This Week In Oklahoma Politics

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the Oklahoma City Public School Board voting unanimously to approve the Pathway to Greatness to reconfigure the district, Republicans come to an agreement on bills to give more power to the governor over five state agencies and a Senate committee approves a measure allowing eye doctors in big box stores like Walmart. The trio also discusses Senator Jim Inhofe considering approval of a resolution blocking President Trump's emergency declaration for his wall after fears of money getting taken from military construction and Governor Stitt welcomes attendance at the 5th Oklahoma Muslim Day at the State Capitol.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about Governor Stitt signing his first bill allowing anyone over 21 to carry a gun without a permit or training, a Senate committee passes measures to give the governor power over the hiring and firing of five state agency directors and another Senate committee passing legislation making abortion illegal if Roe v. Wade gets overturned in the US Supreme Court. The trio also discusses bills which didn't make it out of committee before the deadline and the Governor appoints three corrections reform advocates to the Pardon and Parole Board.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the Equalization Board approving appropriations for lawmakers with nearly $575M more than last year, a Senate committee approves SB 605 to expand healthcare through Insure Oklahoma rather than expanding Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act and a bill allowing Oklahomans over the age of 21 to carry a weapon without a permit or training moves one step away from the governor's desk. The trio also discusses a bill to crack down on four-day school weeks and Senate leaders say they won't hear SB 13 to criminalize abortion saying they are opposed to it on the grounds it would waste taxpayer money in the courts and ultimately be declared unconstitutional.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the passage in the House of a bill allowing anyone over the age of 21 to carry a gun without a license or training, the State of Oklahoma loses 30,000 teachers in just five years and Medical Marijuana sales exceed $4M in January. The trio also discusses a decision to not house Oklahoma County Mental Health Court participants in the jail and Governor Stitt and hip-hop artist MC Hammer tour Mabel Bassett to see a new program teaching female inmates how to code.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel mostly about the first State of the State Address from new Governor Kevin Stitt to kick off the 57th legislature. The trio also discusses the 2019 legislative agenda from House and Senate Democrats and Oklahoma County Commissioner Kevin Calvey gets into a battle with Sheriff P.D. Taylor after he shows up with 17 other people for a surprise inspection of the jail.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel and Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill about Governor Stitt's executive orders rearranging his cabinet, investigating lobbying by state agencies, placing a hiring freeze on "classified" employees and selling the governor's plane as well as thoughts on the coming State of the State Address this Monday. The trio also discusses Stitt's pick for Cybersecurity Chief Mark Gower to also lead the Office of Emergency Management, the Senate Republicans release their four point agenda for the coming legislative session and the state House releases a bipartisan video called "We are ONE Oklahoma".

