House Dems call for inflation relief following Panasonic picking KS over OK

The Democrats can't keep their language straight. Is is LGBT? LGBTQ? LGBTQ+? LGBTQIAAP? 2SLGBTG+? #2SLGBTQIAAPPABCXYZ+*? New letters (and now numbers) keep getting added to the back and the front. Which is it? Inquiring minds want to know. How dare you leave somebody out. That's bigoted... or something. [insert massive eyerolls]

House Democrats Call for Immediate Inflation Relief for Oklahoma Families

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, held a press conference Thursday morning to call for immediate inflation relief for Oklahoma families. 

Democrats expressed the need for financial relief for Oklahoma families before the 2022 legislative session began. A month and a half past the conclusion of the legislative session, the Republican supermajority has failed to follow through.

“We have had opportunities recently to provide relief,” Virgin said. “House Republicans and Governor Stitt joined House Democrats to call for an end to the state grocery tax. Democrats called for an end to the fuel tax, but Republicans tabled that measure.”

The Democratic Caucus renewed the call for immediate inflation relief in the wake of Panasonic rejecting a more than $700 million tax incentive. 

OK Legislative Dems simply outraged at prospect of not being able to kill babies

Following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade and related abortion cases, Oklahoma Democratic legislative leaders are joining gubernatorial candidate Joy Hofmeister in bewailing the fact that they can no longer murder babies in Oklahoma.

"The sky is falling", don't you know?

Read on for their extreme hysteria at the thought:

OK House Dems respond to recent shootings with major gun control proposal

True to form, Oklahoma House Democrats can't let a "crisis go to waste" in their desire to torch constitutional gun rights. They jumped in front of the cameras with a major gun control proposal. 

By the way, also true to form, none of what they came up with would have stopped the killers in the recent shootings they referenced. The modern Democratic Party is consumed with destroying the Constitution at just about every turn, but especially the Second Amendment. Just look north of the border to what Canada's little tyrant Trudeau is doing for what they'd really like to copy.

Needless to say, this won't go anywhere in the Oklahoma Legislature.

Democrats Push for Solutions to Gun Violence with SAVE Act

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 2nd) -- The House Democratic Caucus today at a press conference announced a series of responsible public-safety measures meant to prevent gun violence.

House Dems respond to Special Session announcement

House Democrats Respond to Special Session Announcement

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 18th) – House Democrats released the following statements today after legislative Republicans called a special session to move the approving authority for American Rescue Plan funds from the executive branch to the Legislature. 

House Democrats announce 2022 legislative priorities

Democrats Announce 2022 Legislative Priorities

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The House Democratic Caucus on Wednesday presented their legislative priorities for the 2022 Legislative Session.

The Democratic Caucus highlighted policy initiatives in five primary areas: transparency and accountability, health care, criminal justice, education, and the state economy.

House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, spoke to the intent of Democratic policies and reiterated the caucus’ recent success to elevate ideas focused on Oklahomans. Virgin named the EITC, protecting education funding, and eliminating the state grocery tax as examples. 

“Our goal for the 2022 Session is to provide and support compassionate, common-sense ideas focused on the needs of Oklahomans,” Virgin said. “What you won't find in our priorities are tax credits or cuts to large corporations, legislation that restricts voting rights, or attacks on tribal sovereignty.”

The Democratic Caucus recognized the current lack of transparency in the Capitol and highlighted the caucus’ desire to require the House of Representatives to follow the Open Meetings Act. 

Phase-out of state grocery sales tax unanimously passes House committee

Elimination of State Grocery Tax ‘Sales’ Through Committee

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A bill to provide relief to Oklahoma families at the grocery store unanimously passed the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Finance on Wednesday.

House Bill 3621, authored by House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, phases out the 4.5% state portion of the grocery tax over three years:

• 3 percent, starting July 1, 2022 
• 1.5 percent, starting July 1, 2023
• Fully exempt from state sales tax effective July 1, 2024

Democrats called for the end of the grocery tax last session in their 2021 Oklahoma Focused Budget. This session, the initiative has found bipartisan support from members of the House, members of the Senate, and the Governor. 

