U.S. Citizenship 101
We recently visited with one of our supporters, Bruce Caplinger, who teaches U.S. citizenship classes in the OKC metro area, about the citizenship process. You can listen to our interview with Bruce below, as well as read more about the citizenship test and interview questions. If you’d like to get involved with Bruce or Community Literacy Centers, you can contact him at brucecap@gmail.com or (405) 757-5589.
What is a County Clerk (and why should you care)?
There’s a special election for Oklahoma County Clerk on April 4th, but not many folks are talking about it, so that’s what we will do here. Most voters want to know four things:
What does the County Clerk do, exactly?
Who are the candidates running for the position?
Why should I vote?
When and where can I vote?
Let’s tackle those questions one at a time:
WHAT IS A COUNTY CLERK?
The County Clerk is like the office manager of the county government. The position might seem a bit boring, but it’s vitally important to our daily lives. Here are some of the key responsibilities:
Budget Board
The County Clerk is one of 8 members of the Oklahoma County Budget Board. The board votes on budgeting recommendations for the county. This includes the budget of the Oklahoma County Jail and the Sheriff’s office and how to spend federal funding coming into the county.Meeting Secretary
The County Clerk serves as secretary for all county meetings. This includes running the technology (computers, projectors, Zoom, etc.) for the meetings and taking minutes during the meeting.Making & Receiving Payments
The County Clerk handles the county’s monthly payroll, pension payments to retirees, and payments to vendors who supply materials to the county.Government Transparency
The County Clerk is responsible for ensuring government transparency throughout the county by managing meeting notices from all local government entities and boards to ensure they comply with the Open Meetings Act. Without these notices, the public wouldn’t know when public bodies are meeting or what they will discuss!Registrar of Deeds
The County Clerk is the ex-officio Registrar of Deeds - basically, the “Keeper of the Paperwork” for all kinds of stuff in the county, such as:All city charters
Divorce decrees (when real estate is involved)
Other final decrees
An accurate and up-to-the-minute record of every piece of property
Powers of attorney
A record of all military discharges
Trust agreements
Processing and Maintaining Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Filings
WHO ARE THE CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR THIS POSITION?
Derrick Scobey is the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in northeast Oklahoma City. According to his campaign website, Scobey serves on the Alzheimer's Association Board of Oklahoma, Sunbeam Early Childhood Services Committee, BLAC Inc. (Black Liberated Arts Center), Criminal Justice Authority Citizens Advisory Board, and the Stephenson Cancer Center African American Cancer Research Community Advisory Board.
He lives with his wife, Angela Bush Scobey, in Edmond. They have five children.
You can learn more about him and his priorities here.
Maressa Treat is the former finance director for U.S. Senator James Lankford’s re-election campaign and worked in his personal office as director of state outreach. According to her campaign website, she previously worked for the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the board of the Oklahoma YWCA.
She lives with her husband, Greg Treat, who is President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate, in northwest Oklahoma County. They have three children.
You can learn more about her and her priorities here.
WHEN & WHERE CAN I VOTE?
Election day is April 4th, and all the usual voting options remain available:
Early: You can vote early in person at the County Election Board on Thursday 3/30 and Friday 3/31 from 8am to 6pm. There is no early voting available on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
Election Day: You can vote on April 4th at your regular local polling place. Polls will be open from 7am to 7pm.
By Mail: The deadline to request an absentee ballot has already passed. If you have already received an absentee ballot, you can drop it off at the county election board by 5pm the day before the election. You can also return it by mail, but it must be received by the county election board by 7pm on election day.
make a plan to vote
As always, we encourage you to make a voting plan ahead of time. Many people like to put a reminder in their phones so that they don’t forget. Decide how & when you’re going to vote, and then go do it.
remind your friends
Take 30 seconds right now to send this blog post to 3 friends and encourage them to vote. Not because chain letters are making a comeback, but because the most powerful way to increase turnout is for you to remind your friends.
Remember: Decisions are made by those who show up. Let’s rock that vote!
Top 5 ways to be involved during the legislative session
Remember: progress isn’t a spectator sport!
The legislative session is a busy time for lawmakers. They are working on many different bills and trying to make sure that the laws we have in place are effective. While it can be tempting to stay home and watch from the sidelines, there are many ways you can get involved and make your voice heard. Here are the top 5 ways you can be involved during the legislative session:
TRACK LEGISLATION ONLINE
Keeping track of upcoming bills and changes in laws does not have to be a difficult or time-consuming task. If you already know a bill number, you can use the state legislature’s website to track it, but it’s not very user-friendly. Instead, we recommend using sites like LegiScan (free) or BillTrack50 (paid) to find and track proposed legislation that deal with the issues you care about. Both systems will send you email alerts as bills move through the legislative process (although sometimes that’s too late to take action!)
With that said, sorting through hundreds (or thousands) of bills can be time-consuming, and, let’s face it, often legislation isn’t written in a way that’s clear or easy to understand. Fortunately, there are dozens of organizations that exist for this purpose, which is why our next recommendation is…
Get involved with grassroots advocacy groups
Joining a grassroots advocacy group is a great way to stay involved with the legislative process. Through this type of organization, you'll be part of a larger movement for social change. By working with other passionate individuals, you can help spread important information and ideas about awareness, participation, and even protest locally. You don't need to have any experience either - by getting involved with a grassroots advocacy group, you can learn the skills necessary to promote your cause.
There are local advocacy groups for just about every issue and cause - public education, health care, LGBTQ rights, children, food security, criminal justice reform, voting rights, budget and taxation, economic development, and more. Many topics have advocacy groups on “both sides” of the issue, so be mindful when signing up. If you need help finding the organization(s) working on a particular issue, feel free to contact us and we’ll get you connected.
