TULSA, Okla. — With a new year comes new laws for Oklahoma that go into effect Jan. 1, 2025.

These laws range from voter rights to healthcare access for everyone in the state.

House Bill 1629

The new law allows eligibility to some convicted felons to vote. Felons must fall under one of these requirements to be eligible:

• Served their sentence time to the full calendar date or served their reduced sentence to the full length.
• Have no other outstanding felonies after being released for the same period they were sentenced.

Click here to read the law in full.

2 News spoke with State Representative John Waldron who says Oklahoma is in the bottom five in the nation for voter participation and many former felons don’t know their rights outside of incarceration.

“Oklahoma is in the bottom five states regarding voter participation. It’s a healthier democracy if more people participate,” Rep. Waldron said.

The representative went on to say that Oklahoma leads the nation in mass incarceration.

“I would imagine that there are tens of thousands of people in Oklahoma who could vote but aren’t voting because of past felonies.”

House Bill 3190

This law lets medical professionals determine treatment for their patients rather than insurance companies.

It would also shorten the time for insurance companies to approve prior authorization for healthcare providers so they can give the proper treatment to their patients.

“It was designed to. It might take our healthcare providers a few extra steps to ensure people have prior authorization for the procedures they need. But we don’t want people to go without necessary healthcare because our system is cumbersome,” Rep. Waldron said.

Click here to read the law in full.

Other laws that go into effect Jan. 1, 2025:

House Bill 2872- Out-of-Network Ambulance Service Provider Act.

Senate Bill 1334- Corinne’s Law, gives newly diagnosed breast cancer patients the right to preserve their fertility covered by insurance.

Senate Bill 1401-Amends language in Section 1 Chapter 340 in Oklahoma Statues regarding tax credits.

Senate Bill 1429- Continued funding for the Department of Transportation will support port and waterway infrastructure.

Senate Bill 1457- An amended state law that now says Oklahoma first responders do not need to be physically injured to qualify for workers’ compensation for a mental illness or injury.

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Ahead of two games against the NBA’s top two title favorites — Oklahoma City and Boston — Wolves wing Jaden McDaniels told Minnesota radio voice Alan Horton on Tuesday morning that the Wolves are “right up there with those teams.”

“Our record might not show it,” McDaniels told Horton, “but I feel like we’re one of the best teams.”

Tuesday — specifically, the third quarter Tuesday — was a reminder that the Wolves are not, as Minnesota fell 113-105 to the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

The Wolves had proven again over the three-game winning streak they carried into Oklahoma City that they are indeed a good team. A great one, though? Not at the moment. That’s a high standard that only a few teams have achieved to date this season, and Oklahoma City again proved why it’s in that club.

Mike Conley hit a trio of triples in succession to put Minnesota up 12 early in the third stanza. Oklahoma City didn’t so much as call a timeout. The Thunder merely locked in, going on an immediate 10-0 run to force Wolves coach Chris Finch to call time. But that did little to slow the avalanche.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sliced through Minnesota’s defense for a pretty finish at the rim at the end of the quarter to put the Thunder up 14. Oklahoma City outscored Minnesota 34-10 over the final 8 minutes, 30 seconds of that third quarter. The Thunder — who sport the NBA’s best defense — turned up their dial to a 10 on that end of the floor, suffocating Minnesota’s offense while breathing life into its own.

Minnesota didn’t help itself in the situation. The Wolves committed 10 of their 24 turnovers Tuesday in the third quarter.

“We did the one thing that we couldn’t do. We turned it over at a high level. We talked about that coming in here – we’ve got to take care of the ball,” Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters after the game. “We were up 10, missed a dunk, leads to a run out, 10-0 run, and then the turnovers started after that.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on the floor. The MVP candidate tallied 40 points on 15-for-23 shooting. He was the best player on the floor, even on an evening when Anthony Edwards was relatively productive.

Edwards finished with 20 points, but he simply cannot control the game with the same consistency as Oklahoma City’s star guard. Gilgeous-Alexander seemed to get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, even against a defense as traditionally dominant as Minnesota’s.

Minnesota (17-15) went toe to toe with the Thunder at various points in Tuesday’s bout, as Oklahoma City struggled to find any offensive rhythm and couldn’t buy a made triple. The Thunder didn’t clear the 30-point threshold until midway through the second quarter. Oklahoma City went 3 for 19 from deep in the first half.

And again late, Minnesota delivered one final push to make things interesting. The Wolves pulled within three in the closing minutes and looked to be on the verge of another stunning victory after rallying past San Antonio and Houston in dramatic fashion of its two previous contests.

But Oklahoma City (27-5) is a tier above even those quality teams, and the Thunder made enough plays late when they were required to close the deal.

Minnesota’s had lapses like what it experienced in the third quarter seemingly every game. And the Thunder are good enough to make Minnesota pay for them.

Cleaning those up is what will be required for Minnesota to return to true championship contention.

“If we don’t turn the ball over, we can control this game,” Finch said. “No doubt about it.”

Originally Published: December 31, 2024 at 9:29 PM CST

Oklahoma will begin the New Year with a little good news.

Senior safety Robert Spears-Jennings on Tuesday announced his decision for 2025, and he’s coming back to Norman.

Spears-Jennings, who just finished his junior season as one of OU’s most consistent performers in the secondary, will “run it back” in 2025 as a member of the Sooner defensive backfield.

The 6-foot-1, 219-pound Spears-Jennings came to OU as a consensus 4-star defensive back from Broken Arrow, OK. He chose the Sooners over offers from Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas Tech and others.

He played in all 13 games this season and made 11 starts. Spears-Jennings finished the season second on the team with 66 tackles behind senior linebacker Danny Stutsman. Spears-Jennings also had 5.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 quarterback sacks. His real contributions were in the takeaways department, as he had one interception, two fumbles recovered and four fumbles forced, which ranks fifth in the nation.

As a sophomore in 2023, Spears-Jennings made two starts and played in 12 games. He totaled 38 tackles, including 24 in the Sooners’ last five games.

Spears-Jennings played in the Sooners’ last nine games as a true freshman in 2022 and totaled 15 tackles.

While the transfer portal has taken a toll on the Sooners’ efforts in 2025, the defensive losses have been mostly negligible and there haven’t been any early departures yet for the NFL Draft.

OU has gotten some good personnel news in recent days, with players like linebacker Kip Lewis, defensive end R Mason Thomas and defensive tackle Damonic Williams all announcing their plans to play for Brent Venables‘ squad next season. (Thomas’ return was announced by OU collective 1Oklahoma but was quickly deleted.)