OK House Dem Leader: Republicans to blame for Biden Vaccine Mandate

Virgin: Republicans to Blame for Biden Vaccine Mandate

OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 10th) -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, released the following statement today in response to statements made by Governor Kevin Stitt after President Biden announced a national vaccine mandate yesterday evening. 

“Over the last several months, Governor Kevin Stitt and Republicans in the Legislature have remained silent on how to keep our children safe during this pandemic. 

“The governor and those same Republicans hamstrung local officials with Senate Bill 658, which stripped school boards and local governments of the ability to implement a policy that protects the lives of children.

“As Republicans in Oklahoma and across the country continue to play political games, hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans have been infected by COVID, students and teachers have gotten seriously ill, and too many Oklahomans have died.

House Dems want special session for purpose of school mask mandates

Democrats Call for Special Session as Delta Variant Spreads

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, and several members of the House Democratic Caucus released statements today calling for a special session to repeal Senate Bill 658, which prevents local school districts from implementing a mask policy.

House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman:

“What has to happen before we take COVID seriously? We have children in ICU. Our schools are about to open without the ability to protect staff and students, and as cases continue to rise, our vaccination rate is one of the worst in the nation. If the Governor is going to abdicate his responsibility, the Legislature must act. The House Democratic Caucus is calling for the Legislature to convene a special session immediately to repeal Senate Bill 658 and give school districts a chance to act.” 

Rep. Merleyn Bell, D-Norman:

“As the parent of a school-aged child, I implore the Governor to call for a special session and work with the Legislature to repeal Senate Bill 658, which stripped local school districts’ right to make decisions about how best to ensure the health and safety of their students, teachers, and staff.” 

Rep. Denise Brewer, D-Tulsa:

“The Governor keeps talking about personal responsibility while refusing to take steps to protect our citizens from the resurgence of COVID. I call on Governor Stitt to take ‘personal responsibility’ and call a special session so that local communities can protect themselves. It’s the right thing to do, and the responsible thing. ” 

Rep. José Cruz, D-OKC:

State House passes bill prohibiting “Critical Race Theory” curriculum in public education systems

Critical Race Theory (here's a brief primer on it from Pulpit & Pen, plus some more videos and podcasts on it from Todd Friel and Wretched) is going to destroy American society unless leaders rise up and speak out against this Marxist ideology that is sweeping through the education and entertainment industries. 

Kudos to the Oklahoma Legislature for taking a stab at this issue.

In this post: press release from the authors of the measure, press release from House Democrats who are just appalled at it [insert shocked face], and supportive comments from OCPA President Jonathan Small.

Bill Prohibiting “Critical Race Theory” Curriculum Passes House

OKLAHOMA CITY – A House bill, amended in the state Senate, that will prohibit Oklahoma public schools, colleges and universities from incorporating certain messages about sex and race into any course instruction earned final passage in the House today. The bill also will prohibit requiring mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling in the schools.

House Bill 1775 is authored by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore.

Anti-Science Dems slam Pro-Science GOP for bill protecting women's sports

First of all, notice how the alphabet soup of sexual deviancy continues to grow? LGBT... LGBTQ... LGBTQ+... LGBTQ2S+... eventually it will literally be an alphabet long. It must be a wearisome task updating doctrinal language of the new religion of wokeness (or, as Erick Erickson calls it, Woke-O Haram).

Second, the "Party of Science" sure hates science as it relates to human biology. The first victims in the secular drive for sexual deviancy are always women and children.

Third, as should be obvious, I don't post every press release that I receive and I don't agree with every press release that I post. The ones I publish are worthy of publication for public distribution or public ridicule (the latter in this case).

The modern Democratic Party has embraced pure lunacy.

Democrats Respond to Anti-Trans Legislation

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, and State Rep. Mauree Turner, D-OKC, released the following statements today in response to Senate Bill 2, which prohibits anyone of the male sex from playing on athletic teams designated for females, women, or girls. The bill is specifically aimed at Oklahoma’s transgender student population. 