Contact legislators in support or opposition of a bill
Once you know what bills are being considered and where they are in the process, contacting your state legislators is an easy and effective way to ensure your voice is heard in the political process. Taking a few minutes out of your day to reach out with an email, letter, or even a phone call can be a powerful way to influence legislative decisions. No matter the size of the issue you are passionate about, making contact with those who are in office can be impactful. By voicing your opinion on a particular bill either in support or opposition, you’re helping to ensure that elected officials understand what matters to constituents like you and me in our community.
Use this form to look up your state legislators. It will give you their office phone number and links to their email, website, and social media pages, if they have them.
If the bill you are tracking is assigned to a particular committee, it may be more effective to contact members of that committee. Again, grassroots organizations can be particularly helpful in giving you talking points and steering you toward specific members who may be most receptive to hearing from you.
Write a letter to the editor
Writing a letter to the editor is a great way to get your message out and make your voice heard on issues that are important to you. Before writing, it’s essential to research the topic thoroughly so that you can provide informed and accurate information in your letter. This includes examining both sides of an argument and assessing the potential outcomes. Most newspapers now require letters to be submitted online, and many have limits on how long the letter can be. Remember: you’re writing for a broad audience - the general public - so be thoughtful in how to frame your argument.
SEE THE LEGISLATURE IN ACTION
Attending a committee meeting or floor session at the Capitol can be an eye-opening experience. It gives you the unique opportunity to see democracy in action as people from all angles of life come together to bring their voices and expertise to the table. Watching officials discuss ideas and pass motions can invigorate your sense of civic duty and help you feel more connected to the issue. You’ll begin to understand the personalities and perspectives of some legislators, and that insight will help you be more effective at building relationships with them and advocating in the future. You'll likely leave feeling energized and proud that you've been able to contribute to something greater than yourself.
If you are unable to visit the Capitol in person, don’t worry - all committee meetings and floor sessions are streamed live on the House and Senate websites.
What are you going to do today to make your voice heard on the issues that matter to you?
CIVICS CON 2022 will be held June 10-11 in Norman, OK
Join us for CIVICS CON 2022 on June 10-11 at the Sarkeys Energy Center in Norman, OK. The event is free for all attendees, and breakfast and lunch will be provided both days.
The theme of this year's event is "GeoCivics: Designing Stronger Communities" - many sessions will address how geography and maps affect fair representation, where we live, how we vote, and other things. Here are some of the topics that the presenters will cover:
Mapping Greenwood: Using Data to Reveal Untold Stories
Communities and Redistricting
Drawing Your Own District
Migration and Oklahoma
Population: Oklahomans on the Move
Creating Brave Classroom Spaces
Classroom as Deep Democracy
Using the Geo-Inquiry Process to Understand Wildland Urban Interface
Power to the People: The Ins and Outs of Oklahoma's Ballot Initiative Process
Teach Broadly, Engage Locally: Using Project-Based Pedagogy to Encourage Civic Involvement
Using the Oklahoma Giant Map to Understand the Heavy Consequences of Light Pollution
While Civics Con is designed for all people, this year we partnered with several educational organizations to ensure that many sessions are created by educators and for educators. We know that civic engagement starts with civic education, and this is a great opportunity to foster that growth from the beginning.
Five Years Later...the Same Problems Are Back
Five years ago today, a group of strangers gathered in room 412-A of the Oklahoma State Capitol. Many had never been inside the building before and most weren’t sure what to expect. Some wore suits and seemed right at home in the halls of power; others were in jeans and t-shirts, glancing around furtively and wondering if they were in the right place.
The group shared a common purpose: to build relationships with their elected officials and with one another and, hopefully, do their part to nudge the state toward responsible policy decisions that would plug the state’s enormous $1.3 billion budget shortfall and prevent absolutely devastating cuts to core services.
The event was called “Let’s Fix This: A Day at the Capitol For Regular Folks,” and the description went like this:
This is a day for us regular folks who care about our state and our communities to take some time off of work and actually meet face-to-face with our state legislators about the state budget crisis. We've all been complaining about stuff on social media long enough; now let's have the conversations in person. The state may be broke, but we're not broken - there are a lot of totally reasonable, common-sense solutions for increasing revenue available. We just need to encourage our lawmakers toward them.
This isn't a rally...it's more of a group outing. If you've never been to the Capitol before, that's fine. I've never done this kind of thing before either, so we can hold hands or something. Maybe it'll be 50 of us that show up. Maybe it'll be 100 or 200. Or, heck, maybe this crazy idea of having face-to-face conversations with the men and women who are paid to represent us will catch fire and we'll have 1,000 people show up. That would be pretty amazing. (We can still all hold hands if you want.)
Remember: Decisions are made by people who show up. I hope you'll be one of them.
That $1.3 billion budget shortfall that sparked our first event in 2016 was caused, in large part, by the state legislature giving out tax cuts just as our state was starting to recover from the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
Five years later, here we are again—our economy is beginning to rebound from COVID-19, the federal government has pitched in some money to help out, and yet again our state legislators are talking about cutting taxes.
I mean, I get it—everybody likes a tax cut. But we’ve been down this road before and we know how it ends. If you want to know what Oklahoma would look like if we dramatically cut taxes, just look around—this is it, we’re living in it. Adjusted for inflation, the Oklahoma state budget is 25% smaller than it was 20 years ago. That means we spend 25% less on the things that matter most to Oklahomans—education, public health, roads, and public safety. Continuing to reduce our state revenue isn’t how we become a Top Ten State, especially not right now when we’re already in such a precarious position.
We can think of no better or more meaningful way to celebrate our fifth birthday than to ask you do the thing that started all this: Contact your state legislators, introduce yourself, and share with them your thoughts and feelings about the state budget. But don’t stop there—ask them about their thoughts, too. Find out why they hold that position, and even if you disagree, try to find common ground from which to work. Start building a relationship with them about this issue, and then keep it going throughout their term. That is how we fix this—by getting engaged and not giving up.
