Articles
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Law & Principles
Renewing tobacco, car-tag compacts bad for Oklahoma
Special-interest attempts to force automatic renewal of existing tobacco and license-tag compacts will create enormous challenges for the state.Jonathan Small | June 5, 2023
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Law & Principles
What is the Oklahoma Supreme Court doing?
Abolishing the JNC and moving to the model formulated by James Madison would inject more accountability into the judicial system while maintaining the separation of powers so vital to the republican form of government.Ryan Haynie | June 1, 2023
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Law & Principles
Stitt vetoes compact bills over state revenue concerns
Gov. Kevin Stitt has vetoed two bills that would extend existing state-tribal compacts on tobacco taxes and motor vehicle licenses, warning that those agreements fail to account for the impact of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.Ray Carter | June 1, 2023
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Education, Law & Principles
Lawsuit says Edmond schools violated bathroom law
A recently filed lawsuit accuses officials at Edmond Public Schools of knowingly violating an Oklahoma law that requires schools to limit access to group bathrooms based on a student’s sex, which mandates that only girls may access women’s bathrooms and boys access men’s facilities at state schools.Ray Carter | May 31, 2023
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma Supreme Court continues pro-abortion rulings
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has declared two state laws restricting abortion to be unconstitutional, citing an earlier ruling in which the court declared abortion is a right granted by the Oklahoma Constitution despite the fact that the state constitution contains no language directly or implicitly addressing abortion.Ray Carter | May 31, 2023
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Law & Principles
Coalition thanks Stitt for free-speech stand
A broad coalition of groups that support freedom of speech and the press has sent a letter of thanks to Gov. Kevin Stitt for his veto of HB 1236. The measure would have weakened the Oklahoma Citizen Participation Act, which provides legal recourse against frivolous lawsuits that are intended to chill free speech.Trent England | May 26, 2023
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma Supreme Court to decide if ‘reservation’ Indians pay income tax
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which declared that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s Oklahoma reservation was never formally disestablished for purposes of federal major-crimes law, has now led to a state court case that will determine if all American Indians in the affected areas are now exempt from paying Oklahoma state income tax.Ray Carter | May 22, 2023
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Law & Principles
OCPA calls for renegotiating tobacco compacts
OCPA President Jonathan Small today said state-tribal compacts that are set to soon expire should be renegotiated to maximize state benefit and transparency.Staff | May 16, 2023
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Law & Principles
OETA doesn’t need state subsidies
PBS can survive, but it needs to do so without Oklahoma government subsidies.Jonathan Small | May 12, 2023
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Law & Principles, Culture & the Family
Stitt’s OETA veto draws support
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s decision to veto legislation reauthorizing the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), the state’s Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) entity, has drawn national attention and prompted much pearl-clutching from his critics. But the move is drawing support from some Oklahoma lawmakers and a good-government organization.Ray Carter | May 10, 2023