On a 6-2 vote, the Senate General Government Committee rejected Senate Bill 36, which sought to repeal the state pre-emption law that supersedes local governments. SB 36 was referred to that panel after Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, had declined to grant a hearing on the legislation. […]
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Same ol’, same ol’
How does that work? Both bills claim to support teachers’ freedom to address scientific strengths and weaknesses of scientific issues (House Bill 1674 cites evolution specifically, Senate Bill 758 doesn’t). The most obvious problem is that we do not need new laws to free science teachers to do that: such discussions are always part of […]
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Bills of goods, the sequel
Credit: Brad Gregg Well, wouldn’t yah know, we couldn’t get to ’em all. So here are more. Several bills seek to prohibit the use of “foreign” (read: Sharia) law in court. Speaking of foreigners, a proposal by Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma, House Bill 1866, would require that a charter school’s board members and top administrators […]
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Coffee’s mate
Credit: Brad Gregg The mystery of where Secretary of State Glenn Coffee will go once his resignation takes effect Jan. 31 has finally been solved. The former state senator revealed last week that he will buy the OKC law firm of attorney Lee Slater. Slater, a former head of the state Election Board, was appointed […]
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‘21’ ain’t just blackjack, folks
But lest ye think conspiracy-mongering is isolated to the House side of the Oklahoma Legislature, state Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, is here to disabuse you of that notion. While “Agenda 21” might sound like some villainous plot to rain down chaos on the order of cats and dogs living together, it’s actually a nonbinding set […]
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Citizen wane
Those two findings were part of the 2012 Oklahoma Civic Health Index, which was developed by a team of faculty and student researchers at the University of Central Oklahoma in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship. The research team presented its report Dec. 4 to Oklahoma Secretary of State Glenn Coffee. According to the […]
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Capitol commandments
The monument is the result of a measure introduced by state Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and passed by the Legislature in 2009 allowing for a privately paid-for monument to be placed on public property outside the Capitol. Little fanfare accompanied the installation on the north side of the building, with about a dozen non-workers […]
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Looking for laws
The items on the legislative program, which the council passed unanimously, are first recommended by city department heads to the city manager, who then passes the recommendations on to the council’s legislative committee. Last year’s agenda items that were eventually passed into law included restoring December city elections in odd years, requiring counties to notify […]
Posted inMusic
Best of Bond … James Bond: 50 Years — 50 Tracks
With Skyfall landing in theaters Nov. 9, this season is no different … except that Capitol Records’ Best of Bond … James Bond has something else to celebrate: five full decades of the screen franchise. Therefore, this set throws in another disc’s worth of music that make it worth replacing the last disc you bought. […]
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Democrats step up
For some time now, one narrative has been that the Democrats here have been splintered by differences and lacked a central message that resonated with voters. No one can deny that after the Republican statewide sweep in 2010, things looked particularly bleak for progressives. But that was before the 2012 legislative session, when progressives rallied […]