Speaker McCall appoints State and Federal Redistricting Committee

House State and Federal Redistricting Committee appointed

OKLAHOMA CITY – The House State and Federal Redistricting Committee was appointed Friday to continue the House’s public-focused redistricting process throughout the 2021 legislative session.

House Speaker Charles McCall appointed the 29-member bipartisan committee to establish the formal policies and protocols for House redistricting. After the delivery of final U.S. Census data, the committee will advance legislation containing new districts to the full House for consideration.

“The unprecedented public involvement and outreach completed to date will continue to be the basis of House redistricting going forward,” said McCall, R-Atoka.

The standing committee will base its work on public input gathered by the House’s eight regional redistricting subcommittees, which conducted dozens of town halls across the state to hear from citizens about the composition of districts for the next decade. In a historic move, every House member was appointed to a regional subcommittee to ensure total representation of the full state in the redistricting process.

The State and Federal Redistricting Committee will hold its first meeting next week to adopt policies, protocols and a public map submission process.

House Dems: Stitt's State of the State address was "divisive" and "revisionist history"

Earlier today, Governor Stitt gave his State of the State address, and I posted reactions from GOP leaders. Here is the other side of the aisle, as expected, decrying everything Stitt said:

House Democratic Caucus Responds to State of the State Address

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, released the following statement in response to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s State of the State Address: 

“We heard a rosy picture painted by the Governor today, but the reality is that his actions, or more often, his failure to act, have cost Oklahomans financially, emotionally, and physically. 

“At times during the past year, instead of focusing on our state’s pandemic response and at times our surging COVID case numbers and hospitalizations, Gov. Stitt has been distracted by national politics and political patronage.

OK House Minority Leader wants future stimulus monies directed to supplement salaries for 'essential workers'

Workforce Stimulus Bill Filed in OK House

Bill Ties Relief for Essential Workers to Federal Stimulus

OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation to direct a portion of future stimulus money to frontline workers has been filed for the 58th Legislative Session. 

House Bill 2455, authored by House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, requires that a portion of future dollars from any stimulus be paid to employees of businesses deemed essential during the pandemic. 

“If there has been a constant during this pandemic, it has been that Oklahoma’s government has consistently let down frontline workers and their families,” Virgin said. “This legislation rewards these Oklahomans who have continued to show up and keep our state alive.” 

HB2455 requires that assistance to these essential workers should be no less than an additional $3 an hour for hourly employees and $1200 for salaried.

Legislature to hold redistricting software demo for Lawmakers and Public

House and Senate to Hold Redistricting Software Demo for Lawmakers and Public

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate have planned a bipartisan, bicameral virtual demonstration of the redistricting software, Maptitude for Redistricting by Caliper, that both chambers will use to redraw new legislative and congressional district lines during the 2021 redistricting process.

As part of the Legislature’s transparency efforts surrounding redistricting, the public will be able to watch the virtual demonstration via livestream on the Oklahoma Senate website, https://oksenate.gov/live-chamber.

Tracy Horgan, the director of redistricting services for the Caliper Corporation, will provide a brief demonstration of the software capabilities for lawmakers at 9 a.m., Dec. 14, in Room 535 at the Capitol. Due to COVID-19 protocols, the demonstration will be conducted remotely and in-person attendance by lawmakers will be limited.

The demonstration will be recorded and archived so that lawmakers and the public can watch the software demonstration at a later date, if necessary. Following the demonstration, the House and Senate redistricting office staff will begin a three day virtual training course to learn and refine their skills with the software.

House Dems rebuke GOP legislators for "trying to overturn another state’s election"

Democrats Respond to OK Republicans Attempt to Influence AZ Election

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus members released the following statements in response to seventy Oklahoma Republican legislators attempting to persuade the Arizona Legislature to appoint electors to vote against the state’s official vote count winner.   

