HJR1027  would direct the election board to add a STATE QUESTION to our next general election ballot. The effect would be to ask the voters to give up more of their constitutional rights and lawmaking powers.
  It would require signature gatherers to get support from people who never vote or who have died, or moved to another state while retaining their Oklahoma voting status.
  It would force tougher thresholds for citizens to gather signatures sufficient to put a state question on future ballots.  Signature gatherers would have to spread out to all congressional districts to get at least 8% of the voters (and registered non-voters like Kevin Stitt), in order to put a proposal on the ballot.
  The idea is said to be an effort by Gov. Stitt, to consolidate more power to his office and away from the grassroots. The argument is that out of state money is driving so many recent initiative petitions. The talking point is that this will block outside influences.
  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  With this change, only big money agendas will succeed in hiring the needed professionals to get signatures.

  The elder ranking member of House leadership, Harold Wright; used a procedural tactic to get his draconian smoke ban bill out of an 'unfriendly' Rules Committee, and make a deal with the House Judiciary Committee Chair; to get the proposal to the House floor for a full vote.
  Using the pretext of protecting an employee from a workplace where a patient might utilize cannabis, the new law would allow agencies to assess fines between $100 to $1000, perhaps several times per year.

  Our initial comprehension of the text of the Oklahoma Workplace Clean Air Act is that it would allow just one employee to force the owner of a business to change the premises to a fully smoke-free environment regardless of the circumstances. The only exception would be a Veterans center.
No longer can a business owner make a policy for the enterprise he created. Even private clubs are subjected to the ban, by just one employee declaration.
  The House Rules Committee has been dominated by lawmakers who largely support the medical use of cannabis under physician oversight. Most of last year's Medical Marijuana reform legislation sailed though this committee and received overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses.
  Harold Wright is the ceremonial Speaker Pro Temp and represents a rural district from western Oklahoma. His home of Weatherford has perhaps the toughest ordinances to hamper patients' access to cannabis medicines.

  With a deadline looming this week on legislation affecting state public policy on medical spending and who has the right to make important health decisions, The man at the center of the discussion is a senator with extensive financial interests at stake.
  Dr. Jim Meehan has been an active participant in addressing medical policy issues and he's published a strong warning about some serious questions that need answers.

  Motorists who have faced charges of impaired driving are getting louder in their protests against the tactics and protocols used by law enforcement agencies.  Yes, impaired driving kills. It's a tragedy that forever changes families as well as destroying lives. But the effort to detect a danger has led some legislators to approve methods which are very suspect and deprive innocent people of their constitutional rights.
  One of their own, Rep Dean Davis, knows this all too well. He was charged by Broken Arrow Police, last summer.  When he retained his 4th amendment right of privacy, he was promptly arrested for doing so.  The lone cop had no video evidence and even when the lawmaker consented to a 3rd party blood test, the cop refused that option and the lawmaker spent the night in the county jail. His case is still in litigation.
  One lawmaker was studying a new standard based on 'what the driver's best capabilities are', and charging them for any 'slightest impairment'. He pulled that bill and is seeking further study.
  We talked with a few lawmakers and asked;
"What about the 84 year old lady in our neighborhood who still drives even though she's far from capable of passing a Drivers License road test?".

  A wise fella once said that God decided to create a horse, but he called together a church committee to carry it out. When the committee finally settled on a design, the result was a camel. The least graceful, most awkward, and generally inefficient beasts of burden that ever was.
  Then God made the real horse and banished the camels to the deserts.
Our current legislative districts were designed by 5 different committees fighting each other in several arenas. In not one of those arenas are the communities and voters invited to take part. It's the epitome of smoke-filled, backroom dealing. It often is brought to the state or federal high court, to be resolved.

Massive rural areas of several 'blue' states are growing restless with talk of escaping the oppressions of their state legislatures, which are dominated by radical leftists from compacted urban zones.

