The state of Oklahoma remains under scrutiny as it prepares to enact State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ plan to include the Bible as part of public schools’ educational requirements. The state opened up a Request for Proposal (RFP) for companies to supply 55,000 Bibles to the state’s Department of Education on Monday. The RFP’s list of requirements for the Bibles, however, is raising some eyebrows. According to the document, Bibles for the state must be King James Version and include the Old and New Testament, not include any Biblical commentary or supplemental reading to maintain historical use of the Bible, be bound in leather or leather-like material for durability,  and include copies of the US Pledge of Allegiance, the US Declaration of Independence, the US Bill of Rights, and the US Constitution.

According to The Oklahoman, a Bible with such specific requirements is extremely hard to find, with a vendor at Mardel Christian & Education, which carries nearly 3,000 Bibles, being unable to find a single Bible that would match the criteria. Two Bibles, however, that would meet the criteria, are connected to the former President Donald Trump: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA Bible, which Trump himself has endorsed and has been referred to as the “Trump Bible”, and the We the People Bible, which Donald Trump, Jr. has endorsed. Neither comes with a cheap price tag either, costing $60 and $90 respectively. Donald Trump also receives a small fee for his endorsement of the God Bless the USA Bible. Walters has been an avid supporter of the former president, adding on an appearance of a conflict of interest to the requirements.

In September, Walters requested $3 million for the Oklahoma Department of Education to purchase Bibles for classrooms. Exactly how many classrooms will receive Bibles is unclear, as Walters has clarified that he would like the Bibles to be in classes teaching history and literature, despite having said in the past that he would like a Bible in every public school classroom. There are currently 43,000 classroom teachers in the state, making the requested 55,000 Bibles seem high. Oklahoma State Rep. Mark McBride, a Republican like Walters, has requested that the state’s Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, determine if Walters is legally able to draw funds from the Department of Education’s payroll expenses to spend on Bibles instead. The state has saved money on payroll expenses during Walters’ tenure with 130 people having been fired or resigning. McBride was critical of the turnover. “We needed the staff. They need to have the staff to operate efficiently. It’s obvious they’re not operating efficiency efficiently,” he said. Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson stated the RFP may violate state law due to the Bible standards limiting competition from bidders. “It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” he stated. “It adds to the basic specification other requirements that have nothing to do with the text. The special binding and inclusion of government documents will exclude almost all bidders. If the bid specs exclude most bidders unnecessarily, I could consider that a violation.” The current Attorney General has not commented on the requests.