Hornback, Rep. Boles announce campaigns for Corporation Commission

Two Republicans have announced their candidacies for the Corporation Commission seat currently held by Todd Hiett (R): current State Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow) and two-time candidate Justin Hornback. Hornback finished 3rd in the 2022 GOP primary with 20.4% (narrowly missing a runoff with eventual winner Dana Murphy) and placed 2nd in the 2024 GOP primary with 28.7%. In the middle of his fourth legislative term, Boles has held the House District 51 seat since winning a special election in 2018 (he has not faced a challenger since).

Both candidates' press release announcements are below:

Gov. Stitt, local leaders tout major new industrial park in Chickasha

Governor Stitt, Chickasha leaders Celebrate Largest Private Investment in City History with Announcement of New Industrial Park and Power Generation Joint Venture

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 5, 2025) -Today, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt joined local leaders in Chickasha to unveil plans for a major new industrial park and power generation initiative— projects representing the largest single private investment in the city’s history. Spearheaded by Chet Hitt, the development of the industrial park is projected to attract high-demand industries, potentially creating thousands of new jobs and injecting approximately $3.5 billion into the local economy.

House GOP touts parental choice success under new open transfer law

File this under ongoing school-choice battle. This past legislative session, State Senate leadership aggressively promoted an education savings account/school choice measure (SB 1647), while the State House GOP preferred waiting to see how the open transfer reforms made in the 2021 legislative session panned out.

Act One of the fight seems to have gone to the House, with the defeat of SB 1647 on the Senate floor and some promising signs from the new transfer law.

Speaker McCall, House Republicans tout parental choice success under new open transfer law

OKLAHOMA CITY (OCtober 10th) – Thousands of Oklahoma families have used Oklahoma's new open transfer law to send students to the public schools that best meet their needs.

Nearly 11,000 transfer requests have been made since the open transfer law took effect this year, with more than 8,400 transfers approved, according to State Department of Education data.

Legislature passes bill strengthening audit process for cities

Bill Updating Audit Process for Cities Sent to Governor

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 11th) – Legislation reforming the financial audit process for Oklahoma municipalities has received its final stamp of approval from the Oklahoma House of Representatives and has been sent to the governor's desk.

House Bill 1058, authored by Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, modifies the audit requirement for municipalities with an income of at least $50,000 and a population of less than 2,500.  

Legislature passes Consumer Energy Choice Act, prohibiting local restrictions on access to energy sources

Boles Bill Allowing Competitive Energy Market Passes House

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 19th) – Legislation ensuring Oklahoma consumers have access to energy of their choice has moved to the Governor's desk after passing the Oklahoma House of Representatives 77-5.

Senate Bill 1352 creates the Consumer Energy Choice Act, which prohibits cities, towns, and counties from adopting rules that limit consumer access to energy sources.

State Senate passes bill to help job-seekers with criminal records

Senate approves occupational licensing reform

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate has given approval to Senate Bill 1691, which builds upon previously passed occupational licensing reforms and would be transformational for job-seeking Oklahomans with criminal records to seize their second chance.

The measure, authored by Sen. Zack Taylor, R-Seminole, adds to current state law on occupational licensure so a criminal record could only be grounds for license denial if the offense substantially relates to the duties and responsibilities of the occupation and poses a reasonable threat to public safety. Each licensing board would be required to consider the seriousness of the crime, amount of time that’s passed since conviction, the age of the applicant at the time the crime was committed, evidence relevant to the offense and evidence of rehabilitation.

Governor Stitt signs landmark education reform bills into law

GOVERNOR STITT SIGNS MOST TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION REFORM IN STATE HISTORY INTO LAW

Legislation allows for students to attend schools that best fit their needs, modernizes funding formula to match recent enrollment

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 31, 2021) – Governor Kevin Stitt signed the most transformative education reform legislation in Oklahoma history into law today in a ceremony in the Blue Room at the Capitol.

House Bill 2078 and Senate Bill 783 allow for students to attend public schools that best meet their needs and modernize the funding formula to match enrollment counts more accurately.

“This is a monumental day for education reform in Oklahoma,” said Gov. Stitt. “Education is not one-size-fits-all, and these bills allow parents and students to have the freedom to attend the best public school for them regardless of their ZIP code. Additionally, modernizing the funding formula ensures funding follows the student, not the school. These reforms are vital to getting Oklahoma to be a Top Ten state in education and I am proud of this Republican legislature for its dedication to putting students first.”

“Today is a historic day for education in Oklahoma,” said Secretary of Education Ryan Walters. “We have transformed funding for every single student in the state and empowered them to choose a school that best fits their needs. These two bills will work seamlessly together to have an immediate impact on the way we educate Oklahoma’s students and I commend our state leaders for getting this across the finish line.”

