The Oklahoma Capitol Press Corps renders invaluable service to citizens

While Oklahomans are busy at work, the State Legislature deliberates on legislation that will affect their lives. Keeping up with events at the Capitol can be nigh impossible for the average citizen, especially when the Legislature runs late-night sessions and committee meetings, pulls legislation out at the last minute, and operates in ways and uses language that the average Oklahoman is unfamiliar with.

Unknown to most people, there is a small band of journalists and media personnel that are assigned to observing the legislative session, many of whom do as-it-happens reporting on Twitter rather than just the evening print or television stories. They bring much needed light and transparency to an oftentimes dim and hidden state government.

Sen. Thompson withdraws campaign "personal slush fund" bill after heat from the press

Last night, I wrote a post entitled OUTRAGE: Senate Approps Chair amends bill to allow campaign funds for use as personal slush fund. In short, legislation was amended by State Senator Roger Thompson, chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee and one of the handful of individuals in the state responsible for crafting state budgets, that would remove "personal use" restrictions from political campaign and committee funds, allowing them to be used for any purpose from paying a mortgage, to going on vacation, to plastic surgeries. In short, a tax-free personal slush fund.

Thanks to a vigilant press corps at the Oklahoma State Capitol, that bill was exposed to the public, and Sen. Thompson has now pulled the bill.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission went public on Twitter around 10:40am yesterday, expressing grave concerns with the legislation. Clifton Adcock with The Frontier followed that up by publishing an article around 5pm, 'As legislative session winds down, Senator proposes amendment to allow politicians to spend campaign funds on vacations, mortgages, gifts and other personal expenses'.

Before The Frontier published their article, neither Thompson nor the other authors of HB 3996 responded to messages asking for comment.

Thompson's amendment had largely escaped attention for almost 72 hours, but by the time I published my post around 7:40pm, Thompson was already making moves to withdraw his atrocious amendment.

Recognizing the Oklahoma Capitol Press Corps

While Oklahomans are busy at work, the State Legislature deliberates on legislation that will affect their lives. Keeping up with events at the Capitol can be nigh impossible for the average citizen, especially when the Legislature runs late-night sessions and committee meetings, pulls legislation out at the last minute, and generally makes things difficult for common people to be able to observe (i.e. difficult-to-navigate websites and technical issues with video/audio when under heavy viewing load... looking at you, State Senate, in particular...).

Unknown to most people, there is a small band of journalists and media personnel that are assigned to observing the legislative session, many of whom do as-it-happens reporting on Twitter rather than just evening print or television stories. They bring much needed light and transparency to an oftentimes dim and hidden state government.

Several of the journalists on the list below tweet details from committee meetings, floor activities, snippets from floor debate, practically everything that happens with or without a microphone in the Legislature.

These individuals provide an invaluable realtime service to the people of Oklahoma. When I'm working or unable to personally watch or listen to proceedings in the Legislature, I monitor tweets from these dedicated reporters in order to stay in the loop with what is going on at 23rd and Lincoln.

Below is a list of most of the Capitol press corps that is active on Twitter:

Catherine Sweeney (@CathJSweeney), Journal Record (which also tweets with @JRLROK)
Dale Denwalt, The Oklahoman (@Denwalt)

Trevor Brown (@tbrownOKC) and Paul Monies (@pmonies) with Oklahoma Watch (@OklahomaWatch)

Shawn Ashley (@eCapitol_Shawn) and Tyler Talley (@tylertalley22) with eCapitol (@eCapitol_House, @eCapitol_Senate, and @eCapitol)
Tres Savage, NonDoc @thricesavage and @nondocmedia (Savage and NonDoc are ideologically liberal, but deserve mention due to frequency in covering Capitol happenings)

The following reporters are also in the Capitol regularly, although they tend to be less active with as-it-happens tweets:

Aaron Brilbeck, News9 (@AaronBrilbeck9)
Grant Hermes, News9 @GrantHermesKWTV
Justin Wingerter, The Oklahoman (@justinwingerter)
Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World (@rkrehbiel)
Barbara Hoberock, Tulsa World (@bhoberock)

Janelle Stecklein, CNHI (@ReporterJanelle)

Sean Murphy, Associated Press (@apseanmurphy)
Bill Miston, KFOR (@billmiston)
Bret Buganski, KOCO  @KOCOBret

I've created the Twitter list below, featuring tweets from the bulk of these reporters (and a few others), which you can follow as well.

