Dark money: A 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that was a source of controversy during the 2014 U.S. Senate special election has admitted it broke Internal Revenue Service rules, according to Opensecrets.org.
A non-partisan campaign finance watchdog, Opensecrets said last week that Oklahomans for a Conservative Future has told the IRS it spent most of its money on politics, not social welfare programs as required by law.
The PAC spent between $1 million and $2 million backing former Oklahoma Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon’s failed U.S. Senate bid, and became the center of an inquiry when founder Chad Alexander’s cell phone and computer were seized during a drug arrest.
Opensecrets says Oklahomans for a Conservative Future is now called Heartland Principles and is a secretive front for independent energy producers. Directors include Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm, Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association President Mike Terry and former congressman Dan Boren.
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Candidates: Kiefer Republican Mike Gambill is a candidate in state House District 30. A teacher in the Okmulgee Public Schools, Gambill is trying to succeed Republican incumbent Mark McCullough, who is not seeking re-election.
HD 30 includes Sapulpa, extreme eastern Creek County and southwest Tulsa County.
Park it: State Rep. James Lockhart, R-Heavener, says if the Tourism Department isn’t going to take care of state parks, they ought to be moved to the Department of Wildlife Conservation.
“Our don’t think our state parks receive the funding and attention they deserve,” said Lockhart, a frequent critic of the treatment of state parks by the Legislature and the Fallin administration.
Lockhart filed two pieces of legislation to accomplish the shift and impose a .25 percent state sales tax dedicated to parks. The sales tax would require a vote of the people.
No lead pipe cinch: The Oklahoma Democratic Party tried to link earthquakes in rural northwestern Oklahoma to the water quality crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Citing a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control, the party issued a release saying Grant County has a high level of lead poisoning in children, and suggested it might be related to the recurring earthquakes in the area.
There don’t seem to be any scientific studies linking the earthquakes and the lead poisoning in Grant County.
Meetings and events: Gov. Mary Fallin has declared March 24-30 “School Choice Week.”
Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn will headline a $1,000-per-person Oklahoma Republican Party fundraiser on Feb. 2 in Tulsa. For reservations see http://bit.ly/1Qk36Ze.
