by Muskogee Politico - February 03, 2021 at 07:48AM
Cherokee, Sequoyah join 35 other 'Second Amendment Sanctuary' counties
Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico
Last week, two sheriffs declared their counties to be Second Amendment Sanctuaries, bringing the statewide total to 37 counties since February of 2020.
The sanctuary county movement was one of the big stories of 2020 before COVID-19 took over the stage. Between February 12th and March 2nd, twenty-six county sheriffs had made such declarations. They were supported by resolutions or statements by at least four county commission boards and one district attorney.
Cherokee County Sheriff Jason Chennault issued the following open letter on January 25th:
Read more »
by Muskogee Politico - February 03, 2021 at 07:48AM Cherokee, Sequoyah join 35 other 'Second Amendment Sanctuary' counties Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico With the Oklahoma Senate Health and Human Services Committee set to hear Senate Bill 495 tomorrow, the chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party wants legislators to know that the state GOP platform supports the abolition of abortion, and calls on committee members to pass SB 495 to the Senate floor: Read more »by Muskogee Politico - February 02, 2021 at 09:18PM OKGOP Chair says party platform supports abortion abolition bill SB495, calls for passage Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico Pandemic precaution protocols for 2021 session announced OKLAHOMA CITY (January 29th) – Pandemic precaution protocols for the 2021 legislative session were announced Friday. To protect against the spread of the COVID-19 while preserving legislative functionality and public access, the Senate and House of Representatives will each:
In addition, the Oklahoma State Department of Health made COVID-19 vaccinations available to all legislators earlier this month as part of its planned second tier of vaccinations. By early in session, a large majority of the Legislature will have been vaccinated in the interest of continuity of government. The protocols will be regularly evaluated and are subject to change during session. The 48-member Senate will allow remote voting for committee and proxy voting for floor votes. “These protocols allow the Legislature to function without interruption while maintaining safety and access for members, staff and the citizens we serve,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Kim David, R-Porter. “Shutting down the Legislature or public access to it were not options, so we developed a comprehensive, bicameral approach that is reasonable and allows the people’s business to safely continue.” The 101-member House will allow remote voting for committee votes. Floor votes can occur from desks on the fourth floor or from a designated members-only area in the fifth floor chamber gallery in order to reduce the number of members on the floor for social distancing flexibility. Plexiglass dividers have been installed on desks in the House chamber, where two members sit at each desk as opposed to one member at each desk in the Senate. “Functionality, safety and transparency are all accounted for in these protocols,” said House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City. “These are the same types of practical precautions legislative bodies and organizations of all kinds are using worldwide. It won’t be typical, but it is the right thing to do until the pandemic subsides enough to resume normal operations.” The protocols were developed by legislator working groups led by David in the Senate and Echols in the House. The groups consulted with public health professionals and reviewed protocols at other legislative bodies to set the policies, which were recommended to and approved by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, in the Senate and House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, in the House. “I appreciate the work of my Democratic and Republican Senate colleagues, as well as Senate staff, for their work on pandemic preparations,” Treat said. “The threat from COVID-19 is real and should be taken seriously by all Oklahomans. With these protocols, we are taking steps to protect the health and safety of those who work in the Capitol and those who may visit. With that said, I still encourage those who do not need to be at the Capitol to remotely follow the work of the Legislature.” Senate protocols can be viewed here. “We are taking the pandemic seriously. These are significant, responsible changes that I applaud my colleagues for developing,” McCall said. “If you need to be at the Capitol, you can be here safely. If you do not need to be at the Capitol, you can still view all proceedings online and contact your legislators anytime.” House protocols can be viewed here. by Muskogee Politico - February 02, 2021 at 05:40PM Pandemic precaution protocols for 2021 legislative session announced Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico They're at it again. The Oklahoma State Senate is taking an unusually early move to apparently kill Senate Bill 495, the Equal Protection and Equal Justice Act that abolishes abortion in Oklahoma. In a perverse move, this will be taking place on the annual 'Rose Day', an annual pro-life rally at the Capitol (being held virtually this year, because Rose Day is virtually worthless in accomplishing anything to end abortion).
