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 […]
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An allergy sufferer gives thanks
As a lifelong allergy sufferer, I was not surprised to learn that Oklahoma City and Tulsa ranked high on the list. According to AAFA, Oklahoma City is the seventh-toughest American city for residents with fall allergy symptoms, while Tulsa is the 19th. These rankings illustrate how important it is for Oklahoma allergy sufferers to have […]
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Rice returns
Andrew Rice Credit: Mark Hancock Rice resigned from his legislative seat when his wife, Apple, a physician, accepted a position in Nashville. The family headed east. Now the Rice family is back in Oklahoma City. “The job opportunity for my wife that took us there was not an ideal situation for her or for us, […]
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Viva la comunidad
Credit: Mark Hancock But when it was signed into law five years ago, HB 1804 sparked “sheer panic in the community,” said Pat Fennell, former president and CEO of the Latino Community Development Agency (LCDA). Many immigrants fled the state immediately. Those who stayed lived in fear. In the time since, the measure has lost […]
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Black helicopter alert!
Credit: Brad Gregg Well, except for Alabama (and that’s still a maybe). Oh, and Oklahoma, too. It appears Alabama lawmakers, unsatisfied with just the mind-control-device-blocking power of the tinfoil hat, decided in their wisdom to pass a measure prohibiting state and local governments from participating in the implementation of United Nations initiative Agenda 21. For […]
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Wait for it
Matt Robison Credit: Mark Hancock Ironically, the need for state development and control was Oklahoma’s rationale for turning down a $54 million Early Innovator Grant in 2011 — the highest federal grant awarded to only seven states viewed as “leading the way on building a better health insurance marketplace.” Yet action on a state-created exchange […]
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Going to pot
Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, who chairs the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee, will determine if the interim study merits a legislative hearing. He said he is open to the educational value of such a study, but not legalizing marijuana. “I don’t want to prejudge their efforts, but my main concern is the recreational […]
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DHS needs meaningful oversight
SQ 765 is aimed at bringing long-overdue reforms at the Department of Human Services, which impacts more lives than almost any other agency. In the last decade, news headlines have exposed case after case of tragedy and failure by DHS. It’s clear that change is needed. Every department, program, and employee needs to be scrutinized […]
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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 […]
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Race to 88
Kay Floyd Kay Floyd came in first in the Democratic primary in June, but was unable to avoid a runoff against Mike Dover, who ran second. The victor of Tuesday’s runoff will face Republican candidate Aaron Kaspereit in the Nov. 8 general election. McAffrey gave up the seat earlier this year when he won a […]