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Oklahoma Signs Four Bills Reshaping GTCA and WC Programs

Governor Stitt signed four bills on May 14 that cap wrongful-termination settlements for state university faculty under the GTCA and restructure workers' comp administration, extending a two-session reform arc that changes expected loss development for self-insured public entities.

By Sam · May 2026 · 3 min read

On May 14, 2026, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed four bills that cap wrongful-termination settlements under the Governmental Tort Claims Act (GTCA) and restructure the state’s workers’ compensation administration. The package extends a two-session reform arc that began in 2025 with SB 1168’s doubling of personal injury caps and a new $2 million aggregate limit.

What the bills do

SB 2084, the centerpiece of the GTCA changes, caps the total payout for wrongful-termination claims by faculty members at institutions within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education. Under the enrolled text, the combined value of any settlement, arbitration award, or court judgment cannot exceed two years of the faculty member’s base salary, compensation, or contractual benefit as of the termination date. The cap covers back pay, compensatory damages, liquidated damages, and any other monetary relief, but excludes retirement contributions already earned and accrued unpaid wages or leave. The law takes effect November 1, 2026, and does not apply to claims governed by written contracts with non-faculty employees.

SB 1827 refines core GTCA definitions, tightening which claims and entities fall within the act’s liability framework.

On the workers’ compensation side, SB 1303 (declared an emergency measure) repeals the Advisory Council on Workers’ Compensation and transfers WC Court property and records to the Workers’ Compensation Commission. The council was one of three advisory bodies eliminated this session as part of Governor Stitt’s government consolidation effort. SB 1944 updates definitions in the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act to reflect the restructuring.

Who it affects

The GTCA cap matters most to self-insured universities and their governing boards within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education. Employment practices liability for faculty wrongful-termination claims at these institutions now has a defined severity ceiling. Public entity risk pools covering Oklahoma higher education exposures will need to adjust expected loss distributions for this claim type.

The WC bills affect every self-insured employer and public entity pool in the state. The Advisory Council had served as a stakeholder mechanism for benefit adequacy reviews and system recommendations. Its removal shifts that function entirely to the Workers’ Compensation Commission, which could change the pace and direction of future benefit adjustments.

The two-session arc

These four bills complete work that started in 2025. SB 1168 doubled GTCA personal injury caps from $175,000 to $375,000 in counties with populations over 150,000, raised property damage caps from $25,000 to $75,000, set a $2 million aggregate limit, and added a five-year inflation adjustment capped at 4% cumulative. SB 453 separately capped non-economic damages at $500,000.

The two sessions address both sides of the liability equation: higher ceilings for injured parties on personal injury and property claims, and new constraints on specific categories like faculty wrongful termination.

What this means for your next review

For public entity GL programs, the combined effect is a wider severity band on bodily injury claims (from the 2025 cap increases) and a narrower one on wrongful-termination claims at state universities. If your entity is a university or a pool covering one, open GTCA wrongful-termination claims filed after November 1 will be subject to the two-year salary cap, directly constraining case reserve adequacy targets.

For self-insured WC programs, confirm that the repeal of the Advisory Council does not affect benchmark data or benefit-adequacy assumptions your actuary uses for Oklahoma indemnity trend selections. Flag the full two-session GTCA and WC package as a line item at your next reserve study so the actuary can model the combined effect.

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