   Former Adair County Sheriff, David Hardin, is a leading new voice for constitutional rights in the Oklahoma legislature.
Earlier this month he came to a stark realization of the entrenched power of his own house leadership; namely the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
 Chairman Chris Kannady wields his power openly and dictates which bills he is willing to entertain, and on what terms.
  Kannady guts several bills of their substance even before deciding if he will give his committee the opportunity to make motions to hear or advance them.
  Earlier this month, on Feb. 11th, The House Judiciary Committee  called up HB2781. Before Rep. Hardin had an opportunity to even speak, Chairman Kannady had presented his massive amendment and declared unanimous consent approval of the committee to adopt his amendment, which took the 11-page bill down to just 2 pages of substance. 
  Hardin knew this was coming. He knew full well the terms by which he'd even be given an opportunity for part of his bill to advance to a floor vote. 
  Democrats swarmed to the opportunity to exploit this division in the Republican caucus and they capitalized on it. Colin Walke (D-OKC) openly admonished the committee to submit to any and all federal edicts or else just go ahead and secede from the union and give up all the federal funds that come with federal supremacy.

  Believe it or not, the Right Wing Moralists and Left Wing Nanny State actually do collaborate, once in a while. But sadly it's not always for the improvement of Oklahomans. 
  Senator Carrie Hicks is a freshman Democrat from OKC. She filed SB1346 and the health committee is deciding whether to pass the measure onto the full Senate. It would take taxpayer money to set up 'Needle Exchanges' so that while you're shooting up heroine, you won't have to worry about AIDS or HepC.  you might die any moment from your advanced drug addiction, but now the govt. is considering giving you assistance with the clean needles to kill yourself with. 
  Why aren't diabetics contracting HepC and AIDS? It's simple.. They buy 9¢ needles in bulk. Why don't heroin addicts do the same? Because the District Attorney might find out that they're buying clean needles... So they reuse a needle that was already used before.
  It seems Oklahoma has statutes which allow cops & prosecutors to arbitrarily deem some medical devices as contraband paraphernalia. Insulin needles and allergy syringes are a couple of items which might fall into that group, depending on who wants to know.
  I just checked on Amazon.com. they sell a case of 100 insulin syringes for $8.99.  That's 9¢ per device. A drug addict might be spending $2500 per month on cheap black tar heroin from Red China, but the state taxpayers are being asked to pay for needles to inject the deadly drugs. Who doesn't see a liability lawsuit waiting?

  Pat Campbell talks to David Van with Sooner Politics (www.SoonerPolitics.org) about Logan County declaring itself a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary county, a motion filed against the Tulsa County D.A.'s office, term limits, Governor Stitt vs. The Tribes, Kendra Horn's seat in OK Congressional District 5, PTSD, and recreational marijuana on the ballot.
  The vast array of topics include:

• - 2nd Amendment Sanctuary,
• - Tulsa County D.A.'s Office,
• - Term Limits,
• - Stitt vs. The Tribes,
• - Kendra Horn's Seat,
• - PTSD,
• - Recreational Marijuana.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Editor's note:
  This was my first visit to the new Griffin Communications Studios. They are the biggest player in the Oklahoma TV/Radio markets.

It's Friday afternoon and sheriffs across Oklahoma are declaring solidarity with each other and the free people they serve.  Two days ago, there was one such sheriff, standing alone in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
  While professional media outlets are all but silent, citizen journalists are collaborating to provide the information.
  Don Spencer (President of OK2A) attended the Logan County Commission Meeting, this morning and  on behalf of his fellow citizens, commended both the sheriff and all 3 commissioners as they passed a unanimous resolution to defend constitutional liberties against growing calls to confiscate firearms for various pretenses.
  The sheriffs are also leaders in the Oklahoma Sheriffs Association. this signals an orthodoxy of convictions in our state's law enforcement that will likely influence how district attorneys approach prosecution.

In Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris' public letter, he said in part;
"​  There is nothing more critical during a home invasion, burglary or other assaults and crimes against persons than the ability to protect yourself and your family.
  We are very blessed to live in a state that understands and supports the gun rights of Oklahomans secured and guaranteed under the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
I believe that if every citizen who could legally carry a firearm, would; not only would they and their families be safer, but our entire community would be safer as well."