Besides, most of them—the good eggs, at least—care about this state just as much as you. But they need to hear from voices that aren’t inside the Capitol every day; they need to hear from the regular folks who live in their districts and are normally too busy or tired or jaded to take two minutes to send them an email or make a quick phone call. Doing that one little thing is something that tens of thousands of other people don’t do—and that means your voice is that much louder.
To make it super easy, head over to the Taxpayers for a Better Oklahoma website and they’ve got links to help you easily lookup and contact your state legislators (plus a ton more information about the current state of fiscal business for the state).
Thanks for reading to the end of this post and an even bigger THANK YOU for hanging with for our first five years of Let’s Fix This. I truly don’t have adequate words to express what this journey has been like and how much your support means to all of us.
We’re working on some stuff behind the scenes that I think you’re going to love; more details to come this summer. In the meantime: if you believe in building a better democracy, don’t mind hard work, and are looking for ways to dig in a little deeper in order to build long-term success, this is the place for you.
And, yes, your monetary donations are always appreciated. SO much.
Cheers,
Andy Moore
Executive Director
Two is Company; Three’s a Riot: Oklahoma Lawmakers Unleash a Barrage of Anti-Free Speech Bills in the 2021 Session
Note: The following post is a guest blog co-authored by Abby Henderson from the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable and Elly Page the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, published here in partnership with Freedom of Information Oklahoma. In addition, we interviewed Elly on this week's episode of Let's Pod This, which you can listen to below.
As the nation battles a raging pandemic, copes with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, faces down millions of lost jobs, and reels from a rocky transition to a new administration, state lawmakers have chosen to spend their time proposing ways to punish people who speak out. Across the country, lawmakers have filed a flurry of bills to target participation in protests. The trend is most pronounced in Oklahoma, where lawmakers have introduced ten separate bills that would grossly limit people’s First Amendment right to assemble and be heard.
Like their sister bills proposed in other states, the bills use a number of tactics to discourage Oklahomans from speaking out on issues they care about. Many of the bills create draconian penalties for conduct that is typical of peaceful protests and demonstrations. For instance, a bill proposed by Rep. Tom Gann, HB 1561, would make it a felony to protest in a public street--historically a central location for demonstrators to be noticed and heard. Had HB 156 been the law in 2018, the hundreds of teachers who marched from Tulsa to Oklahoma City for education funding could have been charged with felonies and handed two-year prison sentences. A separate Rep. Gann proposal, HB 1565, would require public employees found guilty of “unlawful assembly” to be immediately fired and barred from future government employment. Those same teachers could have lost their jobs, under HB 1565, if their marches and rallies were deemed to have “disturbed the public peace.”
The bills also create new criminal offenses that are so vague, they violate the most basic constitutional requirement to give notice of what is unlawful. Oklahomans are entitled to know the legal boundaries that apply when exercising their First Amendment rights. A bill proposed by Rep. Rick West, HB 1578, prohibits causing “annoyance” through “tumultuous” behavior at a public establishment during a “riot.” When does a noisy march become too “annoying” or “tumultuous”? Rep. West’s prohibition would seem broad enough to cover even a raucous tailgate party, potentially rendering the whole of Stillwater and Norman a “riot” every Saturday from August to January.
A bill proposed by Rep. Kevin McDugle, HB 2215, meanwhile, would make it a felony to in any way “urge” someone to block a road with the intent to aid a “riot.” Could a Facebook post that says “Let’s take our message to the streets!” make one liable for a felony? The wrong answer could mean a 10-year prison sentence under Rep. McDugle’s proposal.
Several of this session’s bills go still further, and create new legal protection for drivers who injure or kill protesters. HB 1561, HB 2215, and HB 1674, introduced by Rep. Kevin West, would shield drivers from criminal prosecution or civil penalties if they “unintentionally” injure or kill someone while “fleeing from a riot.” Last summer, as Americans nationwide took to the streets to speak out against racial injustice, over 100 demonstrators were hit and injured by cars. One such incident took place in Tulsa, when a pickup drove through a crowd of peaceful protesters, injuring several and resulting in one, a father of five, being paralyzed. Bills establishing legal immunity for such actions threaten to encourage more violence against Oklahomans who are peacefully seeking to have their voices heard.
Such sweeping, punitive bills are unnecessary and dangerous. Oklahoma currently has extensive laws on the books to address crimes like damaging property or injuring people, giving police and prosecutors plenty of tools to address instances of unlawful behavior. Enacting this kind of legislation will not make Oklahomans safer, but it will erode Oklahomans’ treasured First Amendment rights and further exacerbate the State’s growing incarceration crisis.
Protests are essential to our democracy and central to our history. They have spurred political and social progress, from enfranchising women and people of color to advancing labor rights and environmental standards--all by ensuring that different voices are heard. Rather than seeking to silence these voices, effective leaders listen and seek to address the people’s concerns in a meaningful way. In this moment, when so many are struggling, Oklahoma lawmakers should focus on improving people’s lives, rather than creating unnecessary, draconian new laws that undermine our constitutional values.
Abby Henderson is an Advocacy Counsel at the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) in Washington, DC. She is a proud native Sapulpan and graduate of the University of Tulsa and the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Elly Page is a Senior Legal Advisor with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) in Washington, DC, and founder of ICNL’s US Protest Law Tracker.
State of the...Stitt?
Governor Kevin Stitt delivered his third State of the State address this past Monday, a tradition that also kicks off the beginning of the annual state legislative session. Normally we’d be discussing the pros and cons of the various policy priorities outlined in the speech, but this year the Governor opted to lean away from tangible policy and instead embrace abstract political rhetoric. Despite COVID-19’s effect on nearly every aspect of life and government operations during the past year, the pandemic received only cursory mentions by the Governor, with acknowledgements of the virus’ negative personal impact often being paired with positive economic messages. One important policy area did get a mention - the hotly-debated Medicaid Managed Care - and the Governor’s comments were conspicuously met not with applause but with with absolute silence in the chamber.
