More from NonDoc:

Jackie Shawnee, chief of staff for Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye, explained the new process for amending birth certificates in a statement to NonDoc. 

“Requirements for legally changing the sex designation on an Oklahoma birth certificate have changed,” Shawnee said. “In order to legally change the sex designation on an original Oklahoma birth certificate, you must obtain a court order from an Oklahoma court. A certified copy of this court order must be presented to (the) Oklahoma (Office of) Vital Records before an amended birth certificate can be issued.”

This unscientific, illogical, and insane move has sparked sharp criticism this morning. Below are comments from Governor Kevin Stitt, House Speaker Charles McCall, and State Senator Micheal Bergstrom (who has now filed legislation for birth certificates to reflect the scientific fact of either male or female). Updated to add a statement from Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat.

Welcome to the woke spirit of the age. When God is dethroned and truth no longer matters, anything goes.

Doke became the first Republican to win his seat when he won in 2014. Doke has been a great asset and a much-needed conservative leader in Muskogee County government. 

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 13, 2021) – Governor Kevin Stitt announced today the appointment of Larry Edwards to serve as district attorney for District 15 in Muskogee County. Edwards’ appointment fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Orvil Loge on Sept. 30.

“Larry has a proven track record defending the law and I know he will serve Oklahomans well as the district attorney for Muskogee County,” said Gov Stitt. “I look forward to his continued service to Oklahoma in this new role.”

“It is an honor and a privilege to be appointed by the governor,” said Edwards. “I look forward to this new opportunity to help serve the law enforcement and people of Muskogee County.

Testing results show need to fund students, not systems

There’s an old Simpsons episode where Bart’s teacher hands out state testing forms and informs her students, “Remember, class, the worse you do on this standardized test the more funding the school gets, so don’t knock yourselves out.”

The reason that joke had teeth was because it was based in reality, as the downward trajectory of academic achievement in Oklahoma public schools demonstrates. When you fund systems instead of students, the benefit never goes to the students.

State tests, administered last spring for the first time in Oklahoma since 2019, showed that academic achievement plunged during the COVID shutdowns that went statewide in spring 2020 and continued in many districts the following school year.

Previously, only about one-third of students performed at grade level in key subjects. Today, things are even worse.

Quarterly Poll Reveals Oklahoma Voters are More Concerned About COVID, More Negative About State Trajectory

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma-based public affairs firm Amber Integrated has released a recent survey measuring voter attitudes about elected leaders and other political issues and current events. The topline results are available here and the crosstabs are available here. This survey was conducted from September 29-October 3, 2021, and included a pool of 500 registered voters in Oklahoma. This survey has a margin of error of 4.38% at a 95% confidence interval. 

Key findings include: 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tammy Townley, R-Ardmore, hosted an interim study Friday morning before the House Government Modernization Committee to consider avenues to help Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) reach its full potential as a competitive industrial authority.

The Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) is a development authority created in 1999 to operate a 2,700 spaceport near Burns Flat. The Oklahoma Air & Space Port and Aerospace Industrial Park at Clinton-Sherman Airport (CSM) features the fourth largest all-weather runway in North America at 13,503 feet long, an adjacent 5,193-foot runway and facilities that include an air traffic control tower, six large hangars and 96 acres of pavement for parking and storage.

“I really think that we’ve got a jewel out there,” Townley said while describing her first visit to Burns Flat. “Why are we not doing something with this?”

Oklahoma State Director of Aeronautics Grayson Ardies spoke on the value of the state’s airport system. He said the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission works to ensure a thriving aviation and aerospace industry and grow Oklahoma’s aviation and aerospace workforce, an important part of which is the preservation and improvement of the state’s 108 public airports.

Steve Fendley, president for the unmanned systems division of Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, said Kratos opened a facility in Oklahoma because of the existing aerospace hub within the state, as well as the state incentives, supportive community and affordable cost of living.

Budget Bill is Bad for Oklahoma

I can’t give you the exact reason why so many in the Beltway have a vendetta against our way of life in the heartland, but I can unequivocally say that the freedom and opportunity offered in the Sooner State is worth fighting for. Among many portions of the forthcoming $3.5 trillion federal budget bill, two pieces stand out to me as a slap in the face to Oklahoma. 

A carbon border tax is just a ruse, a la regional haze, when the U.S. EPA attempted to impose their top-down energy preferences on Oklahoma for imperceptible visibility improvements. It’s an attempt to tax American companies to such an extent that they make drastic changes to their global supply chains. That the coastal elites have the audacity to believe they can force other countries to comply with their environmental wishes by destroying U.S. business is mind-boggling. Shuffling supply chains to this extent will put U.S. companies at a severe disadvantage against global competition through massive uncertainty and increased costs. This is a recipe for lost jobs and further increases in the price of goods and services we use every day. 

Second, the proposed “methane reduction fee” is a direct attack on one of Oklahoma’s top exports: natural gas. The technologies that Oklahomans have pioneered to power the U.S. Shale Revolution and create our own energy independence. According to the U.S. Department of Energy “a world without hydraulic fracturing, in 2025, the U.S. economy would have 7.7 million fewer jobs, $1.1 trillion less in gross domestic product (GDP), and $950 billion less in labor income.” This is a natural gas tax, by terming this a fee, Democrats in Congress are hiding behind semantics in order to rush these bad ideas into law.  This all begs the question, why does the Biden Administration want Americans to lose their jobs or earn less money at the jobs they are lucky enough to keep?

Former State Senator Mike Mazzei Withdraws from the Oklahoma State Treasurers Race

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – It is with much regret that I must withdraw from the race. I know there are so many big issues facing our state and country that need a fiscal conservative solution,” said Mike Mazzei “That was why I was running, to push our state to new heights.” 

“I was running on the optimism and incredibly bright future of our state.  I know that in Oklahoma, we lead the nation as fiscal conservatives, promoting traditional family values, and economic growth and development.  While I am disappointed, I know that I will continue to work on each of those issues whether I am in an elected office or not.   I believe in our state and I believe in each individual and their future.