Paul Monies of Oklahoma Watch

One in five Oklahomans has medical debt in collections, among the highest rates in the country. A bipartisan bill would tackle one part of the process once those debts reach civil court.

The Oklahoma State Election Board on Friday appointed two new Republican members to the Oklahoma County Election Board, just days after removing two GOP members in that county for failing to certify recent elections and spreading misinformation about the election process.

The state Election Board dismissed the Republican member and a Republican alternate from the Oklahoma County Election Board after it determined they failed to certify election results, refused to approve meeting minutes and didn’t disclose conflicts of interest.

More state employees working remotely has opened up office space in some state agency buildings, allowing agencies to share buildings or sublease.

Oklahoma used state disaster response funds to pay for a 30-day deployment of National Guard troops to help with border security as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.

Oklahoma’s superagency that handles information technology, budgeting, employee management and state office buildings has little budget transparency of its own and needs to do a better job of responding to agencies it provides services, a legislative oversight report concluded.

About 270,000 low-income Oklahomans are expected to lose their SoonerCare coverage after the federal government ended a pandemic program that stopped states from dropping people from Medicaid during a public health emergency.

As children return to school, Oklahoma now has the highest rate of exemptions from immunizations for kindergartners in the region, according to state and federal data.

Trustees of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System voted 9-1 to take a financial exemption from a new state banking law that forbids pension systems from doing business with banks perceived to be hostile to oil and gas companies.

Millions in broadband funding could be further delayed after some companies and board members raised concerns about duplicating efforts in areas of Oklahoma already served by internet service providers.