At the bottom of this post you’ll find the full text of the Governor’s speech and I encourage you to read it for yourself. Even if you listened to it live, reading it back is surely to illuminate it differently. For additional context, check out this article by Oklahoma Watch which contains the speech text along with annotations and fact checking from their reporters. And for even more context, listen to the latest episode of our podcast, in which we discuss the speech. You can find Let’s Pod This in virtually all podcast apps or simply listen to the episode below:
2021 State of the State (full-text)
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tem, Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, Chief Operating Officer John Budd and members of my cabinet, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the 58th Legislature, my best friend – First Lady Sarah Stitt, my six children, my parents, and most importantly, my fellow Oklahomans.
It is a great honor to stand before you, and to partner with you to lead our state through unprecedented times.
I respect the constitutional authority of both of these legislative bodies.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Pro Tem, members of the House and Senate, I stand here in your chamber today and pledge to work with you, and to have the best and most productive session in state history!
I’d also like to recognize each of the 15 new representatives and the eight new senators who are just starting their service.
I look forward to partnering with you as we continue to lead Oklahoma to becoming a Top Ten state.
Two years ago, I took the oath of office in front of my family, my fellow Oklahomans and most importantly my Heavenly Father.
I promised to support and defend the constitution and perform the duties of my office to the best of my ability. I take that promise as seriously today as the day I made it.
My colleagues in the Legislature made the same promise to their constituents.
Today I’d like to talk about the promises we’ve kept – and the promise of tomorrow.
Oklahoma, the state of our state is strong because we are resilient and well-positioned for a bright future.
Before we look forward, let’s look back.
2020 was a year unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.
If we think back to a year ago, who could have ever imagined the toll COVID would take? This pandemic is unprecedented in modern times.
We’ve felt the impact of COVID-19 on every level -- on our families, our jobs and our day-to-day lives.
We’ve lost more than 3,000 Oklahomans to this virus. Each one of those has a name, a story, and a family who is mourning their loss. Like Paul teaches us in Romans 12, we mourn with those who mourn.
Throughout this past year Oklahomans rose to the challenge: as individuals, as families and as neighbors. We made sacrifices; we took care of our most vulnerable; we shifted; we innovated, but we were not defeated.
For the last 11 months, my promise has been to protect the health and lives of Oklahomans, to keep our businesses open safely and to get our kids safely back in school.
I’m so proud of Oklahoma, our team at the Health Department, and the Governor’s Solution Task Force.
We successfully opened our economy on June 1st and safely restarted most schools in August.
It appears now other states are waking up to the stark reality of double-digit unemployment, huge budget deficits and the fact that our kids are safer at school than anywhere else.
They’re realizing we took the smart approach in Oklahoma.
Even Governor Cuomo in New York has seen the light. Just a few weeks ago he said, “We simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass. The cost is too high. We will have nothing left to open.”
Oklahoma faced the same decisions as every other state.
I’ve kept my promise to follow the data and make the right decisions for Oklahoma at the right time. And now we are months and months ahead of other states.
Across Oklahoma, doctors, nurses and health care workers have delivered on their promise to care for Oklahomans. They risked their lives to care for their fellow citizens and help them fight an unknown virus.
I’ve met with Chief Medical Officers and other frontline health care workers, both in my office and in their hospitals. I’ve witnessed their professionalism, their endurance and their compassion on full display.
Amy Petitt, the ICU Nurse Leader at Saint Anthony hospital, was one of the heroes we met. She told me about nurses and doctors working so hard to offer human touch to those who can’t see their families. No matter how tough the conditions are, they’re treating their patients with dignity. They’re caring for them like they’d want their own family members cared for.
We will forever owe them a debt of gratitude because they have been magnificent.
When testing was a challenge around the world, we leveraged the resources we had here in Oklahoma. We quickly converted a diagnostic lab in Stillwater, which dramatically raised our testing capacity in the early stages. Our State Health Department partnered with County Health Departments to stand up 80 test sites across the state.
We’ve made sure any Oklahoman who needed a test could get one for free, and we’ve completed more than 3 million tests so far.
We quickly overcame a global PPE shortage and refilled our stockpile. We continue to distribute millions of masks, gloves and other protective items across the state. We’re delivering to nursing homes, to first responders and to school districts in every part of our state.
I ask all Oklahomans to join me in thanking Secretaries Jerome Loughridge, Dr. Kayse Shrum, Kevin Corbett and Elizabeth Pollard; Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye, Gino DeMarco, Director Mark Gower and his team at the Department of Emergency Management, the men and women of the Oklahoma National Guard, our teams on the front lines at the Department of Corrections and the Department of Veterans Affairs and our many other state and local partners.
I want to specifically thank my Chief Operating Officer, John Budd.
He’s in the gallery, representing the Governor’s Solution Task Force and everyone who played key roles in protecting Oklahomans.
John, we cannot thank you enough.
Oklahomans across the state played a key role in our response as well.
Together, the three W’s became part of our daily life. We’ve washed our hands frequently; we’ve watched our distance from others, and we’ve worn masks in public places.
We took the personal responsibility to protect our families, our neighbors and our most vulnerable.
Our 7-day average of new cases is down 45% from its peak. Our hospitalizations are down 35% as well.
We can see the finish line in our fight against this virus. Rather than coast our way in, let’s continue together with a final sprint.
To the Oklahomans who have made so many sacrifices to slow the spread, I thank you, and I ask everyone to join us as we put this virus behind us.
I promised Oklahomans we would bring efficiency to state government. We are doing just that with our vaccine rollout.
Thanks to the hard work of Deputy Commissioner Keith Reed and his team at the State Health Department, local public health workers and our state’s medical community, we are seventh in the nation – Top Ten -- in vaccines administered per capita!