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about accusations of thousands of dollars in back child support against House Appropriations Chairman Kevin Wallace, legislators are heading into the 2019 session with more than 2800 bills and one of those is a bipartisan measure to make State Question 780 retroactive. The trio also discusses a series of Republican bills which appear to be in retaliation against teachers for last year's walkout and other bills heading before lawmakers this year.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the inaugural ceremony and speech for new Governor Kevin Stitt, former Sonic Executive John Budd tapped to not only perform as Stitt's Chief Operating Officer but also as acting head of the Oklahoma Management and Enterprise Services and deposits into the state's general revenue fund come in 9% above the estimate and 21% above 2017. The Ethics Commission files lawsuits attempting to collect late fees from 14 former candidates, two lobbyists and two political action committees and Oklahoma sees a record number of voters following a gubernatorial election at 2.1 million.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about lawmakers elected leaders of both parties in the lead up to the 2019 legislative session, the state House passes new controversial rules including a ban on videos by lawmakers on the House floor and the state of Oklahoma is getting ready for a new governor with inaugural parties this weekend. The trio also discusses a funding increase for Epic Virtual Charter School and other charter schools in the state with cuts to some of the largest public institutions and Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb gets a job in the private sector.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about nearly $600M extra for the state to allocate in the coming fiscal year, incoming Governor Kevin Stitt nominate Blayne Arthur to be the state's first female Secretary of the Agriculture and a federal judge declares constitutional an OKC ordinance banning panhandling in certain medians. The trio also discusses a bipartisan push to pass corrections reform in the upcoming legislative session and the House Democratic push for Medicaid expansion.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the State Health Department passing rules for edible medical marijuana, Governor-elect Kevin Stitt might have to wait a while before moving into his new offices because of construction at the State Capitol and a southeast Oklahoma Democratic State Representative defects to the Republican Party. The trio also discusses a couple of new Senate bills: One bans all vaping at educational facilities with minors as well as all schools sponsored or sanctioned activities while another makes rib eye the state's official steak.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the commitment from Republican leaders in the House and Senate for education funding, a the Chair of the Canadian County Republican Party calls on his GOP lawmakers to, in essence, defund education and state Senators file bills to make abortions a homicide and allow anyone to carry a gun without a license. The trio also talks about the ouster of long time State Epidemiologist Kristy Bradley and remember President George H.W. Bush who passed away last week.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the top picks by Governor-elect Kevin Stitt for his Chief of Staff as well as Secretaries of State and Energy, Oklahoma owes the state's colleges and universities $150M in matching funds for faculty salaries and the incoming leader of the Senate files the first bill to conduct performance evaluations of state agencies. The trio also discusses the US Supreme Court hearing oral arguments to an Oklahoma case which could have impact on the state's tribal entities and the passing of State Board of Education Dan Keating, the twin brother of former Governor Frank Keating.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Politcal Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesell about Governor-elect Kevin Stitt picking political insiders to run his transition team, House Democrats pick new leadership after Steve Kouplen loses reelection and Oklahoma's newest Congressman Kevin Hern takes his oath of office. The trio also discusses straight party voting and a candidate for district attorney in Ada fails to win election despite getting the endorsement of best-selling author John Grisham.

This Week in Oklahoma Poltics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about the win by Republican Kevin Stitt over Democrat Drew Edmondson in the race for Governor, the win in Congressional District Five by Democratic challenger Kendra Horn over Republican incumbent Steve Russell and the GOP holding on to all statewide offices. The trio also discusses the new makeup of the State Legislature and State Question 794 also known as Marsy's Law was the only measure on Tuesday's ballot to get passed by voters.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about State Question 801 before voter which would allow school districts to use a portion of their building funds for other purposes and with one week until early voting how are the races going for Kevin Stitt and Drew Edmondson. The trio also discusses any other races to watch in the general election coming up on November 6th and a recent story in the Oklahoman finds State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister at odds with Governor Mary Fallin over an audit of schools.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel and Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill about State Question 800 to create a dedicated account for excessive gross production taxes, the Oklahoma Public Employees Association plans to sue the State Department of Health over layoffs last year following a budget shortfall and Republican candidate Kevin Stitt gets an endorsement from his runoff rival Mick Cornett while Democratic candidate Drew Edmondson gets an endorsement from the Oklahoma Education Association. Plus, the trio talks about the Cherokee Nation attacking US Senator Elizabeth Warren on her decision to get a DNA test to prove she has native heritage and District Two Congressman Markwayne Mullin challenges Stormy Daniel's attorney to a Mixed Martial Arts competition.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and, sitting in for Ryan Kiesel, Oklahoma Policy Institute Legislative Director Bailey Perkins about a new poll on the governor's race showing Republican Kevin Stitt with a narrow 46% lead over Democrat Drew Edmondson at 40%, education supporters plan a rally at the State Capitol ahead of the general election and the independent candidate for State Treasurer attacks his Republican opponent over pension reforms. The trio also discusses news of a nonprofit sending out 59,000 absentee ballot applications to groups who usually don't vote in the midterm election and the number of registered voters in the state increases by more than 79,000 since January.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about State Question 798 to put the governor and lieutenant governor on the same ticket by 2026 similar to the President and Vice President and a new report finds recently ousted incumbent Republican lawmakers were challenged from leadership in their own party. The trio also discusses the announcement from Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater of charges getting dropped against State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister for campaign finance violations and a new report from UCO's College of Education Dean shows Oklahoma could save $30 million by consolidation school districts.

This Week in Oklahoma Poltics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about State Question 794 also known as Marsy's Law which provides certain rights to victims of crime and the two major candidates for governor go head to head for the first time in a debate. The trio also discusses a loss in the state Supreme Court by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission in a lawsuit over funding by the legislature and the Commission is also facing a lawsuit over its rule on gifts to lawmakers.