Articles
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Law & Principles
A tribute to State Question 640
As lawmakers navigated through the final days of the 2017 legislative session, with debates over budget gaps and proposed tax increases, some who love the idea of soaking the taxpayers for all they can get bemoaned the existence of one of the most important constitutional safeguards in state history: State Question 640, passed overwhelmingly by the voters in 1992.Jonathan Small | July 13, 2017
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Law & Principles
Playground fight ends at Supreme Court
Trinity Lutheran Church operates a preschool in Boone County, Missouri. The state, to encourage tire recycling and improve safety for children, gives grants for resurfacing playgrounds with rubber made from ground-up old tires.Trent England | June 27, 2017
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Education, Law & Principles
Individual donors to Hofmeister’s 2018 campaign decline to fund legal defense
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister has been charged with five felony counts of conspiracy, collusion, and related campaign crimes allegedly committed during her 2014 run for office. In response to the expected cost associated with her defense, Hofmeister has formed a special function committee to help cover those expenses.Jay Chilton | May 1, 2017
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Law & Principles
Questionable borrowing
Not only is Oklahoma facing the reality of less state revenue, the governor and her staff have drained the entire balance from the Rainy Day Fund – which appears to be in violation of Oklahoma’s Constitution.Jonathan Small | April 14, 2017
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Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
Workers' comp reform is working
For decades, advocates of growth and prosperity for Oklahoma argued for three crucial reforms: income tax cuts, right to work, and reform of our costly, unwieldy workers' compensation system.Mike Brake | April 7, 2017
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Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
Was it legal to drain Oklahoma’s rainy day fund?
Gov. Mary Fallin’s administration has drained Oklahoma’s Constitutional Reserve Fund, often called the Rainy Day Fund.Trent England | April 3, 2017
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Law & Principles
Prosperity districts: Giving freedom a chance
Passage of the Prosperity States Compact would allow communities in Oklahoma and sister states to become beacons of freedom and prosperity, showing the way to restore first the states and then the nation to their founding principles—from the grassroots up, rather than the top down.Nick Dranias | April 1, 2017
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Law & Principles
Senate bill could put Christians, conservatives at risk
Oklahoma legislators should not set a precedent that helps liberal mobs target Christians and conservatives, even if those most in danger today are in other, more liberal states.Trent England | March 31, 2017
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Health Care, Law & Principles
HB 1913: A private-sector solution, not government dependence
House Bill 1913 is a private-sector solution for people who have real needs. Let’s hope lawmakers implement this legislation and resist the urge to strangle needed options for their fellow Oklahomans.Jonathan Small | March 13, 2017
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Law & Principles
The Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Constitution
What is the best way to protect the environment in Oklahoma? Is it through local partnerships, where landowners, local industries, and state or local government work together? Or should we surrender power to Washington, D.C., letting people who may have never set foot in Oklahoma tell us what to do? This is the kind of practical question the Constitution is all about.Trent England | November 1, 2016