I’ll never forget watching Hannah White, a nurse at INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City, be the first Oklahoman to get the vaccine.
Once it was over, she hugged the nurse who gave it to her. She said, “Hopefully this is the start of something better.” As I speak to you today, more than 356,000 Oklahomans now have that same hope.
We’re accelerating our efforts --- more supplies of vaccines are on the way. I assure you we will be relentless.
My vision is to get our summer back, and we can do it by continuing to lead the nation in vaccinations.
Because I am committed to getting all kids back in their classrooms, I made sure we prioritized teachers to get this vaccine. Many teachers over 65 have been vaccinated already, and many more teachers will be eligible this month.
In almost every district in Oklahoma, parents and students have an option to choose to go back to the classroom. To the school districts that have innovated and followed the data to offer safe, in-person instruction -- on behalf of your parents, and the future of our state, I can’t thank you enough.
You’re providing an important safety net to our children, and you’re the glue that holds many of our communities together.
I’ve heard stories of teachers doing everything they can, but they’re worried about their students not being in the classroom.
Kathryn Szallar teaches kindergarten in Deer Creek. She’s a phenomenal teacher who goes above and beyond for her students.
Her school is on an A/B schedule, and she told me how hard it is to teach young kids through distance learning. She feels it’s essential for young people to have the option to be in the classroom with their teachers.
A child’s education is a building block, and it starts in their youngest years.
Ms. Szallar, and many other teachers, are worried that keeping students from their classrooms could set them back for years.
Can you imagine being a first grader and trying to learn to read on Zoom?
Distance learning is perfectly fine for some students, but when we force it on everyone, it widens achievement gaps and jeopardizes our future as a Top Ten state.
Our kids deserve the option to be in their classrooms. I promise to keep fighting for our students every day!
We’ve kept our promise to thousands of business owners by allowing them to stay open safely.
As you know, some states shut down completely for months at a time.
But we found the right balance between protecting public health and protecting Oklahomans’ right to provide for their families!
We went to Phase 1 of the Open Up and Recover Safely plan April 24th. We went to Phase 3 – fully reopen – on June 1st.
Back then, I said by reopening safely and responsibly, we’d be months ahead of other states. Our June unemployment rate was fifth lowest in the country – 40% lower than the national average – and almost 60% lower than New York.
Because of that, almost 100,000 more Oklahomans were back to work compared to the national average.
Everywhere I go across the state, small business owners and workers tell me how grateful they are for being able to keep their businesses open, to provide income for their employees and their families and to provide the services their communities rely on.
The other day I stopped in at Eddie’s Restaurant in Edmond.
I got to meet Eddie, who drove across town to see me before I left. He shook my hand, sat down, and looked me in the eye. He said, “Thank you. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s made a huge impact on our life.”
Like so many small business owners across the state, Eddie and his wife started with nothing but hope. They took out their life savings to buy a restaurant on the corner of Coltrane and Second.
After years of sacrifice and hard work, they expanded. They now own three restaurants, a catering company and a food truck.
Eddie told me that when the pandemic hit, like many business owners, they were worried.
He said, “My daughter’s college tuition needs to be paid. I don’t have a private investor, a bank. I have to continue on.”
Eddie said because of the decisions we’ve made; he and his 100 employees can continue on.
They can feed their families. They can pay for their children’s education. They can continue to live.
I’m proud to tell you Eddie plans to open a new location next month, and I can’t wait to be there to support him.
Through the Oklahoma Business Relief Program, we invested $143 million in 8,661 small businesses just like Eddie’s.
This program touched 344 different communities throughout all 77 counties.
25 percent of the businesses were minority owned, including the Black Wall Street Liquid Lounge, a coffee shop in Tulsa’s Greenwood District; TS&H Shirt Company in Seminole and Azteca Mexican Restaurant in Oklahoma City.
Azteca’s owner, Alejandria Camarena, opened her restaurant three years ago. She had always dreamed of owning a business.
COVID-19 threatened that dream, but thanks to our Business Relief grants, she kept all 12 employees on her payroll. And she continues as a successful Hispanic female business owner in Oklahoma.
Small businesses like these are the lifeblood of our communities. Their continued success is key to making Oklahoma a Top Ten state.
The pandemic isn’t over --- but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
As Will Rogers once said, “Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.”
The people of Oklahoma have sent us here to make their lives better. They expect us to work together, and they expect us to do things for the right reasons – never for personal gain or political purposes.
For the past few months, we’ve been working on a legislative agenda to deliver on the promises we’ve made to our constituents.
Secretary Bingman and I have been meeting with Speaker Charles McCall and President Pro Tem Greg Treat. We’ve worked together to craft not the governor’s agenda, not the House’s agenda, not the Senate’s agenda, but the people’s agenda!
The people of Oklahoma made their voices heard loudly in November.
They gave House Republicans five more seats, and the strongest supermajority in state history!
More than 80% of the House and the Senate are now led by conservative Oklahomans.
We will keep burdens low on our taxpayers.
We’ll support our oil and gas industry and protect it from radical liberals in Washington.
We’ll fight for our farmers and ranchers and the Oklahoma way of life.
We’ll enact business friendly policies.
We’ll protect the rights of unborn children and stand up for the personal and religious freedoms of Oklahomans!
“The People’s Agenda” for this legislative session has three main pillars:
Number one, Make Oklahoma a Top Ten state for business, number two, deliver taxpayers more for their money and number three, invest in our fellow Oklahomans.
I know so many of you in the chamber -- and those watching -- believe we can be and should be a Top Ten State for Business. What we need is more taxpayers, not more taxes.
I’m proud to say Oklahoma is open for business, and we’re seeing results.
More companies are looking to relocate to our state than ever before.
