Dark Money: A dark money group involved in taking out several Republicans in the 2018 legislative primaries agreed to pay the state $45,000 in fines and fees for refusing to comply with state ethics laws.
Essentially a mailbox set up for political operatives to avoid donor disclosure, the Conservative Alliance admitted in a settlement with the Ethics Commission that it spent more than $150,000 on independent expenses in 2018 without filing required reports.
The Tulsa World reported at the time that the Conservative Alliance may have, in fact, spent $750,000 to replace state representatives who voted against tax increases to make up for revenue shortfalls and give a pay raise to state public school teachers.
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A record eight Republican incumbents lost primaries that year.
Contributions to the PAC went through a 501c(4) organization so donors were never revealed. The settlement announced Friday calls for delinquent complaints to be filed, but because of the structure of the PAC, they are unlikely to identify the actual donors.
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Work force: Changes to the way Oklahoma administers federal workforce development money may come after a task force appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt and chaired by Oklahoma State House Speaker Chad Warmington , delivered its final report last week.
It recommended numerous changes, including the creation of a “public-private” coordinating board to direct recruitment and training. The report says Oklahoma had 36,000 more job openings than people looking for work in 2021, with most of the vacancies in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas.
Task force members included Jeff Stava, chief operating officer of the Tulsa Community Foundation and director of programs at the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
Rx Rx: Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready said Caremark, CVS’s prescription benefits manager, has committed to resuming 90-day mail-order service for most customers this summer.
“I am encouraged by Caremark’s recent change of direction and approach to developing a plan with its employer groups that will address the current issues facing many Oklahomans,” Mulready said in a news release. . “We have met with their leadership and I am committed to making sure this plan becomes a reality.
Stay eligible: With up to 270,000 Oklahomans expected to lose Medicaid coverage as emergency COVID-19 eligibility ends, the Cherokee Nation says it’s doing what it can to keep as many of its 3,000 citizens in the list of cuts enrolled in SoonerCare.
“It is critical that our citizens have health coverage for their families and bridge any gaps for needed specialty medical care or emergencies that should arise outside of our health care system,” said Cherokee Nation Chief, Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Medicaid did not drop enrollees during the pandemic, regardless of changes in eligibility. It is now dropping those whose household incomes now exceed the standard limits or who no longer qualify for other reasons.
Hoskin said Cherokee Nation staff will be contacting Cherokee citizens who want to deregister to see if they are, in fact, still eligible.
“The Cherokee Nation … has been working for years to get Native families signed up, and we need to make sure those families have that continued coverage for months to come,” Hoskin said.
Signed: Among the legislation recently signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt was a bill from an unusual pair of authors, state Rep. Monroe Nichols, D-Tulsa, and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City.
House Bill 2041 is a justice reform measure that allows local law enforcement officers to issue verbal warnings for outstanding misdemeanor warrants instead of hauling offenders to jail. The notices must include instructions on how to clarify the order and document them for the record.
HB 1445by Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, requiring school districts to post details of their bond proposals online at least 30 days before bond elections.
HB 1962by Rep. Carl Newton, R-Woodward, which creates a new driver’s license category for those 14 to 16 years old who live or work on farms.
Moving day: The first inmates arrived at the Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton, which is replacing the North Fork Correctional Center in Sayre in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections system.
The DOC will operate Great Plains under a lease from GEO, the private company that owns the facility and until recently operated it primarily as a medium-security federal prison.
The department did not renew its contract with North Fork’s owner, CoreCivic, after several problems at that facility.
They seem to be fine: State Sen. George Young, D-Oklahoma City, poked fun at being named the Oklahoma Education Association’s Legislator of the Year days after state Superintendent Ryan Walters called the OAS a “terrorist organization” .
“I have to report that I received an award from a terrorist organization,” Young said. “Well, at least from an organization that was designated as a terrorist organization by a duly elected state official. I haven’t seen any notices from the FBI, CIA, OSBI, or state police.
The OAS, Young said, “seemed like a very warm, good bunch of upstanding Oklahomans.”
Game: The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s much-loved TikTok account has so far survived Gov. Kevin Stitt’s ban, Government technology reports
The department doesn’t just monitor the game, it has a game when it comes to social media. Their cheerful and engaging accounts on Twitter, TikTok and Facebook have greatly expanded the department’s reach.
For example, a tweet from April 10: “If we get 1 million likes, our boss will let us name his baby ‘Armadillo'” – has 143,000 likes and has been retweeted 14,300 times. The department’s TikTok account has more than 235,000 followers.
So when Stitt ordered all state-owned devices on TikTok, the Wildlife Department was able to get an exception by promising to use a separate phone paid for by a sponsor and completely cut off from state systems.
“The principle we lean on the most is not harming people or wildlife, keeping that priority first and then interacting in an equitable way to attract people who may not be your typical hunters and anglers,” the social media specialist Sarah Southerland. said Government Technology.
Meetings and events: The Divinity Johnson Scholarship winner will be the featured speaker at the Creek County Democratic Party meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at La Margarita, 1215 New Sapulpa Road, Sapulpa.
State Rep. Amanda Swope, D-Tulsa, will be the featured speaker at the Tulsa County Democratic Party social meeting at 6 p.m. May 30 at the Schusterman-Benson Library, 3333 E. 32nd Place.
—Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
House Bill 1397 directs the school curriculum for civil rights education. Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Monroe Nichols said the caucus was not consulted on the matter. Can history be learned without context?
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