A group of individuals in the Oklahoma Republican party, led by people like Tobacco industry lobbyist Seth Rott; are seeking to radically replace the structure of party leadership in Oklahoma.  One source says that US Senator, James Lankford is also behind the effort to give more control to incumbent politicians in the OKGOP. The move would eliminate most of the authority of the current presiding body (the State Committee), and replace it with a largely hand-picked group of designees which (to some degree) the congressional GOP incumbents get to pick. 
  The move would also eliminate the authority of the State Chairman to oversee the operation and replace that role with an Executive director whom the new Executive Committee would hire.
  Current Party Rules state that the Executive Committee is only an advisory Committee to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the state. This would set up the state party to be structured opposite of how each of the state's 77 County GOP organizations operate.
    The proposal further consolidates power by making the State Budget Committee a 'subcommittee of the State Executive Committee'. 

  It is no secret that the hundreds of our state's bloated public school districts despise the success of Epic Virtual Charter Schools. Lobbyists have pressured some lawmakers to write several new laws which are designed to hamper Epic and weigh it down into the same malaise which currently paralyzes our largest public school districts.
  Several weeks ago some new whispers even reached the printed pages of some large newspapers in our state. The problem is, the rumors make no sense and the newspapers normally have higher standards for verification than we see here.
  The biggest rumor now floating is that Epic is "being investigated" by "the feds". But which federal agency would that be?  If it's criminal in nature, then one would assume that the Justice Dept. is leading the effort. But they don't spread these kind of rumors.
  It is the dept. of Labor? Perhaps Epic, which pays teachers an average of $63,000 in compensation per year, is somehow not paying enough? Huh...?
  Perhaps the Dept. of Education is investigating the lack of funding? Epic draws funding of about $5000 per pupil, which is pathetic, compared to Tulsa Public Schools, which collects over $9000 per pupil (and fails miserably at educating them). 

  If the Oklahoma Democrats didn't have enough problems on their hands, a late night vandal just added to their woes by adorning their state headquarters with blue spray-painted messages of classic racist themes.
  The building is at 37th & N Classen, in OKC. It's owned by former governor, David Walters. Several tenants occupy the facility, including the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
  Tonight the OKC Police Dept. posted this note to social media outlets and included several images from security cameras.

  The Oklahoma Republican Party will hold a massive 'restructuring' convention next week. The event will be held in Moore Oklahoma, at the campus of First Moore Baptist Church. Friday will feature a Gala dinner with Governor Kevin Stitt & Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell. Keynote speaker will be Ronald Reagan's post-presidency asst., Peggy Grande.
  Earlier on Friday there will be more than a dozen political & campaign training classes offered to party members. There will also be committee meetings held later in the afternoon.
​  On Saturday, there will be a prayer breakfast from 7:30 - 9am with faith leaders and members of the cast of the movie, 'Unplanned'.
  The formal convention gavels in at 9am with committee reports, election of new state leadership, and deliberating the many platform planks and proposed rule changes for the OKGOP.
​  If you attended your local precinct meeting, you're likely an authorized delegate to this convention. If not, you may attend as a guest. There are convention fees associated with the various events.
  The State headquarters highly recommends preregistering via their website; https://register.okgop.com/

​The local testing took place after criminal charges were filed. Fisher declined to reveal results of that testing Friday.

 In just 10 months the federal govt. will commission yet another census of the nation's inhabitants for the purpose of insuring equal representation of the government and the delivery of resources & services.
  When those results are delivered to the states, the 58th Oklahoma legislature will be tasked with drawing all new lines for every electoral subdivision.  From the local town councils to the makeup of congress. every district will have it's boundaries reconsidered.
​  Let's look at the urban sprawl of the state's two largest cities. Much of that population shift will flow outward and impact the populations of the outlying counties. 

  And then there's the very odd shaped districts which attract allegations of Gerrymandering. (Named after Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate in 1812).
​

  The Oklahoma senate gave final passage to a broad statutory overhaul bill to replace the current Medical Marijuana Law that was passed as SQ788, last june.  The measure changes several parts of the rollout parameters both in the text of SQ788 and the emergency rules of the Oklahoma Health Dept.
  This 90 page proposal broadens some interpretations while removing many protections of privacy and employment.  Several representatives of Medical Marijuana Businesses(MMBs) supported the measure because it stabilizes the marketplace and helps the industry plan for long term investments.
​  But the bill fails to address Banking needs, the abuses of the Oklahoma Tax Commission, and 
  The bill gives absolute powers to the Health Dept.'s inspectors to make up more rules without statutory approval, and shut down MMBs. 
  The bill appears to give any doctor the ability to check the license status & medical records of any patient they suspect is a licensed patient.
   But many advocates say that the many changes it makes to the current rollout are more positive than negative.
   What it does establish is that 93% of the House and 90% of the senate approves of this structured Cannabis Medicine program. Most of those voting 'No" to the bill, wanted a less restrictive alternative.