We’ve been aggressive. We’re reaching out to companies in states that are keeping businesses locked down and dictating their citizens’ personal freedoms.
In the past two years, we’ve had many meetings with companies in California.
They all say the same thing: “We want out.”
Over the last year, I’ve worked together with the Department of Commerce and the Oklahoma Business Roundtable to get those companies free from California’s anti-business policies.
PAS MRO, an aerospace company based in California, announced last summer it would be moving its operations to Bristow, Oklahoma.
Company President Jim Agee said the decision was easy. He said it was because of Oklahoma’s business-friendly policies, availability of highly trained workers and the lower costs of doing business in our state.
One of our key tools we have in Oklahoma to close deals like these is the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund. It lets us recruit new industries and growing companies.
We also need to invest in innovation by using accelerators for entrepreneurs and supporting startups statewide.
A few weeks ago, I was at the Cattlemen’s Congress at the fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.
The folks in Denver turned their back on the Ag industry. They wouldn’t let them have their major national cattle show because they insisted on keeping their state locked down.
That put the stability of the U.S. beef industry in danger.
So we started a new tradition here in Oklahoma City, and the Cattlemen’s Congress brought $50 million to our economy!
We can’t have a strong economy without a skilled workforce and a strong education system.
Right now, we have the opportunity of a lifetime. We have a chance to rethink and reimagine the future of education in Oklahoma.
One of the ways we can do this is by looking at how schools get their funding. The current formula lets schools pick their highest number of students over the last three years.
Here’s what that means.
Say you lived in Tulsa and moved to a new district to make sure your kids could go to school in person. Your kids could be counted by both districts.
They’re called “ghost students.”
We’re sending money to districts to educate kids who don’t go there, and that’s simply not fair.
There are more than 55,000 “ghost students” in our funding formula right now. That means we’re allocating close to 200 million of your tax dollars to students who don’t exist.
This is unacceptable.
It’s time for schools to be funded based on how many students they have now -- not how many they had in the past.
COVID-19 has also shown us that every child has unique needs. Being in a physical classroom is so important for most students to succeed.
By not giving our parents and children an option for in-person learning, schools have tied their hands.
It’s now been 325 days since Tulsa students in 4th through 12th grades have been allowed to be in their classrooms. 325 days!
Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, the rest of the Tulsa metro has been safely in session most of the year.
Union, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Owasso, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Sperry, Skiatook, Collinsville. The list goes on. They’ve all found ways to put their students first and give them the choice to come back to the classroom.
The only difference between schools that stay closed and those that have safely reopened is the mindset to find a way to make it happen.
My heart breaks when I hear stories like Abby Cavness’s.
She said, “I’m a Tulsa Public Schools lifer and never in a million years thought I’d be uttering these words.”
“My kids are miserable. They beg every day through tears to not do distance learning anymore. My 4th grader is begging to switch to any school that is actually open.”
“It is devastating to watch our beloved school lose family after family.”
Abby finished by saying, “I’m scared for what Tulsa and the school system is going to become after this.”
Stories like Abby’s are why students and parents need the choice to transfer to public schools that best fit their needs.
If a school district has space available and is a better fit for a child, the government should make that happen – not stand in the way.
We have to put our students first. Period.
Another way to make Oklahoma a Top Ten state is to have an infrastructure that grows and attracts businesses.
Last year, we hit a major milestone as we reached Top Ten in bridge conditions -- an incredible achievement considering we were near the bottom just a few years ago.
Tim Gatz, Secretary of Transportation, is doing a great job working with the teams at ODOT and the Turnpike Authority to modernize their agencies. That lets us focus on projects that link our cities and towns and provide access to new areas for economic development.
A strong infrastructure is the backbone of any strong economy.
Another key to a strong economy is letting businesses grow without fear of government overreach.
In his first week in office, President Biden issued 22 Executive Orders. Many of them will kill jobs and put burdensome regulations on our businesses.
It’s a different story here in Oklahoma. We must continue our focus on cutting red tape.
By working together to get rid of excessive regulation, we’ll unlock Oklahoma’s full economic potential for workers, business owners, farmers, and families.
Instead of letting Washington strangle Oklahoma’s businesses, we need to unleash them!
The government’s job is not to slow things down. It’s to get out of the way!
Thanks to the support of our legislators, we built our savings account to $1 billion in 2019.
Some folks criticized us for wanting to save this money, but that’s proven to be a lifesaver during the tough financial season we had last year.
I also want to credit my colleagues in the House and Senate for their wisdom and careful thinking during last year’s session. Our state was reeling from a massive drop in oil prices and 13% unemployment, but you recognized the uncertainty and wisely held the budget to 78% of the spending authority while still providing core services.
Your fiscal prudence is one of the reasons why we have the opportunity we do today, and I thank you for the challenging decisions you made.
It’s because of these tough decisions – reopening our economy, how we spent our COVID Relief Funds across the state, and the Legislature’s careful budget – that the Fiscal Year 2022 predictions are much better than many states.
We’ll be able to invest in strategic places while avoiding cuts.
We can also significantly replenish our savings account, so we stay prepared for whatever comes our way.
Now our challenge is to make sure Oklahomans get more for their money.
A perfect example of this is our Department of Human Services. Secretary Justin Brown and his team did a great job innovating this year.
DHS is prioritizing service over brick and mortar office space. Its closing 25 offices but embedding those staff members in more than 100 community spaces.
The result is Oklahomans get better access and more services instead of paying for real estate.
I thank the hardworking men and women at DHS and all our state agencies for innovating to get more for our money.
Another way to deliver taxpayers more for their money is to make sure hard work gets rewarded.
Like many of you in this room, my background is in the private sector. When I was building and running my business, I recruited and hired talented people.
I could pay and promote them based on their experience, capability and work ethic. But that can’t happen in state government.
Agency leaders have their hands tied in who they can hire and promote because of outdated restrictions. State agencies should be able to hire the best people and promote good employees.
