Brief Blogging Bullets: a news recap

It's been a busy spring for me, and I'm rather behind on my blogging. I have literally dozens of press releases in my inbox waiting for publication, and since it's just not realistic to get them all published, I'm bringing back a Brief Blogging Bullets recap to try and catch up on some of the recent political and legislative news in Oklahoma.

Some notable pieces of legislation:

• The Legislature has passed a $12.8B state budget (largest in state history) at an uncharacteristically early date: House leadership  and Senate leadership comments. Look in-depth at the appropriations: House budget portal, Senate budget dashboard. Includes another $2,000 teacher pay raise. Here's more on the other budget bills that fill in the details from the main bill.
• Conservative State Rep. Jim Shaw got national attention for a brief question that blew the cover off HB 3660, which would legalize procedures for composting of human bodies. The authors of the bill are presenting it as a cheaper funeral choice...
• Of particular interest to the Muskogee/Fort Gibson area: the Senate unanimously passed SB 1319, directing the Corporation Commission to establish a process for homeowners to receive remediation assistance if their property is contaminated by a substance under the commission’s jurisdiction. This was a local story after a family in Fort Gibson had to leave their home after it was infiltrated by a leak from an abandoned well.

The final hours: a news brief for the end of the 2025 legislative session

I have been swamped with work, family, and church activities for the last few weeks, and it's taken a big toll on my blogging time availability, so I'm going to attempt a brief summary here of just 16 of the 100+ news and press releases I've received in the past two weeks, including the state budget agreement, income tax cuts, economic development projects, audits, and more.

In order of what I feel is most newsworthy:

• May 26th: When “Shall” Becomes “May”: Why the People of Oklahoma Face a Dangerous Four Days Ahead. This is a must-read from what it swiftly becoming the best grassroots conservative coverage of legislative shenanigans, authored by former State Rep. Jason Murphey. You need to subscribe to his newsletter.

Brief Blogging Bullets: a quick recap

I've been on vacation for the past two weeks, and so there's been quite a bit of news and activity that did not get a mention here.

Here are some brief blogging bullets to catch up with some noteworthy items.

• Andy Coleman received another endorsement by a Freedom Caucus member, this time from Congressman Scott Perry. Coleman has received endorsements from 8 Freedom Caucus members so far in his bid to replace ex-Congressman Jim Bridenstine in the 1st District.
• GOP gubernatorial candidate Kevin Stitt is out with a new TV ad
• OCPA statement on accused professor receiving state subsidies
• Reps. Sean Roberts, Teague Request Study on Legislation to Provide Accountability and Funding for State Agencies
• Rep. Tom Gann Submits Interim Study Request on Commissioners of Land Office
• U.S. Sen. James Lankford is encouraging Oklahomans to vote against SQ788, the "Medical Marijuana" referendum
• Surprise, surprise! Oklahoma government gross receipts set a new record in May. Gross receipts have grown by $1.3B in the last 12 months. But we still needed those tax hikes?
• According to a new statewide survey of Oklahoma voters commissioned by OCPA, Oklahomans support the idea of letting tax dollars follow the child to the school of their parents’ choice.
• GOP gubernatorial Gary Richardson is slamming Kevin Stitt's business record in a new TV ad
• 1st District GOP candidate Andy Coleman has been endorsed by Club For Growth
• GOP gubernatorial candidate Todd Lamb is out with a TV ad featuring Gen. Tommy Franks
• GOP Insurance Commission candidate Glen Mulready has a humorous and effective TV ad
• 1st District GOP candidate Nathan Dahm has been endorsed by the NRA
• GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Fisher is running a TV ad
• The GOP race for Attorney General is turning increasingly nasty. I receive press releases almost daily from Mike Hunter and Gentner Drummond... but get such a bad taste from them that I don't run them. It's two attorneys slinging mud as fast and hard as they can... and I'm disinclined to vote for either of them at this point.

