OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 18, 2024) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to improve its Robocall Mitigation Database that could reduce illegal robocalls. He is working with 46 other attorneys general to close a loophole in the database that allows bad actors to have access to the U.S. telephone network. 

Registration on the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database is required to operate as a voice service provider. Since it went live in 2021, however, the database has done little to prevent scammers from obtaining legitimate registrations to make illegal robocalls. Companies have submitted non-vetted information, and voice service providers have faced no consequences for filing inaccurate, false, misleading or incomplete information. 

OKLAHOMA CITY (November 15, 2024) - Today, Governor Kevin Stitt announced Oklahoma Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Tipton will lead the charge to expel those serving time in Oklahoma correctional facilities who are in the country illegally.

“The Oklahoma taxpayer should not be left holding the bill for President Biden’s open border policies,” said Governor Stitt. “As law and order returns to the White House, Oklahoma will lead the charge with a comprehensive plan to deport those who have committed crimes in Oklahoma while in the country illegally.

New VA Hospital in Tulsa, under construction (image source)

WASHINGTON, DC (Nov. 19th) – The Senate unanimously passed a bill introduced by Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to name the new Veterans Administration (VA) 75,000-square-foot, 58-bed medical-surgical hospital in Tulsa the James Mountain Inhofe VA Medical Center in honor of the life and legacy of the late-Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, who tirelessly served our military, veterans, and their families for his entire public service career. Lankford helped ensure the hospital received funding to commence construction in 2020 and helped ensure the skyrocketing inflation of the last three years did not interrupt the construction schedule with additional unforeseen costs. Representative Kevin Hern (R-OK) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives. 

Proposals could cut red tape in Oklahoma

Despite being a conservative electorate, Oklahomans still face more state regulations than citizens in most other states. The accumulation of those rules impedes economic growth and job creation.

Fortunately, legislative leaders are preparing to tackle this problem.

At a recent meeting jointly led by state Rep. Gerrid Kendrix and state Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, who each chair their respective chamber’s administrative rules committee, lawmakers reviewed initiatives that have pared down regulations elsewhere.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 20th) – Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, has filed Senate Bill 1, a tax reform proposal designed to reduce Oklahoma’s income tax rates in a responsible and measured way.

Under SB1, the state’s marginal income tax rate will be reduced by 0.25 percentage points across all income brackets. Future reductions are tied to revenue growth, with the Board of Equalization tasked with determining if total state revenue has increased by at least $400 million compared to the fiscal year before the most recent tax cut. Each time this benchmark is met, another 0.25 percent reduction will be triggered, continuing until the top marginal income tax rate is zero.

Under the guise of "increasing voter participation", left-wingers of both parties (including one has-been and one current liberal Republican elected officials) announced an initiative petition today for a state question that would switch Oklahoma to the same sort of "top two" jungle primary system used in California that often cuts Republican candidates completely out of the general election.

OKLAHOMA CITY (November 12th) – Senate Pro Tem Designee Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, today has named key members of his leadership team after being tapped as the Senate’s next leader.

Pro Tem Designee Paxton has appointed Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, as the Senate Majority Floor Leader, Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, as Appropriations Chairman and Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, as Vice Chairman of Appropriations.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (November 13, 2024) Oklahoma State Auditor & Inspector [SA&I] Cindy Byrd today released her forensic audit report for the City of Lindsay in Garvin County. Auditor Byrd launched the investigation after receiving a request from District Attorney Greg Mashburn.

The SA&I investigated the city’s financial records from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022. The audit uncovered significant mismanagement and a failure of Lindsay City Council members to provide proper oversight of expenditures.

(Nov. 6th) "Oklahoma's 2024 General Election is one for the history books. Unofficial results show that more Oklahomans cast a vote for President than any previous election. Voters set a new record for in-person early voting by more than 120,000. We also had the largest number of registered voters heading into this election since we began tracking this statistic in 2000.