Oklahoma courts recently adjudicated some cases which ought to embarrass our people. Those who challenged us to step up to their standards of conduct,  seem to have been trying to hide their worst moments regarding their weakest attributes.
  At a time when other lawmakers loosened up liquor laws, these and other state & local leaders reveal that liquor has severe dangers when placed into the wrong hands.
  Russell Hunter is known for lecturing pro life legislators and even churches. He's been a campaign advisor to gubernatorial candidate Dan Fisher and lately he's been collaborating with senator Joseph Silk. It's recently been revealed that he is facing a year of probation, community service hours, DUI school, and over $1000 in fines & fees for his late summer drunk driving. Sooner Tea Party reports the details of that case.
  Bryce Marlatt had a successful run as the state senator for 9 NW Oklahoma counties. He had a 'frat boy' habit of partying in Oklahoma City (hours away from the constituents of Cimarron County). No, he wasn't driving drunk, but he made aggressive sexual advances to the female Uber driver who was taking him from club to club, in the summer of 2017. He resigned when he was indicted later that summer. Yesterday he accepted a plea bargain to reduce the felony sexual battery charges down to a misdemeanor. NewsOk has that story.

  SoonerPolitics has secured the unpublished 6 audits commissioned by the Oklahoma Agency Performance & Accountability Commission(APAC). The APAC report was not completed by early January as was expected to be released well before the 2019 legislative session began.

  On February 11th, The Commission did finally complete their summary report and send it to the Governor, House, & Senate. It did not reach the recipients before the State of the State Address or the deadline of filing bills for the spring session. But many of the details of the report have guided the actions of the governor and the legislature, as we can now clearly see.

​ While the commission is not technically a part of Oklahoma's legislative branch of government, the reports sat in Speaker McCall's office for nearly a month without so much as a press statement, explaining when or how the research would be revealed. We were told that the hold up was caused by a compatibility problem with the PDF file formats and the official web servers where the reports would be publicly accessed.
​
  The good news is that a simple 2nd request at the Speaker's office is all that was needed to get the coveted research results.

  This afternoon Majority Floor Leader, Jon Echols, presented a series of bills to fundamentally change the top structure of 5 state agencies which currently are completely managed by unelected boards. His language empowers the legislature and the governor to select the board members and allow the governor to directly appoint the commissioner with advice & consent of the senate. The governor may remove the commissioner at will and set the commissioner salary. The legislature would also have power to remove by super-majority.
  The first bill restructured the Dept. of Juvenile Affairs (HB2479) That measure was met with lengthy questions and robust debate.  Echols declared that Oklahoma had failed the challenge that Ben Franklin presented to the early Americans in Philidelphia in 1787; "You have a republic, if you can keep it."  Echols declared that Oklahoma had not kept that republic form of government by keeping the agencies accountable to the voters.
The vote was 76-22, with one Tulsa Democrat voting with the Republicans. The emergency clause passed and the bill goes on to the senate. 

  The voters of Oklahoma have recently been leading the legislature on a few issues. One such matter is on criminal justice reform. Too many lawmakers have fallen for the intimidation from prosecutors and private prison lobbyists who suggest that the next election cycle will feature 3rd party expenditures claiming that the incumbent is 'soft on crime'. 
   But two lawmakers are willing to face down this intimidation. Majority floor leader Jon Echols is working with Democrat Representative Jason Dunnington. the two represent portions of Oklahoma City.
  The bill directs state courts to hear motions for setting aside the sentence of a nonviolent convict. Courts will then apply the new sentencing guidelines that SQ780 put in place after the voters overwhelmingly passed the initiatives on election day of 2016.
  Violent crime felons are not eligible under this proposal.  But those who were caught a 3rd time with small amounts of marijuana or other drugs would have a chance to establish their medical basis for treatment.  Many veterans suffering PTSD would fall into this category.
  The House could have a floor vote on HB1269 as early as next week.

   It is somewhat unthinkable, but 3 1/2 years ago it was a felony 5 year prison sentence if a mother was caught with a simple bottle of pure CBD oil.  But Rep Jon Echols sought to change that, for some Oklahoma children who were suffering debilitating seizures and other terrible disabilities. Even though the oil had no psychoactive content (THC) there were plenty of those who needed a lot of 'encouragement to vote for it. In the end, there were still a handful of legislators who refused to allow any product of the cannabis plant to be legal.
 On February 28th the members supporting the bill totaled 85. 5 voted against it, including a licensed physician; and 9 did not register a vote.
 Today, CBD oil is sold in all 50 states without any prescription, patient license, or dosage limits.
  It is found to be therapeutic in far more treatment protocols than even the house author of HB2154 even knew of.
  It would take until November 1st of 2015 before mom's could legally possess the essential oil,  It seems asinine today. Considering how far we've come.
 Today Rep. Echols' HB2612 passed the House with 93 votes of support. That bill authorizes permanent framework for patients to utilize all parts of the cannabis plant. But the restrictions are immense and the cost is expensive, because of the regulations.
  How many will look back 4 years from now and wonder what all the fuss was about.

  In a strong showing of near unanimous support, the medical marijuana laws passed by the voters of Oklahoma last June, were affirmed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Only 5 of the 101 House members disapproved of the core set of statutes in HB 2612. But at least one of those 5 debated that the statutes were too restrictive and that the voters would not accept added limitations to their law. Majority Floor Leader, Jon Echols, built the omnibus bill around the consensus of patients, industry leaders, professional clinicians, and community govts.
  Shane Stone (D-OKC) expressed disappointment while openly expressing admiration to Echols, Fetgatter and the bicameral interim study group who recommended the set of statutory amendments to SQ788.
  Rep. Scott Fetgatter was the floor sponsor of HB2612. He emphasized, in closing debate, that this bill is a consensus framework for a new, budding industry in Oklahoma. He said that the legislature is tasked with providing that framework because the people have spoken and called for this medicinal option in treating serious ailments.