Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, filed SB 1100, which would require male and female to be the only options on birth certificates to identify a child’s sex at birth. “I was assured by the State Department of Health a couple months ago that they had no intention of adding another sex option to birth certificates, but…
Finding innovative approaches to Oklahoma’s teacher shortage while improving teacher quality was the focus of an interim study held Monday before the House Common Education Committee. The study’s host, Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon. Baker, chairs the committee. “Oklahoma, like most of the nation, faces an acute teacher shortage,” Baker said. “I first wanted to examine…
Education officials offered differing explanations and solutions to recent student learning losses during a joint legislative interim study held amid state education funding increasing 35% in the past five years to a record $3.2 billion. Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, the chair of the House Common Education Committee, and Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, chair of the…
On Oct. 13, Rep. Sean Roberts, R-Hominy, hosted a SARS-COV-2 presentation and roundtable with fellow legislators and other government officials. Topics included SARS-COV-2 death rates, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing, masks, herd immunity, natural immunity, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting (VAERS) data, and alternative therapeutics. “During this presentation, we had great discussions revolving around research that…
Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 13, urging Congress to protect consumers from harmful Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules, such as burdensome reporting requirements for financial institutions. The resolution is a response to the Biden administration’s push to have the IRS monitor all U.S. bank transactions over $600. “Recent IRS rules proposals from…
Tulsa gas prices have risen 9.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.06/gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 321 stations in Tulsa. Gas prices in Tulsa are 18.0 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.39/gallon higher than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest…
Foreign animal diseases are a constant threat to Oklahoma’s livestock. An outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) on American soil would have devastating consequences for agriculture producers and our state’s economy. That’s according to Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, who expressed his complete support for any measures taken to curb foreign animal diseases, like ASF, from…
DALLAS – Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers announced that all hourly workers in Oklahoma will receive on average a $2.40/hour increase to their wages. This move will bring the starting hourly rates to $12/hour for all Cane’s Oklahoma employees, which will be an over $2 increase. This move comes after the company announced plans for growth…
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is shifting focus from its current system of COVID-19 case investigation, to a self-serve approach where the public can quickly receive test results via text, and conduct their own case investigations and contact tracing through an online portal. The new OSDHCI (OSDH Case Investigation) system was launched on…
With U.S. energy consumption having declined by 7% last year, WalletHub released its report on 2021’s Most and Least Energy-Efficient States, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary. To gauge the financial impact of doing more with less energy — the average American household spends at least $2,000 per year on utilities and another…