A bill that grants a one-year exemption from penalties for school districts that have excess carryover dollars due to the COVID-19 pandemic was passed by the House of Representatives. Without this change, some Oklahoma school districts would have been subject to fines for having too large of a carryover balance. House Bill 3964, by State…
Legislation that recognizes Israel as one of Oklahoma’s top trade partners and the nation’s greatest ally in the Middle East passed the state Senate. House Bill 3967, authored by State Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, specifies that unless exempted by the secretary of state, the state of Oklahoma will not enter into contracts with companies that…
State Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, applauded House passage of Senate Bill 1046, as a part of the launch of SoonerCare 2.0 on July 1. The state’s current Medicaid Program, SoonerCare, currently only covers children, pregnant women, adults with children, elderly adults, and disabled adults. Beginning July 1, 2020, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program will offer coverage availability…
The Oklahoma House of Representatives gave approval to two bills designed to increase the number of special education teachers in the classroom and to address the statewide teacher shortage. Rep. Nicole Miller, R-Edmond, presented SB1436 creates a new path to certification in two areas for aspiring special education teachers and provides additional training for existing…
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed HB 3350, providing a cost-of-living-adjustment to first responders, teachers and state employees. The bill grants COLAs to firefighters, policemen, judges, teachers and certain other public employees. Benefits increase by 2% if the person has been retired for between two and five years as of July 1, 2020, and by 4% if…
Even with a coronavirus crisis, the political process continues and the next election is a primary on June 30. Some races will be decided in a primary, some will set up the November 3 general election ballot and some will force an August 25 runoff. There is a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution on…
Angela Strohm, wife of former State Rep. Chuck Strohm, is running for House District 69 because Rep. Sheila Dills, a Republican who replaced her husband, “does not represent conservative Oklahoma values.” Angela Strohm said Dills scored 65 out of 100 on an economic conservative index and only 43 on the Oklahoma Constitution (newspaper) Conservative Index….
Sen. Gary Stanislawski, Republican State Senator for District 35, has endorsed Cheryl Baber, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Conservative Republican running to serve as his replacement. After serving 12 years, Stanislawski is term-limited. During his last term, Stanislawski won re-election by earning nearly 65% of the vote in the general election of 2016, and…
The liberal Tulsa World has endorsed long-time member Ruth Ann Fate in the District 6 race for Tulsa School Board and newcomer John Croisant in District 5. Fate will face Dr. Jerry Griffin in the June 30 election while Croisant will be up against Tulsa businessman Shane Saunders, a Republican. Fate said this is her…
The Oklahoma Senate approved a bill to protect election integrity in the absentee ballot process and it has been signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, is the author of the bill, which grants exemptions during the course of the coronavirus health pandemic. The bill passed 38-9. “Unfortunately, the…