“Oklahoma Republicans continue to support a Governor who hides behind the term ‘local control’ when refusing to protect Oklahomans during this pandemic,” said House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman. “Now, proving that ‘local control’ is just a talking point to use only when it suits them, Oklahoma Republicans are trying to overturn another state’s election - a state 1,000 miles away. Meanwhile, they remain silent on the real issues facing our state and cannot be bothered to speak up about record-high COVID cases, deaths, and hospitalizations. Oklahomans deserve better.”  

Rejected by voters, House Dems renew call for Special Session, Mask Mandate

The party that was overwhelmingly rejected by Oklahoma voters, including the elimination of their last rural seats, continues to demand that Governor Stitt and/or the Legislature issue a mask mandate for the entire state.

Virgin, House Democrats Call for Special Session, Mask Mandate

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, today called for the Oklahoma Legislature to convene a special session to extend an exemption that allows public bodies to meet virtually during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

In addition to the call for a special session, House Democrats reiterated their call for Governor Kevin Stitt to implement a statewide mask mandate.

“In March, in the name of public safety, we passed legislation to protect Oklahoman’s lives and the ability for public bodies to function without the risk of spreading COVID,” Virgin said. “These aren’t my words. These are the words of the Republican leaders who supported this legislation.”

The legislation passed in March was Senate Bill 661. Oklahoma’s average daily cases when the legislation passed were in the 20s. Today, Oklahoma’s case numbers are more than than 2,000 per day. Likewise, COVID deaths have gone from zero in March to more than 1,400 now.  

“The COVID situation in Oklahoma has gotten worse, not better, since the Legislature saw it fit to enact this provision,” Virgin said. “To allow this accommodation to expire would be entirely irresponsible. If we all agreed that the situation was dangerous enough in March to allow public bodies to meet this way, then logic dictates we would renew this provision.”

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.

House Democratic Leader demands Gov. Stitt implement statewide mask mandate

Democratic Leader Demands Governor Implement Statewide Mask Policy

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, today released the following statement after Arkansas and more than half of the states in the United States have issued a statewide mask policy.

“Governor Stitt continues to declare his support for Oklahoma’s economy, while he does nothing to protect it or our citizens,” Virgin said. “His rhetoric says he wants to avoid another shutdown, but his policy continues to move us closer and closer in that direction.

House Dems call on Governor to implement 5-level virus alert system

Democrats Call on Governor to Implement Oklahoma Virus Awareness Program

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 24th) -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, today called on Gov. Kevin Stitt to implement a system to better prepare Oklahoma for pandemics including COVID-19.

The Oklahoma Virus Awareness Program, similar to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Terrorism Advisory System, would use levels to make recommendations for actions based on data and not politics.

“Too many decisions during this pandemic have been made based on what is best for politics,” Leader Virgin said. “This system would help the process become a bit more transparent and more easily understood by relying on specific data thresholds instead of cherry-picked data that promotes one side’s political talking points.”

House Democrats did present an example chart of the program, however, the goal is for the actual thresholds and recommendations to be created by public health experts.

House Dems explain why they voted to override vetoes... of budget bills they opposed

Last week, House Democrats largely opposed three bills that plugged some of the budget shortfall by cutting the amount of funds that were supposed to go to teacher, firefighter, and law enforcement pension funds, as well as money from transportation (replacing those funds by more bond indebtedness). On May 5th, 18 of 23 House Democrats voted against HB 2741, 19 voted against HB 2742, and 8 voted against HB 2743. Today, they reversed course. On HB 2741, just Rep. Mickey Dollens (D-OKC) voted against overriding Gov. Stitt's veto, Dollens and Rep. Regina Goodwin (D-Tulsa) voted against overriding the veto of HB 2742, and only Dollens voted against the override of HB 2743.

The House Democrats were against the bills before they were for them?

Democrats Strengthen Veto Majority in Support of Public Education

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, released the following statement announcing that members of the House Democratic Caucus would join legislative Republicans to override Governor Stitt’s veto of House Bill 2741, House Bill 2742 and House Bill 2743.

“This legislative body, led by Republican majorities in both chambers, spent a large portion of last year’s legislative session giving the governor more power. Conversely, Republican leadership has spent this session trying to protect the legislature from an overzealous executive branch instead of taking back those increased powers.