Articles
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Education
Effort advances to prevent profiteering off charter schools
Members of the Oklahoma Senate voted Tuesday to bring Oklahoma’s charter school laws in line with national standards and prevent charter-school sponsors from using the schools as a de facto profit generator.Ray Carter | May 12, 2020
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Law & Principles, Culture & the Family
Lawmakers vote to protect businesses that aided COVID response
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have been pressed into emergency service producing everything from hand sanitizers to personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical officials. Members of the Oklahoma Senate voted Tuesday to ensure those acts of goodwill are not met with lawsuits.Ray Carter | May 12, 2020
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Law & Principles
Privacy-protection measure heads to governor
A strong bipartisan coalition of lawmakers voted Tuesday to protect Oklahomans’ privacy when they support nonprofit charities and similar organizations.Ray Carter | May 12, 2020
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Budget & Tax, Education
Budget chair: State superintendent did not ‘help on anything—period’
The chair of the House committee that drafts the budget for Oklahoma’s K-12 school system said Tuesday that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister refused to provide meaningful assistance in this year’s budget process.Ray Carter | May 12, 2020
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Budget & Tax
Stitt says he will veto bills that redirect pension funds
Gov. Kevin Stitt announced he will veto two bills that redirect money from state pension systems to education. That will remove a substantial share of funding lawmakers used to avoid making larger cuts to state agency budgets and potentially force a redrafting of the state budget.Ray Carter | May 11, 2020
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Economy, Culture & the Family
Oklahoma’s post-reopening COVID numbers defy critics’ predictions
While critics suggested Gov. Kevin Stitt’s decision to begin reopening Oklahoma starting April 24 would lead to increased COVID-19 infections and deaths, the data continue to head the right direction, and the governor said more businesses will be able to reopen soon.Ray Carter | May 11, 2020
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Law & Principles
Senators approve lawsuit protections for business
Members of the Oklahoma Senate voted to shield state businesses from lawsuits, although the legislation was opposed by legislators who suggested a parade-of-horribles would ensue.Ray Carter | May 11, 2020
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Criminal Justice, Law & Principles
U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in Oklahoma ‘reservation’ case
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case that will determine if much of eastern Oklahoma becomes classified as a collection of Indian reservations, scrambling legal and regulatory authority over hundreds of thousands of citizens.Ray Carter | May 11, 2020
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Budget & Tax
Ex-lawmaker Mike Jackson selected for spending oversight position
An oversight committee voted Friday to hire a former legislator-turned-lobbyist to head a newly created agency tasked with auditing and reviewing state spending.Ray Carter | May 8, 2020
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Economy, Culture & the Family
AG Hunter to Norman mayor: ‘Religious services can go on as scheduled’
Attorney General Mike Hunter has questioned why Norman Mayor Breea Clark is allowing gyms, tattoo parlors, and pet groomers to reopen on May 1 but has forbidden houses of worship from doing the same until mid-month. At the same time, Mayor Clark has found herself embroiled in a federal lawsuit involving her decree that local hair salons could not reopen until mid-month as well.Mike Brake | May 8, 2020