Here's an emergency briefing from Free The States, an organization that is leading the charge to abolish abortion:
Call and email the members of the State Senate Health and Human Services Committee today. The committee will meet Tuesday morning at 9am in Meeting Room 535 at the State Capitol.
I'll update this post with contact information shortly.
by Muskogee Politico - February 02, 2021 at 12:07PM ACTION ALERT: Senate making early move to abort the Abortion Abolition bill tomorrow Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico
By Tyler Williamson
Did you know the state of Oklahoma is experiencing not one, but two pandemics? Back in July, according to the Oklahoma City School District, the state was experiencing the “dual pandemics of COVID-19 and Systemic Racism.” Instead of preparing teachers for the realities of the fall semester, the district decided to spend valuable time and resources to ensure their teachers learned how to “practice alternative ways of relating to…[their]students.” To date, the fall semester has been a roller coaster ride with only marginal amounts of student learning. Faced with the reality that if any real learning standards were enforced, many students would be held back a grade, teachers are asked to reduce their grading standards and give participation grades. But, is education even a primary goal of public schools anymore? Evidence from the Oklahoma City School District says no, but this isn’t just a local phenomenon. A July 23rd feature article in the New York Times by Sarah Darville, the managing editor at Chalkbeat (a non-profit news outlet focused on education), discussed the difficulty of reopening schools. She spent the bulk of the article discussing three things that make the decision difficult: child care, meal programs, and mental health counseling. Where is education? Read more »by Muskogee Politico - February 02, 2021 at 09:45AM 1889 Institute: Is Education the primary mission of public schools anymore? Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico
Earlier today, Governor Stitt gave his State of the State address, and I posted reactions from GOP leaders. Here is the other side of the aisle, as expected, decrying everything Stitt said:
House Democratic Caucus Responds to State of the State Address
OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, released the following statement in response to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s State of the State Address: “We heard a rosy picture painted by the Governor today, but the reality is that his actions, or more often, his failure to act, have cost Oklahomans financially, emotionally, and physically. “At times during the past year, instead of focusing on our state’s pandemic response and at times our surging COVID case numbers and hospitalizations, Gov. Stitt has been distracted by national politics and political patronage. Read more »by Muskogee Politico - February 01, 2021 at 10:06PM House Dems: Stitt's State of the State address was "divise" and "revisionist history" Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt gave his third State of the State address to the Oklahoma Legislature earlier today. You can watch it in full below: Following his speech, legislative leaders published their comments and reactions. First up, House and Senate Republicans. I will post the Democratic reaction in a follow-up article. Read more »by Muskogee Politico - February 01, 2021 at 09:58PM Stitt delivers State of the State address, GOP legislative leaders react Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico Group of State Reps call on Attorney General Hunter to investigate Robinhood stock trading app2/1/2021 Reps. Logan Phillips, Trey Caldwell Call on Attorney General Hunter to Investigate Robinhood Stock Trading App OKLAHOMA CITY (January 29th) – Reps. Logan Phillips, R-Mounds, and Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton, today called on Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter to open an immediate investigation into the recent actions of the stock trading and investing app, Robinhood. Yesterday, in response to a large online group of retail investors targeting specific securities, Robinhood restricted trading of the stocks for a full trading day. “The trading restrictions implemented by Robinhood are a clear example of market manipulation designed to protect big banks and hedge funds,” said Phillips. “The app claims to want to ‘democratize finance,’ but their actions over the past 48 hours have served to silence individual investors, including thousands of Oklahomans. I am calling on Attorney General Hunter to open an immediate investigation into the actions taken by Robinhood.” The stocks restricted from purchase on Thursday included AMC; Bed, Bath and Beyond; Gamestop; Nokia; BlackBerry; Express; Koss and Naked Brand Group. The purchase of these stocks, which had been shorted by Wall Street investment firms, was encouraged on the popular Reddit page “r/wallstreetbets.” Due to the increase in purchase of these stocks among retail investors, the investment firms lost billions on their return, and Robinhood blocked the purchase of the stocks. Limited purchase power was restored as of Friday morning, and Robinhood cited “market volatility” as their reasoning for the restriction Read more »by Muskogee Politico - February 01, 2021 at 08:43AM Group of State Reps call on Attorney General Hunter to investigate Robinhood stock trading app Click this headline to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico |
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