Now a discussion is under way to decide how to handle state assistance for shelter space. Like many Oklahomans, I knew many who were trapped in at least one of the major tornadoes that struck Oklahoma last month. One of my cousins is a student at Briarwood Elementary in Moore, where his mother, a schoolteacher, […]
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Touting marriage: Why knot?
Using Census Bureau data, researchers Patrick Fagan and Nicholas Zill have determined that only 4 in 10 Oklahoma teenagers (ages 15 to 17) have grown up in an intact married family (i.e., with both their birth mother and their biological father legally married to one another since before or around the time of the teenager’s […]
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Payback politics?
Credit: Brad Gregg Even as recovery operations began May 20, Roll Call quoted Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, as saying disaster spending should be offset with spending cuts elsewhere, dredging up ugly memories of the earlier struggle to pass disaster relief spending for Hurricane Sandy victims. The GOP was accused of cold-heartedness after House Speaker John […]
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Finish what we started
Despite what a 30-second sound bite or “tunnelvision” information says about the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, it needs to be finished. In Oklahoma, we are not quitters, and just because it’s taken a long time doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to come to fruition. Many obstacles have been thrown at it since it […]
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Fanning fears?
Credit: Mark Hancock His remarks came after Fallin signed House Bill 1060, which prohibits foreign laws from being enforced in Oklahoma courtrooms. Authored by Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, the legislation evolved after a federal appeals court ruled that a similar measure, State Question 755, was unconstitutional because it singled out Sharia law. Considered the […]
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Connecting the dots
Each year, hundreds of bills and tax-related initiatives are approved that, when viewed independently, may not seem to have a significant impact. Yet by not connecting the dots of various actions when it comes to public schools, the picture of Oklahoma education becomes disturbingly distorted. If citizens don’t start connecting the dots, a true picture […]
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Miracle on 23rd Street: a tax cut
The long-expected agreement on this year’s scheme proposes to drop Oklahoma’s personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2015. The net effect will be to provide a family of four earning about $40,000 an additional 50 cents a day in their pockets. This is not even “trickledown” economics, it’s […]
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Dead or alive
Although House leadership this session quashed bills that sought to outlaw texting while driving, proponents of the legislation tried again last week. No go. An amendment that would have limited the ban to school zones, work zones and intersections failed, too. Faring better was a plan to let teachers and other school personnel arm themselves […]
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Accord struck
Fallin joined House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, and Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, yesterday afternoon to announce an agreement on those measures, which still must receive approval from the full House and Senate. “We’ve been working on common goals to create a more vibrant environment for our citizens and businesses,” Fallin said at […]
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Don’t bet on it
However, if more money is needed, the solution is easy. The gaming venues in our state annually send nearly $200 million in direct tax revenues to the Capitol for legislators to spend. Most men and women serving in that hallowed and falling-down building are Republicans, members of the same party that voted almost unanimously against […]