In general, Oklahomans trust law enforcement and prosecutors, but have a healthy distrust of politicians. Unfortunately, that means they should also be somewhat skeptical of prosecutions and investigations—because politicians often have a hand in them.
Cheyenne, OK (September 23rd) – Today, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) released the following statement after House Republicans introduced the Commitment to America, a policy platform to create An Economy That's Strong, A Nation That's Safe, A Future That's Built on Freedom, and A Government That's Accountable:
OKLAHOMA CITY – Participating optometric physicians across the state of Oklahoma will be giving complimentary eye exams to those in need as part of the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physician’s (OAOP) third annual Giving Sight Day.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 22nd) – Rep. Logan Phillips, R-Mounds, on Thursday praised the Oklahoma House and Senate Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding for their focus on addressing broadband issues through projects they advanced. The projects advanced during the joint committee's meeting on Tuesday will now be considered when the Legislature reconvenes it's special session to appropriate American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor is partnering with the Oklahoma Press Association to host open records and open meetings seminars in five locations across the state beginning Sept. 26.
“These seminars are a great way for public officials to stay up to date on the state’s open record laws,” Attorney General O’Connor said. “I encourage everyone who serves the public to attend and participate in these meetings.”
2nd District GOP nominee Josh Brecheen is holding a fundraiser with Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), former head of the House Freedom Caucus, on October 14th in Tulsa.
Tickets start at $250 and can be reserved here.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 20th) – House Democrats sitting on the Oklahoma Legislature’s American Rescue Plan Act Committee released the following statements today after several projects were approved.
President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the latest federal stimulus bill to aid public health and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 11, 2021. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures website, the plan included $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial and tribal governments, known as the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
Good to see Governor Stitt's campaign getting on the airwaves given how much Hofmeister and the Dems have been hammering him. The most recent poll showed a close race, but Stitt should be able to widen the gap once his campaign really gets rolling.
September 22, 2022 (Oklahoma City, Okla.) – The Stitt for Governor 2022 campaign launched today a new statewide television advertisement titled, “Greater Things,” which highlights Governor Stitt’s leadership to keep Oklahoma’s economy and schools safely open during the 2020 pandemic. As most of the nation shuttered for prolonged periods under liberal big government mandates, Governor Stitt led Oklahoma to a safe and prosperous recovery.
“Stitt kept kids safely in schools and our businesses open– and just look how it’s helping all across Oklahoma: Children learning, small businesses growing,” says the narrator.
While Governor Stitt’s opponent was advocating for mask mandates and shutting down essential services such as in-person learning, Governor Stitt deployed resources with Top Ten outcomes to keep Oklahoma’s economy open and children safely in schools.
With Governor Stitt at the helm, the State of Oklahoma:
The narrator continues, “with Kevin Stitt as Governor, we’re poised for even greater things.”
Governor Stitt’s COVID policies helped 100,000 Oklahomans get back to work and resulted in the 3rd lowest unemployment rate in the nation. Today, Oklahoma continues to experience its lowest unemployment rate in State history and its greatest workforce participation rate in state history.
They'll be picking up special session to determine how to spend the 1.87 billion dollars in Federal largesse that Oklahoma was given under Biden's COVID stimulus plan, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). You can read the previously advanced stimulus projects that they'll be considering as the full House at this link.
House to reconvene special session Sept. 28 to 30
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 21) – The House of Representatives will reconvene the Second Extraordinary Session of the 58th Legislature from Sept. 28 to 30 for consideration of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and other funding advanced by the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said the session will finalize 18 months of collaborative work on ARPA funding. Bills containing the proposals will begin being filed soon.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 20th) – The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding on Tuesday advanced a comprehensive slate of projects to the full Legislature for consideration in an upcoming special session.
The committee's approvals, combined with previously approved projects, resulted in recommendation of over 60 projects totaling nearly all of Oklahoma state government's $1.87 billion share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Proposals to penalize “big business” often work to instead hammer small businesses and harm job creation in states like Oklahoma. A new federal effort to break up certain large tech companies falls into that category.
In a transparently political pander while running for Governor, now-Democrat State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister wants to hike teacher pay again by another $5,000, three years after significant pay increases were passed by the legislature.