A Twitter List by JamisonFaught

Oklahoman Editorial Board: Textbook complaints indict local school boards

Textbook complaints indict local OK school boards

by The Oklahoman Editorial Board

AT this week's teacher protests, many participants demanded that lawmakers attach more strings to state school funding. Teachers didn't use those exact words, of course, but the underlying message was the same, and it's an implicit indictment of local school boards' management.

Many teachers complained that their classes have outdated or worn-out textbooks. One teacher said, “I don't have one textbook in my classroom.” Some protesters held aloft battered copies of textbooks as visual props.

It's true Oklahoma lawmakers haven't provided a line-item appropriation for textbooks for several years. The reason for that change is worth noting. Fortunately, legislative leaders explicitly addressed the issue in 2016.

That year, former House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, and Senate Appropriations & Budget Committee Chairman Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, issued a release on elimination of a line-item appropriation for textbooks.

“The Legislature put $33 million previously line-itemed for textbooks into the state-aid funding formula so schools can make spending decisions at the local level based on their own unique needs,” Hickman said. “Education leaders, including Superintendent (Joy) Hofmeister, made it clear to us this session that schools wanted more money directed through the funding formula so schools will have more discretion and flexibility. The funds didn't go away. Schools are still receiving the money that would have been line-itemed for textbooks, but now they have greater discretion to use those dollars for more pressing needs at the local level or to buy new textbooks.”

Jolley noted that schools "have been crying out for more money to be placed in the formula for several years in a row. When I asked the leadership of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association if it would be more important for these funds to be in textbooks or the formula, I was told the formula gave the greatest flexibility to districts.”

In short, state textbook funding has not been eliminated. Instead, local schools have been given the chance to use that money elsewhere if desired. With a line-item appropriation, schools could spend the money only on textbooks.

So it's worth asking: If schools haven't used any of that money on textbooks since then, what did districts do with those millions? Based on the teachers' protests, the cash apparently didn't go to teacher pay. And if this is a problem, why aren't teacher union members protesting local school boards that diverted textbook funds to other uses?

On a similar note, the Senate has advanced a measure, Senate Joint Resolution 70, that would allow voters to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to give schools the flexibility to use local property tax for some operational costs, such as teacher pay. Currently, that money can be used only for buildings. Yet education groups opposed SJR 70.

If a good teacher is the most important expenditure in a school's budget, then why should the state make it illegal for schools to direct available money to teacher pay? The textbook issue suggests an answer.

Teachers often decry state “micromanagement.” Yet when it comes to textbook funds and use of schools' property taxes, it seems many educators have more faith in state-level dictates than in the financial oversight of their local school boards.

Oklahoman Poll: Trump 29%, Rubio 21%, Cruz 20%, 18% undecided

A new poll by Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates (commissioned by the Daily Oklahoman) finds Donald Trump continuing to hold a lead in Oklahoma, ahead of next week's primary.

Oklahoma Republican Primary Poll (link)

The Oklahoma/Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates

400 likely Republican voters, conducted Feb. 22nd-23rd, MoE +/- 4.9%

Donald Trump - 29%
Marco Rubio - 21%
Ted Cruz - 20%
Ben Carson - 6%
John Kasich - 5%
Undecided - 18%
Other - 2%

18% undecided is a very large amount for this late in the game. For comparison, the most recent Oklahoma poll done by SoonerPoll had 7.7% undecided. Trump, Rubio and Cruz are making stops in Oklahoma between now and Sunday, each hoping to make tip the state into their win column on Super Tuesday.

State Capitol Building in need of repairs

As the state Capitol building ages - it opened for occupancy 93 years ago  - it is increasingly showing wear and tear, to the point that extensive repairs will be needed in the next decade or so.

The Central Services Department, which maintains this and other state buildings, says that the plumbing, electrical, heat and air, and some of the exterior need major renovations.

The projected cost for the repairs is in the ballpark of $150 million. If approved, the project could take between three years, if the entire building was emptied of the current legislative and governmental offices, and six years, if the work was done with the building still occupied, in which case the cost upwards of $250 million.

For more on this story, read this article from the Daily Oklahoman.

Temporarily moving the legislature and other agencies and offices from the Capitol building would be a major, major headache. In the case of the legislature, suitable facilities would be needed for the State House and State Senate to meet in, with access for the public and to offices for the legislators.

As a friend said to me this morning, perhaps they could go to Guthrie (Oklahoma's capital, first as a territory and then as a state, from 1890-1910) during the repairs, and call it a "throwback" session, much like "throwback" games in sports.