2020 showed us how dramatically our world can change overnight. Our state agencies need to be able to adapt and change in real-time.
Thousands of our state employees are stuck in a system where qualified, dedicated and hungry employees are often waiting years to be promoted, all because they’re stuck behind someone in line.
I want to tell you about one of our hardworking state employees named Cody.
Cody has worked at OESC for 22 years. He’s down in the Idabel office.
Cody was doing way more work than his title and job description indicated, but factors out of his control made a promotion nearly impossible.
One of those factors was location. An agency policy required directors to live in Oklahoma City.
Generations of Cody’s family had lived in Idabel and a promotion wasn’t worth leaving his family.
It took a pandemic -- and my Executive Order to have state employees working from home -- to change the policy so he could become a director.
There are men and women like Cody across state government -- talented, dedicated to serving our state, and stuck in an outdated system that keeps them from being rewarded like they deserve.
To be a Top Ten state, we need a system that rewards our state employees and gives us the flexibility we need to serve our citizens more effectively.
Finally, my team will continue to find ways to partner with the members in this room to invest in our fellow Oklahomans.
America’s Health Rankings puts Oklahoma 46th in the country in health outcomes.
We’re one of the worst in the country in obesity and diabetes rates. We have the third most deaths from heart disease.
That’s unacceptable to me, and I know it’s unacceptable to all 4 million Oklahomans.
Oklahomans hired me to bring a fresh set of eyes to all areas of our state government.
As governor, I can’t stand by and continue with business as usual when the system isn’t working.
We have an obligation as leaders to do better for our citizens. I think its implicit in the promises we made when we all assumed office.
With Medicaid Expansion now in our Constitution, this is the perfect opportunity to reimagine health care delivery in Oklahoma. It’s time to focus on outcomes and not just paying invoices.
40 states have found managed care is the best way forward: Texas, kansas, Iowa, Tennessee, Florida. Even California and Illinois.
It’s not a red state or blue state thing. It’s the smart thing to do.
In fact, almost every other state with Medicaid expansion also uses managed care.
Oklahoma, this is the right path forward.
Now, we need to talk about the most pressing issue for our state’s future.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma questions the sovereignty of the state as we’ve known it since 1907.
The Court overturned the conviction of a child rapist on the grounds that the Creek Nation’s reservation was never disestablished for criminal jurisdiction. State courts no longer have the authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against Oklahomans who are also tribal members.
Hundreds of criminal cases are being dismissed.
This ruling also raises many other unanswered questions. Do tribal members living in eastern Oklahoma pay income tax and sales tax? If not, the Oklahoma Tax Commission estimates a potential loss of $200 million every year.
Another potential issue is who regulates agriculture? Water? The energy industry? Zoning?
Who has the right to tax businesses?
What is the state of Oklahoma’s ability to enforce the laws? In Muskogee County, a convicted serial rapist named Leroy Smith was recently released. The Muskogee County District Attorney said he can’t be retried because of the federal statute of limitations.
We need to resolve the many unanswered questions from this ruling.
I’ve invited the leaders of Oklahoma’s sovereign tribes to join together and work with the State of Oklahoma. Together, we must create the certainty, fairness and the unity we’ve enjoyed since 1907.
Where we go from here will define the state’s future.
We have a shared responsibility to live as one Oklahoma regardless of your race or where you live. We drive on the same roads; our kids go to the same schools and we benefit from the same programs.
It is critical -- while embracing the tribal heritage of many Oklahomans -- that we don’t lose sight of the fact that we are all Oklahomans.
As one Oklahoma, we will become a Top Ten state. If we are divided, we will not.
We must come together.
This year has tested the resiliency of our state and all 4 million Oklahomans. We’ve all faced challenges and made difficult sacrifices, but at the root of it all, we’ve endured.
Oklahomans are no stranger to hardship. We’ve lived through dust bowls, tornados, floods, a bombing, and now a pandemic. But we’re going to make it through, just like we have time and time again.
It’s been two years since I stood on the steps of the Capitol and was sworn in as governor.
On that day, I shared something my dad told me.
He’d tell us, “Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever quit. The future doesn’t just happen. You make it happen, so dream big.”
With big dreams and bold decisions, we’ll capitalize on the promise of tomorrow.
We must always focus on the next generation and not the next election. If we allow selfish ambition to drive decisions, the moral fabric of our system starts to break down.
I’m calling on every elected official to continue serving with self-sacrifice, always putting the needs of 4 million Oklahomans ahead of the few and the powerful.
I encourage us all today to renew our promise to the people of our great state. Our decisions have consequences, and as we go, society follows.
Let’s lead Oklahoma to becoming a Top Ten state, and let’s deliver on the people’s agenda. Together.
The turnaround Oklahomans demanded is well underway.
God bless you, and God bless the great state of Oklahoma!
How to Track Legislation
Today is a big day for the 58th Oklahoma legislature - it’s the annual Bill Filing Deadline, which means that all bills must be pre-filed by 4:30pm to be considered this year. Just over 1,700 bills and joint resolutions have been filed thus far, and it’s reasonable to expect another 500 to 1,000 more will be filed today. Now, just because a bill is filed doesn’t mean we know what it will actually do, much less whether or not the bill will even get heard in committee. Let’s break down the legislative process, clarify few key terms, and show you how to keep track of legislation as it moves through the Capitol.
THE PROCESS
Once filed, nearly all bills follow the same path to becoming a law: pass out of committee, pass the floor in the chamber of origin, pass committee in the opposite chamber, pass the floor of the opposite chamber, and be signed into law by the Governor. (There are a lot of caveats in that process; we’ll have a longer post outlining the full process soon - stay tuned!)
