Tulsa Beacon

Conservatism is based on voting

Based on 2018 votes, Sen. Nathan Dahm is the most conservative legislator in the Tulsa area and Rep. Meloyde Blancett is the least conservative.

Dahm, a Republican from Broken Arrow, cast conservative votes 95 percent of the time while Blancett, a liberal Democrat, voted conservatively only 14 percent of the time.

Three of the top four conservative House members – Chuck Strohm, Scott McEachin and Dr. Mike Ritze (all Republicans) – lost their re-election bids in 2018. The bottom four liberal House members – Blancett, Regina Goodwin, Karen Gaddis and Carol Bush – are still in office. Three are Democrats and Bush is a registered Republican.

The ratings are a result of a study by The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF). ACUF’s Ratings—both federal and state—are an initiative of ACUF’s Center for Legislative Accountability. These ratings are designed to reflect how the nation’s elected officials view the role of government and illustrate the differences between chambers of the legislature, while revealing lawmakers’ positions on a wide variety of issues that directly affect Oklahomans.

ACUF reviewed each piece of legislation voted on in both the Senate and House to produce average scores of each chamber as well as individual scores for each sitting member. According to ACUF’s Year in Review, the Oklahoma Legislature’s overall conservative score improved compared to the 2017 session (from 54.57 percent to 64.12 percent).

Oklahoma legislators voted on key issues during the 2018 session. In one or both chambers, they voted to strengthen protections for Second Amendment rights, expand the freedom of workers to opt out of union dues and protect the dignity of female inmates who are pregnant.

“In the 2018 session, conservative Oklahoma lawmakers successfully fought to end the cruel practice of shackling pregnant inmates either with cuffs during delivery or shackling arms and legs when traveling before birth, which increases risks to the developing baby,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “Conservative lawmakers also led the way for the legislature to take a stand for Oklahomans’ important constitutional right to bear arms. We applaud these lawmakers for demonstrating a commitment to defending life and liberty in Oklahoma and urge the legislature to reverse the out-of-control tax increases we saw this past session.”

The average score for Republican Oklahoma House Representatives was 75 percent, while just 22 percent of all representatives earned awards for scoring 80 percent or better. Just 10 Oklahoma State Senators earned awards. The overall average for the Oklahoma State Legislature was 64.12 percent.

Votes on these bills were used to determine scores:

SB 960 prohibits a school district from creating any conditions or requirements in order for employees to terminate a payroll deduction to a union or professional organization.

SB 888 eliminates a special subsidy provided to zero-emissions facilities (wind energy) by eliminating the refundable status of the tax credits provided to the facilities.

SB 1337 permits distilleries to sell products directly to consumers for both on- and off-premises consumption, including public events such as trade shows or festivals.

SB 1267 prohibits all health care providers that engage in the trafficking of fetal body parts from being eligible for reimbursements through Medicaid or any other federal or state program.

SJR 61 is a resolution to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to require merely a three-fifths (60 percent) majority vote as opposed to the three-fourths (75 percent) majority vote previously.

SB 1465 prohibits a city or local government from banning or imposing taxes on plastic bags or other “auxiliary containers,” such as reusable bags, bottles or containers.

SB 139 exempts individuals and businesses that do not actually buy, sell or transfer real estate from the requirement to obtain a real estate license.

SB 1086 results in a net tax increase in excess of $450 million by prohibiting taxpayers from deducting from their state adjusted gross income the capital gains they earned from the sale of real property or ownership interest in Oklahoma companies.

HB 1010xx costs taxpayers $474 million per year with the following tax hikes: an additional $1 tax per pack of cigarettes; a 3 cent and 6 cent tax per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel, respectively; a 5 percent tax on all revenue from oil and gas production; and a $5 tax for every night a hotel stay exceeds 30 days.

HB 1011 caps the state income tax deductions at $17,000, thereby hiking taxes on thousands of earners by limiting the amount of deductions they may itemize on their returns (charitable deductions excluded).

HB 2860 is designed to increase transparency by requiring the State Department of Education to include school site-expenditure data on its website, including school superintendent salary and benefits data.

HB 2632 expands the state’s self-defense laws (commonly referred to as “stand your ground”) to include places of worship.

HB 650 expands employment opportunities for nonviolent offenders by reducing the time period from 15 years to seven years that an offender must wait before seeking an expungement of their criminal record.

HB 2756 extends, until the year 2023, an income tax credit for the purchase of clean-burning motor vehicles and infrastructure, such as vehicles propelled by hydrogen or natural gas.

SB 1585 provides up to $3 million in tax credits to companies that manufacture motor vehicles in the state, and up to $2 million in tax credits to individuals who have earned engineering degrees.

SJR 70 proposes an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution (subject to voter approval) that provides school districts with greater flexibility to use their existing funds, thereby reducing pressure for statewide tax increases.

HB 3393 is designed to protect the safety of pregnant inmates and their infants by requiring that female inmates who are pregnant are to be afforded the least restrictive restraints throughout the entirety of the pregnancy.

SB1212 expands protections for Second Amendment rights by permitting individuals ages 21 and older to either conceal- or open-carry a firearm if they are not disqualified from owning a gun.

HB 2932 directs the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to seek a waiver from the federal government so that the state can implement work, education, or job training requirements for work-ready adults who are eligible for SoonerCare, the state’s Medicaid program under Obamacare.

SB1140 prohibits private child placement agencies from being forced to participate in any adoption or child placement which violates the agency’s written religious or moral beliefs.

HB makes it easier for individuals with past criminal convictions to obtain employment.

HB 3693 makes it easier for individuals to exercise their Second Amendment rights by implementing a series of reforms to the Self Defense Act (SDA) licensing process.

HB 3145 mandates that all municipalities surcharge ratepayers for what the legislature considers “excessive water usage,” in this case more than 25,000 gallons per month.

HB 3341 helps strengthen ballot integrity by requiring the Secretary of the State Election Board to compare biannually the voter registration database with other state and federal citizenship data.

HB 3676 helps channel federal funds to pro-life organizations as opposed to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.

HB 3011 permits barbershops to train two apprentices at a time (as opposed to one, as previously permitted) and reduces the training apprentice barbers must obtain at a barbershop from 3,000 hours to 2,000 hours.

SB 1212 expands protections for Second Amendment rights by permitting individuals ages 21 and older to either conceal- or open-carry a firearm if they are not disqualified from owning a gun.

SB 86 prevents the state from constructing any highway that bypasses a municipality unless, in addition to all other state and federal studies, an economic impact study on the affected municipalities is conducted, and each municipality’s board approves the project.

Tulsa Area Scores

Senate Scores

95% Nathan Dahm
80% Bill Brown80 percent – Bill Brown
75% Gary Stanislawski
73% Kim David
70% Joe Newhouse
66% Eddie Fields
63% Dave Rader
45% Allison Ikley-Freeman
29% J.J. Dossett
18% Kevin Matthews

House Scores

85% Chuck Strohm
84% Tom Gann
79% Scott McEachin
78% Mike Ritze
77% Terry O’Donnell
76% Dale Derby
74% Michael Rogers
73% Glen Mulready
67% Ross Ford
51% Katie Henke
39% Eric Proctor
37% Carol Bush
26% Karen Gaddis
17% Regina Goodwin
14% Meloyde Blancett

Dahm heads the list, Blancett is last

Conservatism is based on voting

Tulsa Area Scores

Senate Scores

House Scores