, of the action, of the content of the character of the individual. Absolutely. But let’s not tie it to the skin color instead of the skin color determine it.

Audience member: How does the Tulsa Race Massacre not fall under your definition of CRT? 

Ryan Walters: I answered it. That’s my answer. Again, I felt like…. (inaudible) 

Audience member: The Tulsa Race Massacre was a race massacre. How does it not fall under CRT?

Ryan Walters: I have answered your question. I appreciate you. Very respectfully, keep questions….

Audience member: What about race? How does that not fall (inaudible).

Walters then moved on to answering another audience member’s question.

The post Hear and read Ryan Walters’ full remarks about the Tulsa Race Massacre appeared first on The Frontier.

Dr. Rebecca Lewis, a family physician practicing obstetrics at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, and her patients were left to decide between inducing delivery early, or waiting until the baby died in the womb or the patient went into septic shock. 

The patient wasn’t facing medical complications, but they decided to start labor early, which Lewis said she believes prevented the woman from experiencing the further psychological harm of a potential life-threatening emergency. 

“If that came in tonight, would I be able to make that same decision legally?” Lewis said. “It’s still such a gray area.” 

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled twice in recent months to overturn state laws that only allow for abortions during life-threatening medical emergencies, stating that requiring doctors to wait doesn’t serve a compelling state interest.

But an Oklahoma law from 1910 that outlaws most abortions is still in effect. That law says abortions are allowed only when necessary to preserve a mother’s life. Otherwise, medical professionals can be charged with a felony and face up to five years in prison.  But doctors still aren’t certain when they can perform the procedure. Other states that have banned most abortions including Utah, Georgia and Louisiana have laws with more specific language, permitting terminating a pregnancy  to prevent serious, irreversible damage to a life-sustaining organ, but Oklahoma’s law contains no specifics or clear definitions.

The Frontier interviewed three medical providers who said a lack of consensus on how to interpret the recent state court rulings makes it difficult to make decisions while treating patients. 

Lewis said many of the doctors she knows interpret the law to mean that abortion is appropriate if the mother’s life will be at risk in the next 24 hours, but that leaves out lots of situations that could be detrimental to patients’ health and wellbeing. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said before the most recent state Supreme Court ruling in May that doctors should be given “substantial leeway” in deciding when abortion is appropriate. 

Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for Drummond’s office, said in an email that staff are reviewing and potentially updating guidance based on the most recent Supreme Court decision, and they could include definitions for preserving the life of a mother. 

Neither the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision or the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners have guidance published on their websites based on the most recent state court rulings, though Board of Osteopathic Examiners executive director Michael Leake said he’s working to develop some.  

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ official position is that abortions can be medically necessary. The organization opposes efforts to impede access or criminalize health care providers. But Molly Meegan, general counsel for ACOG said doctors can only follow the organizations’ guidance as far as state laws will allow.  

ACOG can’t offer individual doctors legal advice, but Meegan said the organization encourages hospital administrators to help doctors navigate their work. 

“A lot of institutions haven’t provided enough guidance,” Meegan said. “Most doctors are operating in what feels like a very scary and chaotic environment.” 

Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, an abortion access group, was the plaintiff in two lawsuits that struck down narrow exceptions for medically necessary abortions in the state. Board member Priya Desai said the organization has tried to push back on what they see as the highest impact laws, and they saw similar bans in states like Texas cause spikes in out-of-state abortions. 

The organization worked together with Physicians for Human Rights and the Center for Reproductive Rights on a study of Oklahoma hospitals, which found that almost none have clear policies on when to perform emergency abortions. 

Desai said her group believes that hospitals should outline clear emergency abortion policies for doctors, but she thinks the liability associated might prevent some from creating them.

Oklahoma City OB-GYN Dr. Dana Stone asked that her hospital not be named because she isn’t authorized to speak on the organization’s behalf. She said hospital attorneys created broad guidelines for doctors after Roe v. Wade was overturned. But black-and-white rules often don’t work for a subject as gray as medicine, she said. 

At her facility, Stone said decisions to perform a medically necessary abortion are made with a team that includes an anesthesiologist, a nurse and other hospital staff. Team members have always been able to refuse to participate in the procedure for any reason.

But if a team member expresses concerns for a legal reason, it often halts medical plans for a patient, Stone said. 

Lewis, the physician from Enid, said she doesn’t perform abortions herself, but if she believes one is necessary, she refers the patient to a gynecologist at her hospital. She said hospital administrators have clarified that doctors’ priority should be saving the life of the mother when they can, which she said has been clearer guidance than some hospitals. 

Dr. William Po, an OB-GYN who also serves as the vice chair of Oklahoma’s ACOG section, asked that his hospital not be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak on its behalf. Po said his hospital hasn’t given doctors guidelines to interpret the law, and administrators have also said that they’d give physicians legal support in a civil case but not if they face criminal charges. 

In cases where he believes an abortion is medically necessary, he will refer patients to a medical professional outside the facility, where they receive extra counseling before they decide whether to end the pregnancy. 

The most helpful outcome would be for legislators to write clearer laws outlining what doctors can and can’t do, Po said. 

“Medical standard of care is not being done when you’re faced with substantial criminal penalties,” Po said. “We all want to do the right thing. We all want to follow the law. We all want to save our patients and give good medicine. And when you have a law with such a blanket statement, it’s difficult to navigate those waters.” 

The post After court rulings, Oklahoma doctors are still confused about when abortion is legal to save a patient’s life appeared first on The Frontier.