  The Logan County Commissioners officially declared the historic county to be Oklahoma's 2nd Amendment Sanctuary. The meeting took place in Guthrie, the birthplace of Oklahoma statehood and the first capitol.
  Early Wednesday morning, Sheriff Damon Devereaux made a unilateral proclamation of solidarity with the constitution on matters of self defence, including the right to keep & bear arms. Sheriff devereaux publicly asked his county commissioners to codify the policy. Commissioner Marven Goodman immediately expanded on Devereaux's proclamation and drafted a resolution in even greater detail. The item was inserted in the agenda for Friday morning.
  Chairman Monty Piearcy said the county has received quite a bit of calls in this topic. At the Friday meeting, Sheriff Devereaux was first to be called to speak on the issue of his own proclamation. Commissioner Goodman then read his prepared motion. Commissioner Mike Pearson also gave full support in his own extended remarks. The vote was unanimous.
​ 

​From press reports, we get the perception that Epic Virtual Charter School filed an incorrect financial report to the State Dept. of Education.
Rather than correct the report, Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is slapping a half million dollar fine on the institution.
She doesn't disagree with the explanation of a clerical error, but she says the district will be punished anyway.
Innovators will be punished severely, for making everyone else look bad!
In a report by the Oklahoman, Epic's separate charter institution; Epic Blended Learning Centers, had some administrative costs which were incorrectly reported on the Online Charter expense reports. that put the online division over the limit for administrative costs. 
Supt. Hofmeister declared a 'no-tolerance, no corrections' policy, this year. She's trying to grab nearly a million dollars from about a dozen districts, which she will be able to redirect to other agency projects.
  The Oklahoman included a totally debunked old video from last summer, but the article has a cryptic explanation of the current dispute.
https://oklahoman.com/article/5654739/state-education-department-fines-epic-530000-penalty?fbclid=IwAR27nslp1ZphTNJ1MqFjcoEfxO5FlErv8L9EbAIXSxeX2IlH-9hVGVoFdhc

County Commissioner, Marven Goodman, is publicly applauding the lead of Sheriff Damon Devereaux.  In an upcoming Friday Morning County Commission meeting, the three Logan County Commissioners may officially codify the Devereaux doctrine on constitutional rights of self defense.
​ In a press statement released this morning, Goodman said;

  Logan County is  just minutes north of Oklahoma City, and is the birthplace of the state of Oklahoma.  The people of the county have a legacy of strong advocacy for constitutional freedoms.

  Quicker than anyone could see it happening, Judiciary Committee Chair, Chris Kannady pushed through a freshman's bill to force every Oklahoman to carry legal papers with them at all times. Our rights to remain silent and be left alone would be but a memory, when this law is enacted.
  All law enforcement will be able to hold citizens in detention on a suspicion that they might otherwise be committing an unlawful act, or aiding someone else in some contrived narrative of unlawfulness.
  There is no set limit on that detention listed in the bill. It is authored by Rep. David Smith, of the McAlester area. Smith defeated Democrat Donnie Conditt to gain the seat as perhaps the first Republican in the legislature from that House district?
  The ACLU has already signaled their intent to defend Oklahomans and have the law struck down on multiple constitutional ground.  2018 Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate, Chris Powell, is also sounding an alarm for civil liberties and taking notes on who is going to stand for constitutional freedoms.
  In an earlier post, Sooner Politics detailed the ominous consequences for Oklahomans if this becomes law. It's more than a 'stop & frisk' law (which was rules unconstitutional in how New York City police implemented it. In this bill, every person would be forced to answer several questions by police in the nature of determining their legal identity, address, age, and other personal details. Failure to do so would, in itself, be grounds for arrest, citation or some other police action. 
  The police would also be able to detain (in jail) anyone suspected of possibly planning an illegal activity, or suspected of knowing something incriminating about an illegal action by someone.

  In these days of stereotyping and pigeonholing, there is a superbowl ad that defies the worst images of urban culture. It chronicles the life of a single father raising 5 kids and their struggles with homelessness, hunger, and devotion to family. It's the Marty Jacobs story.
 Yes, one of his sons became the NFL Rookie of the Year, and has a great future in pro football. But Josh Jacobs didn't know what would be in his future. He only saw the struggles of survival and his father's assurance that it would turn out right, if he devoted himself to do his best and discipline himself.
  Last month that father got a surprise gift from son Josh. A new home of his own.