It's never going to be enough, despite the terrible results produced by Oklahoma's failing public education system. Her press release is below:
Hofmeister includes teacher pay raise in state education budget request
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 19, 2022) – A $5,000 teacher pay raise is included in the annual budget request the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) will present to the state board of education at its next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 22.
“We’ve significantly raised teacher pay in recent years, but so did our neighboring states with whom we are competing. This investment is vital to our ability to build a sustainable teacher workforce, necessary for providing the high-quality education Oklahoma students need and deserve,” said Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “In the midst of an unprecedented and worsening teacher shortage, it is imperative we look for long-term solutions to show that Oklahoma values and respects its teachers.”
There are currently 52,850 certified teachers in Oklahoma. It will require approximately $310 million to fully fund the teacher pay raise.
Oklahoma teachers last received an official pay raise in 2018 ($6,100), and an additional salary increase averaging $1,220 passed in 2019.
Oklahoma currently ranks fourth in the region for teacher pay with an average annual salary of $54,096, trailing New Mexico ($54,256), Texas ($57,090) and Colorado ($57,706). New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has recently signed legislation that will boost teacher salaries by an additional $10,000.
OKLAHOMA CITY – September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Since the launch of a statewide program in 2007, Oklahoma’s infant mortality rate (IMR) has decreased by nearly 20 percent according to statistics from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
The IMR was 8.2 per 1,000 live births in 2005-2007, but dropped to 6.6 in 2019-2021.
The new leftist “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG) obsession is beginning to infiltrate and impact an awful lot of the American economy. Working in the cleaning and restoration field, I've begun to notice it creeping into industry surveys and publications, sometimes obscurely, sometimes overtly. Read on for a column by OCPA President Jonathan Small on ESG and Oklahoma's economy:
During a recent state legislative hearing, Brook Simmons, president of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma, gave policymakers a reality check. He pointed out that oil-and-gas companies produce far more jobs in Oklahoma than do “green” industries. And oil-and-gas jobs are also much better paying.
WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) today introduced the Security and Oversight of International Landholdings (SOIL) Act in order to provide oversight and transparency of purchases of US agricultural land that threaten national security. Lankford continues to respond to concerns from Oklahomans about the multiple recent purchases of Oklahoma agricultural land by foreign entities.
OKLAHOMA CITY (September 12, 2022) — Today, Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order to deliver drought relief to farmers in western Oklahoma, and other parts of the state hit hard by the current drought conditions.
(August 31st) Reports of a teacher shortage in Oklahoma have often intimated the problem is one largely driven by Oklahoma-specific factors.
But the head of the state’s college system suggests that is not the case and that all states are seeing a reduction in the number of teachers.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Sen. Julia Kirt will host a series of public forums in September to let Oklahomans hear from tax and economic experts about Oklahoma’s tax system as well as allow citizens to share their ideas, concerns, and questions on the issue.
The Corruption Belt: How Dark Money Is Making It Hard for Oklahomans to Elect Conservatives
Were you inundated with political campaign mailers leading up to the June and August primary elections? Did the plethora of push cards explode in your mailbox prior to the primary runoffs? Have you noticed trends and similarities in literature coming from supposedly different campaign organizations?
If you answered YES to any or ALL of these questions, then you need to be at Tulsa 9.12 Project on Thursday, September 8th when Jenni White will unveil and explain just how deep the corruption goes and how dark the money is that funds it. Like a detective following the clues with Scooby Doo, Jenni will reveal who is behind these dastardly and malicious campaign attacks.
Most business owners and families understand the importance of spending less than you bring in, and of socking away the remainder in savings, to prepare for unexpected financial challenges.
Unfortunately, such thinking is rare in government, which explains why Oklahoma government was in such bad shape only a handful of years ago. Sadly, some groups appear dedicated to ignoring the lessons of the recent past.
The head of the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA), the largest government union in Oklahoma, along with other tax-consumer advocates, is now calling on the state to spend down the record savings achieved during Gov. Kevin Stitt’s first term.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding on Tuesday advanced the second slate of projects for consideration in the Legislature's upcoming special session on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
OKLAHOMA CITY (August 31st) – Today, Attorney General John O’Connor criticized the ongoing campaign by the abortion industry and others to confuse and mislead the public about abortion laws, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent historic overturning of Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. He also released a guidance document for law enforcement after the State’s most recent abortion law became effective.