Randy Terrill and the OPEA: Sweetheart Legislation and Funny Money

State Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore), widely known for his anti-illegal immigration legislation, could become known for something new: his close, and possibly illegal, ties to the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

Two articles from the Daily Oklahoma point out his unsavory relationship with the labor union.

Terrill and the OPEA's Sweetheart Legislation

For years, state employees home addresses have not fallen under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, and have not been made public, for privacy and security reasons.

However, Terrill tacked on an amendment to a Conference Committee Report on House Bill 2245 at the very end of the 2009 legislative session that enables "any statewide organization limited to state employee membership with a minimum membership of two thousand dues-paying members" to receive a list of addresses for all state employees in order to send a once-annual mailing.

HB 2245, the Oklahoma Criminal Illegal Alien Repatriation Act of 2009, dealt with illegal immigrants in state prisons - not exactly a similar issue to unions getting access to state employee mailing lists.

OPEA named Terrill the 2009 legislator of the year, in part for his legislation giving them access to the mailing list. Terrill is a member of the OPEA union. The Oklahoman reports in more detail here.

I ask, why is a self-proclaimed "conservative" Republican so tight with a labor union? See the next article for just one reason...

Terrill and the OPEA's Contribution Problem

In the 2008 campaign, the OPEA political action committee contributed the maximum $5000 to Terrill's reelection campaign. An individual or PAC can only contribute up to $5000 to any campaign for the entire election cycle.

In August of 2009, OPEAPAC gave a $5000 maximum donation to Terrill's 2010 campaign. On October 21st, Terrill deposited the check into his campaign account. However, Terrill has not filed a 2010 campaign committee with the State Ethics Commission. State law requires for candidates to file with the Ethics Commission within 10 days of receiving more than $500 in contributions.

Since he has not filed a 2010 account, the donation was reported as going to his 2008 account - breaking ethics rules, since a campaign can receive only $5000 per cycle from any donor. The Oklahoman has another article on the issue here.


Terrill's sneaky, questionable actions and close ties to a labor union bother this conservative activist, and should concern every conservative in the state of Oklahoma. Conservatives decry slipping in major changes to law or policy at the very last minute when it happens in Congress, or when Democrats do it.

When a "conservative" legislator does both of these things, red flags should fly.

GloverGate and the Muskogee Phoenix Coverup

(picture from the Oklahoman website)

A controversy is beginning to brew over Muskogee highway contractor Craig Glover and his interaction with State Sen. Kenneth Corn (D-Poteau) and State Sen. Earl Garrison (D-Muskogee).

Randy Ellis with the Daily Oklahoman wrote an article detailing how Glover, twice rejected by ODOT's prequalifications committee due to ties to his father's suspended company*, contacted Garrison and Corn in 2007 to intervene on his behalf. After communicating with the aforementioned state senators, ODOT had a sudden and complete change of mind about Glover, who received the credentials he needed to bid for state projects. Since that time, Glover's company has been awarded over $35M in road contracts, including almost $3M in federal stimulus monies.

*(George Paul Glover pleaded no contest to using prohibited material on U.S. 64 and U.S. 59 in 2007, and intimidating a state grand jury witness. His company was subsequently suspended from bidding on state projects, and Craig Glover formed his own company a short while later.)

Two months before both state senators got involved, Craig and George Paul Glover gave a combined $1,250 to Earl Garrison's re-election campaign. Craig had also donated in 2002 to Corn's campaign. At the time, Sen. Corn was on the Senate Appropriations Committee and Sen. Garrison was on the Senate Transportation Committee.

The Daily Oklahoman also ran an editorial today that blasted the senators involvement.

However, there is another twist to the story.

When the Muskogee Phoenix ran the AP story, they conveniently neglected to mention Earl Garrison's involvement. The article that ran in the December 28th print edition of the Phoenix referred to two state senators, but only mentioned Kenneth Corn by name.

Scan of the Muskogee Phoenix article, with no mention of Garrison.

Why would the Phoenix not mention Earl Garrison, the local state senator (and the figure with the most local interest), but instead only mention Kenneth Corn, whose district is outside of the Phoenix circulation area? Why try to hide Garrison's involvement?

Also, did they really think no one would notice the absence of the second senator? Did they really think no one would question why Earl Garrison was not included?

UPDATE: According to sources, the Phoenix employee responsible for laying out the page with the article had to edit it in order for the article to fit. Still no explanation on why Garrison was completely cut out of the story.