HB 2078, authored by Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R-Depew) and Sen. Zack Taylor (R-Seminole), modernizes the education funding formula by basing per-pupil funding on the most recent enrollment data. The previous system gave school districts multiple enrollment figures from which to base their funding, causing some districts to receive state funds for students who are no longer enrolled.

SB 783, authored by Sen. Adam Pugh (R-Edmond), Sen. Kim David (R-Porter) and Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow), amends the Education Open Transfer Act to allow students the ability to transfer to another school district at any time, provided the district has space available.

Gov. Stitt signs executive order challenging Biden Admin's attack on energy production

(L to R) Sen. Zack Taylor, R-Seminole, Senate Energy Committee Vice Chair; Secretary of Energy and Environment Ken Wagner; Sen. Mark Allen, R-Spiro, Senate Energy Committee Chair; Gov. Kevin Stitt; Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, House Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chair; Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, House Energy & Natural Resources Committee Vice Chair

GOVERNOR STITT SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO PROTECT OKLAHOMA ENERGY FROM FEDERAL OVERREACH

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 8, 2021) – Governor Kevin Stitt signed an executive order today to protect Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry from a Washington power grab.

Executive Order 2021-03 highlights Oklahoma’s role as an global leader in energy production as well as the state’s successful “all of the above” strategy that has reduced carbon dioxide emissions to levels below the national average while producing the most affordable energy in the United States.

The order also criticizes the Biden Administration’s attack on energy producing states like Oklahoma, specifically citing the federal overreach and dismissal of Oklahoma’s constitutional ability to properly determine how to best develop its own natural resources.

“Energy production is the backbone of Oklahoma’s economy,” said Gov. Stitt. “My executive order sends a clear message to the Biden Administration that threatening to destroy Oklahoma jobs and our constitutional ability to develop our oil and gas is unacceptable. We will not be passive in responding to systematic attacks on Oklahoma values.”

Speakers names all State House members to redistricting committees

All House members named to redistricting committees

OKLAHOMA CITY – In a historic move, all Oklahomans will have direct representation in the House of Representatives redistricting process after House Speaker Charles McCall appointed all House members to redistricting committees Monday.

“House members work directly for the people. Because these are the people’s districts, the House is putting the people in charge of the redistricting process,” said McCall, R-Atoka. “With this approach, more Oklahomans than ever are involved in their redistricting. This process has the highest level of accountability for the people because they directly elect their representatives.”

Eight regional redistricting subcommittees will go directly to the public to ask citizens how House districts should look for the next decade. In-person and virtual town halls, online submissions, citizen surveys and more will be used to gather extensive public input throughout the fall and winter ahead of the 2021 legislative session. Each House member will serve on a regional subcommittee.

Boles, Perryman File Bill to Simplify Salary Process for County Officials

Boles and Perryman File Bipartisan Bill to Simplify Salary Process for County Officials

OKLAHOMA CITY –State Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, and Rep. David Perryman, D-Chickasha, today filed legislation to simplify the salary decision process of county commissioners.

House Bill 1939 follows an audit released by the Office of the State Auditor and Inspector earlier this month, which found that elected county officials in Grady County had been overpaid by approximately $700,000 over the past decade. Both Boles and Perryman represent portions of Grady County.

“After many meetings with the State Auditor’s office, we discovered that Oklahoma’s county commissioners are paid on a very complex formula model and that the current state statutes have some conflicting language. Representative Perryman and I have filed this legislation to simplify this process and resolve these issues,” Boles said.

The audit, which was requested by District Attorney Jason M. Hicks, found that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) did not set and approve the salaries for the elected county officials of Grady County, which resulted in the officials receiving a salary exceeding the amount allowed by law.

Boles said this legislation and additional measures by the State Auditor’s office will create an annual system of checks and balances to ensure each county remains within state statute on the county salaries they are allowed to pay.

“My hope is that this bill, when passed, will prevent situations like we’ve seen in Grady County from happening again in other Oklahoma counties by giving our county government officials a more flexible, transparent and accountable state law to follow moving forward,” Boles said.

Boles, a Republican, is the chair of the County & Municipal Government Committee for the upcoming session. Perryman is co-authoring HB1939 and serves as the Democrat Minority Floor Leader.

"This legislation is an attempt to clarify an archaic and confusing formula by which the salaries of elected county officials is computed,” Perryman said. “Representative Boles and I are committed to working together to accomplish a goal of removing ambiguities in the law to avoid situations across the state where the salaries of county officials may have been inadvertently miscalculated."

Thursday marked the final day to file bills for the upcoming session. The first session of the 57th Legislature begins Monday, Feb. 4 at noon.