In this episode, Ginnie Graham and Bob Doucette talk about how the midterm election filings ended with some crowded races, fewer than one-third of the 125 legislative offices up for election in November will be contested. Also discussed: Rep. Sean Roberts fought to be known as Sean “The Patriot” Roberts on the ballot for Labor Commissioner. The Oklahoma State Election Board denied the request. The U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to reverse its McGirt decision. The latest on tribal and state jurisdiction. Citing safety concerns, local officials floated the need for a roughly $5 million extension of the new Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice and funding for more staffing to solve a problem created by a federal policy change. Remember when Tulsa tried to get Tesla? The latest on Elon Musk, Twitter and free speech Oklahoma ranks No. 8 in the rate of euthanizing dogs and cats in shelters, according to the Best Friends Animal Society. Last year, nearly 90,000 dogs and cats entered Oklahoma's shelters, and about 11,560 were euthanized. Remembering the late Joe Worley, former Tulsa World executive editor and an advocate for open records in Oklahoma. Join us Aug. 2 as we honor the best in area high school sports at the annual All-World Awards banquet, presented by Bill Knight Automotive. Get your tickets here.
Gov. Kevin Stitt has said one of his priorities is to create a more transparent state government, but he missed an opportunity to do just that when he vetoed Senate Bill 1695.
SB 1695, by state Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, would have required Cabinet secretaries and state agency directors to file financial disclosure forms.
Those forms would have been similar to those already required of state elected officials. State law requires elected leaders to provide details about their employment and investments as well as any ownership interests they have in private businesses and publicly traded companies.
Murdock wrote the bill in response to constituent concerns about the closure of the William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply.
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A shrinking prison population was cited for the closure, but some constituents were concerned that other factors might have been at play, namely that someone in state government stood to personally benefit from the closure.
Murdock didn’t believe this was true, but also said that the transparency of financial disclosure statements for state agency heads and Cabinet officials would quell future rumors to this effect.
Looking forward, SB 1695 could have established a procedure for revealing potential conflicts of interest among the state’s highest-ranking officials.
The bill passed with strong bipartisan support: 85-0 in the House and 45-0 in the Senate.
Stitt vetoed the bill, saying that a broader swath of officials should have also been included.
“I would urge the Legislature to revisit this topic and pass legislation that subjects all state officers — whether elected, appointed, or subject to a retention election — to the same set of financial disclosure requirements,” Stitt wrote in his veto message.
We agree with the governor’s sentiment here. Oklahomans need to know what potential conflicts of interest might exist with its public officials, be they lawmakers, statewide elected officials, administration appointees or judges.
But we don’t see the point of vetoing legislation that would have taken state government a step in that direction. There is nothing stopping the governor from signing SB 1695 and requesting that lawmakers broaden its scope in future legislation.
We are firm believers in government transparency and accountability. SB 1695 would have given us more of that, but for now, that opportunity is lost.
Our hope is that lawmakers will take Stitt on his word, craft legislation to meet the governor’s concerns, and pass it in the next legislative session. Should Stitt win re-election, we expect that he would honor his own guidance and sign such legislation into law.