Brief Blogging Bullets

Blogging has been on partial-hold due to vacation, so here are some brief blogging bullets to catch up on some of what's happened in the week or so.

• Democrats won both special elections on Tuesday, July 11th:
• Democrat Michael Brooks defeated Republican Joe Griffin in SD44 by a vote of 54.6% to 45.4%. The district has a Republican District Rating of 49.6 (30th most-Republican/18th most-Democrat; 11 GOP-held seats have lower scores, 1 Democrat seat has a higher score), and combining past history with the tremendous baggage of ex-Sen. Ralph Shortey's scandal means this outcome wasn't exactly shocking.
• Democrat Karen Gaddis defeated Republican Tressa Nunley in HD75 by a vote of 52.3% to 47.7%. The district has a Republican District Rating of 56.3 (40th most-Republican/61st most-Democrat), making this the most Republican State House seat held by Democrats. Gaddis' victory caught many people by surprise, but again, this special election was the result of another scandal. The Democrats have an unbeaten record in recent years in scandal-caused special elections, but will it translate into more widespread victories in the regularly-scheduled general election? Only time will tell.
• Edmond education activist and self-described Republican Angela Clark Little "joined with former Gov. David Walters and a who's who of Democratic luminaries to help raise money for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson."
• Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt has joined the GOP race for Governor. Stitt is the founder and CEO of Gateway Mortgage Group.
• State Rep. Leslie Osborn was replaced as A&B Chair by Speaker McCall today. A&B Vice-Chair Kevin Wallace will be the new budget chairman. Ironically and rather bizarrely, Democrat leaders are speaking out in support of Osborn.
• A new Oklahoma Republican political consulting firm has launched - Tomahawk Strategies principals include former AFP-OK director and Trump campaign leader Stuart Jolley.
• State Rep. John Michael Montgomery is running for SD32, the lone Democrat-held seat west of I-35 (open seat in 2018 due to term limits)
• Lieut. Governor candidate Matt Pinnell raised over $300k in his first ten weeks as a candidate, including donations from all 50 states.

Brief Blogging Bullets: Convention and Candidate news

Due to work and family life, blogging has been on the back burner here lately. Quite a bit of news has happened, so here's some brief blogging bullets:

• At the OKGOP State Convention on Saturday, Pam Pollard was reelected as OKGOP chair, defeating Robert Aery 69.21% to 30.79%. DeWayne McAnally was reelected as Vice-Chair without opposition.
• State Auditor Gary Jones told State Convention delegates that he will be running for Governor in 2018, with an official campaign launch coming later this year.
• Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy sent an email to delegates saying that she is considering a run for Lieutenant Governor.
• Tressa Nunley has been endorsed by former State Rep. Pam Peterson in the HD75 special election; the primary is tomorrow.
• The Oklahoma House of Representatives today passed House Resolution 1004, which calls on executive, judicial, and law enforcement officials to "exercise their authority [...] to stop the murder of innocent unborn children by abortion."
• Andy Coleman, running in the GOP 1st Congressional District primary, was endorsed by Dr. Everett Piper of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
• In more 1st District news, State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) jumped in the already-crowded GOP field.
• In news from Washington D.C., all Oklahoma House members voted for the latest version of the American Health Care Act; on the $1T omnibus spending bill, Cole and Lucas voted in favor, while Bridenstine (unsurprisingly), Mullin and Russell (both surprisingly) voted against.

As always, be sure to visit blogs that I've linked to on the sidebars for additional news.

Some Brief Blogging Bullets

It's been a while since I last posted, so here are some "brief blogging bullets" to get up to date on a variety of issues.

• A week ago today, my wife and I were headed out of town for a friend's wedding and a last vacation before the baby arrives. We only made it about 20 miles down the road before the trip ended. Instead, I had emergency surgery on a ruptured appendix, and spent four days in the hospital. Feel like a total bum, with a 7½-month pregnant wife doing stuff for me that I'm banned from for now. I didn't expect to use Samaritan Ministries again so soon, but it's a relief knowing that my medical bills will be met.

