A Broken Arrow Republican has introduced legislation for a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would allow state officials to freeze, withhold or suspend up to 100% of state-allocated funds for public universities.
Representative Gabe Woolley (R-Broken Arrow) introduced HJR 1037 on Dec. 23, 2025. The bill must be passed by a majority in both the Oklahoma House and Senate in order to be placed on voters’ ballots as a state question.
“Ultimately, Oklahomans, not bureaucrats, would decide whether publicly funded institutions should be held accountable for how their tax dollars are used,” Woolley said on Facebook on Jan. 2.
HJR 1037 would allow state funds to be frozen, suspended, or withheld for a maximum of two years. At the end of the two-year period, funding would automatically resume “unless extended or modified by a subsequent joint resolution.”
The resolution also says that “the Legislature may, at any time, and by a majority vote of both the Oklahoma State Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives, enact a joint resolution to lift, terminate, or modify a previously enacted resolution provided for under this section.”
The legislation only applies to state-appropriated funds for higher education, and does not apply to federal funds, private donations, tuition or fees.
According to okhighered.org, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education received $23.9 million in state appropriations for the 2026 fiscal year. Twenty-three percent of UCO’s annual budget comes from state appropriations, according to the university’s public affairs impact statement.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education could not immediately be reached for comment.
This proposed resolution comes after a graduate teaching assistant was dismissed from the University of Oklahoma on the grounds of “arbitrary grading” after giving a student a zero on an essay on gender roles in society.
Representative Woolley has expressed support for that student multiple times on Facebook, including when he published an opinion piece he claimed The Oklahoman had asked him to write and had chosen not to publish.
“Controversy continues to stir within public higher education in Oklahoma. What we are seeing is a cycle of emotional reactions stemming from an unscientific argument,” Woolley continued: “There are only two genders.”
The Independent View reached out to Woolley via Facebook for comment, and also asked if the Fulnecky incident at OU inspired the legislation. Woolley said that while the OU incident was “the most recent example, it was not the inspiration for the legislation.”
Woolley compared the OU incident to “a publicly funded school district hiring a math teacher who believes 2+2 = 5.”
Woolley also mentioned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, claiming they “pin people against each other based on their skin color (Critical Race Theory), background, and gender.”
Woolley’s full statement can be read as a pdf here.
HJR 1037 will be eligible to be heard after Feb. 2, when the 2026 Oklahoma legislative session begins. This is a developing story and The Independent View will provide more information as it becomes available.