BILLS vs JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Typically the term “bills” refers to pieces of legislation that are statutory changes - that is, they pertain to the the Oklahoma Statutory Code (i.e. the “regular” state laws). These differ from “joint resolutions,” which are pieces of legislation that will amend the Oklahoma Constitution and therefore are placed on an upcoming ballot for a vote of the people. Bills and joint resolutions are numbered sequentially and identified by the chamber in which they originated (e.g. HB = House Bill, HJR = House Joint Resolution, etc.)
SHELL BILLS
Legislation that has been filed with a title but without any substantial language in the body are called “shell bills.” And there are a lot of them; according to eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley, more than a third of the bills filed thus far fall into this category. Only members of the House are allowed to file shell bills, and most are filed by members of the House leadership. Some shell bills are filed because the member is still working out the final language with the intent of inserting the language later (usually before it is heard in committee). Other shell bills are filed to serve as placeholders for what will become appropriations and budget bills later in the process. That’s why many shell bills have a generic title, like this one, the “Transportation Modernization Act.”
JOINT COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET (JCAB)
As the name suggests, the Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget (JCAB) is a large committee comprised of members of both the House and Senate who deal with - you guessed it - appropriations and budget bills. However, in practice JCAB ends up being the conduit for all kinds of bills near the end of session. It is the exception to all the rules. Bills that were thought to be dead earlier in session will suddenly show up on the JCAB agenda, full of new life and new language (thereby earning the macabre moniker “zombie bills”). JCAB meets with increasing frequency as the legislature nears sine die, often staying late into the evening hours. Typically this culminates in the final days of session with the budget itself, which is often presented just hours (or even minutes) before a vote is held, often with very little time questions or debate. It is the epitome of “how the sausage gets made” and arguably as gross as that phrase suggests.
TRACKING LEGISLATION
There are a number of methods for tracking legislation, both free (e.g. LENS, LegiScan) and paid (e.g. eCapitol). Many people use a combination of sources to keep tabs on bills. We made this brief video to walk you through how to (1) lookup bills on the Legislature’s website, (2) how to track bills using LENS, and (3) how to search for and track bills using LegiScan.
STAYING UP-TO-DATE
Tracking legislation on your own can be fun, helpful, and rewarding, but sometimes things don’t quite go according to plan. This is especially true near the various legislative deadlines and generally anytime there is an important or contentious bill being considered. In these situations, it’s helpful to be connected with an advocacy organization that focuses on a particular issue area. Many of those organizations have lobbyists or other “Capitol insiders” that may know the most current status of bills, which can be key.
keeping an eye on the legislature
I’ll end with an important reminder during these Covid times: it sounds like the Capitol will be operating with a reduced capacity during session this year, including the House & Senate galleries, which may make in-person advocacy more difficult. However, you can watch all committee meetings and floor proceedings on the House and Senate websites and you can always contact your elected officials by phone and email.
Remember: Decisions are made by those who show up. If you don’t show up (virtually or in person), someone else well…and you may not agree with them! Don’t let them be the only voice in your legislator’s ear. Take a few minutes to send an email and start to build a relationship with your elected officials. They’re more accessible than you think!
What the 2020 Election Means for Oklahoma
If you woke up this morning expecting to learn the definitive outcome of the presidential election, you’re going to need to hang on a little while longer. All the votes have been cast but the counting will continue for several more hours (and quite likely, days). It appears there was a polling error in a number of states, and undoubtedly the reason for it will be debated ad nauseam for weeks and months to come. One thing is abundantly clear: more voters made their voice heard in this election than in any presidential election since 1900.
“More voters made their voice heard in this election than in any presidential election since 1900. ”
Here in Oklahoma, all of our votes have been tallied and the Republican party was the big winner, netting an additional seat in Congress as well as an even-more-super supermajority in the state House. Having an 75% seat majority in both chambers of the state legislature, combined with control of the Governor’s office, means Republicans have the numbers to pass any legislation they want. However, as anyone who has ever coached their kids’ soccer team can attest - the bigger your team, the harder it can be to manage. Republican leadership must balance their priorities against the priorities of their caucus, some of whom may be further to the right than the last couple of years. You may recall the impact of the conservative “Platform Caucus” in 2016 2017; some of them ran for the legislature again this year
As we discussed with Senator Greg McCortney on our live podcast last night, in the coming session the Oklahoma state legislature will have to contend with a dire budget situation, a raging viral pandemic, and the politics of redrawing the state legislative and Congressional district maps, not to mention the ~2,000 other bills that will be filed over the next two months.
Since his election two years ago, Governor Stitt has benefitted from a warm relationship with the Trump administration, but that, too, may change before next session if Joe Biden is elected President. As we’ve discussed on Let’s Pod This, while the Governor enjoyed a relatively smooth and successful first year in office, this year he got crossways with a whole bunch of folks - the legislature, the Five Tribes, the medical community, the State Superintendent, and the Attorney General - just to name a few. Consequently, the Governor’s approval rating has dropped 16 points, from 57% in March to 41% in October, according to polls conducted and published by Amber Integrated. That’s a tough spot from which to start, and Governor Stitt must then chart a path to achieve his policy goals while also facing the same challenges as the legislature and with the added pressure of being the state’s chief executive and all the fame and blame that comes with the position.
The 58th legislature will be sworn in later this month or early December and then things get rolling pretty quickly. Here’s the legislative calendar for the next few months:
Dec 11: Bill Request Deadline
Jan 5: Organizational Day
Jan 21: Bill Introduction Deadline
Feb 1: First Day of Session / State of the State Address
Mar 11: Deadline for bills to pass out of chamber of origin
Apr 22: Deadline for bills to pass out of opposite chamber
May 28: Deadline for legislature to adjourn sine die
With little change to the state legislature or other statewide elected offices, I’m somewhat inclined to say that the election doesn’t “mean” much for Oklahoma, at least as far as state government is concerned and how things will play out in the spring. However, if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that anything is possible.