• Former Texas Governor Rick Perry joined the presidential race on the GOP side (here's his announcement speech). Former Rhode Island senator (as Republican) and governor (as an Independent) Lincoln Chafee jumped in the Democrat primary (his speech), completing his political transformation.

• Speaking of new candidates, for a refresher, here's the "official" roster of (major) announced presidential hopefuls. There are still more waiting on the sidelines.
  
  

  Republicans (10)

• Ben Carson
• Ted Cruz
• Carly Fiorina
• Lindsey Graham
• Mike Huckabee
• George Pataki
• Rand Paul
• Rick Perry
• Marco Rubio
• Rick Santorum
  
  Democrats (4)
• Lincoln Chafee
• Hillary Clinton
• Martin O'Malley
• Bernie Sanders  

• Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee will both be making campaign stops in Oklahoma in the next week. Cruz is doing a lunch with the OKGOP on Saturday the 13th, while Huckabee will be doing two fundraisers, one in Tulsa on Wednesday the 17th, and in OKC on Thursday the 18th. Follow the links for ticket details.

• Over on Race42016.com, one of my favorite conservative sites on presidential politics, Matt Coulter has a post on the death of the Ames Straw Poll, and how the televised debate invitations will play the role of "winnowing the field" usually assumed by the infamous Iowa straw poll.

• The New York Times' published several hit pieces recently on GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio. They examined some of his and his wife's speeding tickets and traffic violations, financial debt, the purchase of a "luxury" speedboat (aka, a fairly average fishing boat), and his West Miami home. HotAir.com has a great post on it here, along with photos comparing Rubio's house with Hillary's, and his boat with John Kerry's.

• In Oklahoma political news, state senator Rick Brinkley (R-Owasso) is in a bunch of hot water. Formerly the president and COO of the Tulsa Better Business Bureau, he was fired in April, and the BBB alleges that he embezzled more than $1M in his fifteen years with the organization. Brinkley was well positioned to replace term-limited Senate Pro Temore Brian Bingman as the Senate's top official, but.... I don't think that's going to happen now. 

Brief Blogging Bullets

• 12 freshmen Republican legislators issued a press release last night encouraging the state to return or not accept any federal money associated with ObamaCare and the controversial 'early innovator' grant. This was apparently prompted by the backlash and uproar over the House passage of HB2130. Ironically, each of the twelve legislators in the press release voted for HB2130, despite the fact that many of the points made in their press release were made by opponents of HB2130 before these twelve voted for the bill.
• Oklahoma's leading political blogger, Mike McCarville, is pushing for U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn to run for president, and it has sparked a bit of discussion even outside of Oklahoma.
• The more time elapses from the announcement of the budget compromise, the worse the news gets. The CBO is now saying that in actuality, it doesn't cut $38.5 billion, it cuts $352 million.
• Newsmax.com is reporting that Donald Trump will announce his presidential candidacy a few days after the Celebrity Apprentice TV show finale. This on the heels of a CNN/Opinion Research GOP primary poll that has Trump tied with Huckabee for the lead at 19% nationwide (Palin was at 12%, Gingrich and Romney at 11%). All of this makes me wonder if Trump will just be the 2012 version of Fred Thompson.
• Gov. Mary Fallin declined to reauthorize the controversial Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council. 'Ethnic American', meaning 'Islamic'. That was one of the most insanely ridiculous politically-correct terms I had ever heard.
• Three anonymous state legislators (allegedly two representatives, one senator) have launched a blog to discuss the race for House Speaker (2013-2014 term). In particular, they have focused on candidate T.W. Shannon, and his close ties to controversial-but-highly-successful consultant Fount Holland.

I apologize for the drop in posting lately; I've been really busy cleaning carpets. Speaking of.... if you need your carpets cleaned....