Oklahoma
Oklahoma gets third positive rating outlook
Oklahoma’s credit quality is looking up, rating agencies say, with Fitch Ratings joining Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings in revising the state’s rating outlook to positive from stable.
Fitch, which rates Oklahoma AA, said Friday the revision reflects sustained improvements in expenditure flexibility and overall fiscal management, “particularly its adherence to conservative budgeting practices through economic cycles including the recent period of revenue volatility caused by the coronavirus pandemic.”
Oklahoma Treasurer’s Office
“The state has consistently taken timely action to address revenue shortfalls and budgets only 95% of projected operating revenues,” it added.
Moody’s, which rates Oklahoma Aa2,
State Treasurer Todd Russ said Oklahoma has worked to diversify its economy, lower its debt, and “stand strong as a leader in many industries.”
“Oklahoma has long been the best-kept secret, and the secret is out,” he said in a statement. “Fitch, S&P, and Moody’s all see that, and their positive ratings prove it.”
The outlook revisions come as Oklahoma is avoiding debt issuance by tapping a $600 million
Three projects totaling $135 million that had been slated for bond issuance through the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority were authorized for these loans, according to the treasurer’s office.
As of the end of 2023, Oklahoma had no general obligation bonds outstanding, according to the annual state debt report. Lease revenue bonds issued through OCIA had outstanding principal of $1.336 billion.
The Republican governor
The proposed tax cut comes amid a trend of
Oklahoma’s tax revenue could be adversely impacted by
A decision by the high court, which heard oral arguments Jan. 17, can come at any time. In a court filing, the Oklahoma Tax Commission said a tax exemption for tribal members would result in “tens of millions of dollars in tax refunds and deprive the state of billions more in future taxes.”
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is pressing federal regulators to make clear that states — not the federal government — have authority over sports-related prediction markets, arguing the platforms function like sportsbooks without state oversight.
Drummond and 40 other state attorneys general filed a formal comment Thursday with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, urging the agency to reaffirm that it does not have jurisdiction over sports-related contracts offered through prediction markets. The coalition said prediction markets have effectively become unregulated sportsbooks.
Prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket, allow users to trade contracts tied to the outcome of future events. Drummond said sports-related contracts on those platforms amount to gambling and should be regulated by states.
“This is unequivocally gambling, which means it belongs under State authority,” Drummond said. “States have long had the right and responsibility to protect their own citizens from the dangers of gambling, and that should continue to hold true whether bets take place on a prediction market or inside a traditional casino.”
In their letter, the attorneys general said users can make the same types of wagers on prediction markets as they can at traditional sportsbooks. “Any distinction between sportsbook bets and prediction-market bets is illusory,” they wrote.
The coalition said prediction market users can wager on game winners, point spreads and player statistics, while bypassing consumer protections and tax requirements mandated by state gambling laws. The attorneys general argued the contracts are entertainment-based gambling rather than tools for financial risk management, placing them outside the CFTC’s jurisdiction.
The attorneys general also warned that sports gambling poses risks to public health and financial security.
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They said states are best positioned to protect residents from those harms and asked the CFTC to confirm through rulemaking that it lacks jurisdiction over sports-related contracts, leaving states with the power to regulate or prohibit sports gambling.
At least 10 people were hospitalized following a shooting at a party at Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma, the Edmond Police Department confirmed late Sunday night in a post to its social media.
The department noted that it had responded to the scene alongside officers from Oklahoma City Police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Ten victims were evacuated by ambulance to various hospitals in the Oklahoma metro area, police said, noting that the “total number of victims is expected to change as additional individuals transported themselves to area hospitals. There is no update on victim conditions at this time.”
Initial reports citing law enforcement scanners claimed that at least 15 people had been injured.
Edmond Police have set up a reunification center for families at a local Walmart, CBS Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV reported.
Police added there are no suspects in custody at this time, urging the public to reach out with any information.
According to KOCO-TV, KOCO-TV, an ABC-affiliate station in Oklahoma City, police said that there “was no known threat to the public” as of 11:15 p.m..
“We will release more information when it becomes available,” police said.
Despite being from down the road in Oklahoma and his brother already being a Sooner, Blake Griffin recently admitted that playing at OU wasn’t always part of his plans.
Now retired after a 13-year NBA career, Griffin was recently on “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce when he was asked if he always knew he was going to end up at Oklahoma during his recruitment process out of Oklahoma Christian School in nearby Edmond, where his dad was the head coach.
Blake Griffin tells Kelce Brothers he eyed other programs over OU
“It actually wasn’t,” Griffin said. “So my brother (Taylor) committed and played there his freshman year, and then they got a new coach. Kelvin Sampson left, there were some recruiting violations, they got this new coach. Honestly, I loved Kansas, I loved Florida. …
“And then I had like Duke and North Carolina on my list, but it was kind of just like a — it felt like it was a lifelong dream of Duke and North Carolina.”
Obviously Griffin ultimately did end up staying home in Oklahoma and the rest is history. He committed to the Sooners as a McDonald’s All-American and one of the greatest recruits OU has ever landed in men’s basketball at the start of Lon Kruger’s tenure.
As a freshman in 2007, Griffin immediately cracked the starting lineup and averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game while becoming First-Team All-Big 12. Despite being a potential lottery pick, Griffin chose to return to OU and helped lead the Sooners to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and swept national individual awards. He was then the first overall pick the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft, where his brother, Taylor, was also drafted at No. 48.
“I wanted to go to a place where, A, my brother was there, it was close to home, my parents could come watch us play, and then also just that I wanted to go to a place where you felt like they really believed in you and you were gonna be the guy and you were gonna get the opportunity,” Griffin said. “And I’m so glad I did.”
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