Category Archives: State

AG Drummond to Testify on Border Invasion

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond will testify Wednesday to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee as part of that panel’s impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The action comes in the wake of Mayorkas’ failure to secure the nation’s southwest border. 

Drummond was invited to testify due to his focus of ridding Oklahoma of the foreign nationals who have invaded the marijuana industry. He is expected to tell committee members how the recent influx of illegal immigrants into the U.S. has allowed criminal enterprises, primarily populated by Mexican and Chinese nationals, to jeopardize public safety through drug trafficking and other crimes. 

“It is my honor and solemn duty to share with Congress how the porous border has grievously compromised the safety of Oklahomans,” he said in a release Monday. “Criminal illegal immigrants truly pose a threat to communities all across our state. They are not content with only growing black-market marijuana. They are producing and distributing fentanyl, and they are engaging in sex trafficking and labor trafficking. I believe it is time for some accountability in Washington, D.C.” 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond
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Rep. Gann Seeks Halt to “Verbal” Earmarks

Rep. Tom Gann, R- Inola today announced the release of the “Verbal Earmarks Transparency Act of 2024” The Act, HB2967, will require state agency officials to disclose attempts by legislators to enforce “verbal earmarks.”

A verbal earmark occurs when a powerful legislator, such as an appropriation official, attempts to direct state agency officials on how to spend recently appropriated money. This practice contrasts with written earmarks, where the agency’s obligations are spelled out in an appropriations’ bill for all to see.

“All earmarks are always bad policy, through which non-meritorious pork projects take place; but, at the very least, written earmarks are visible to the public, and the people of Oklahoma can hold their legislators accountable for their vote. Verbal earmarks take this bad policy to a new level. This practice allows a few powerful legislators to direct the spending of state money, and worse, because this is done behind closed doors, the people of Oklahoma have no ability to know that the spending came at the request of a powerful legislator.

“The shady practice of verbal earmarks does a great disservice to the public, to the state agencies, and to the majority of legislators who have neither the inclination nor the means to participate in this shady practice,” Gann said.

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OK Education Vs. Union(s) Fake Controversy

State Superintendent Ryan Walters highlighted the tremendous success of the teacher singing bonus initiative in a message to media today.  The pioneering program awarded signing bonuses to 523 certified teachers hired to teach in critical shortage areas of PreK – 3 and Special Education, including 67 who moved across the country to teach Oklahoma students and take part in the program.  Out of the 523 awarded teachers, 76 percent were employed in high-poverty or rural districts.

“Innovative solutions like the teacher bonus program are the key to getting Oklahoma schools back on the right track,” said Walters. “Any fake controversy Democrats and Republicans controlled by the teachers unions try to drum up will not dim the overwhelming success of this program. Previous small-scale programs have not worked, so we had to disrupt the market clearly and decisively to invest in our high-need areas. We will continue to disrupt the status quo, introduce free market principles in our education system, and unleash to power of innovation to reward our best teachers and help our students achieve great things.”

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A Conservative Journalist’s Top Ten for 2023

As I return to the pre-Pandemic custom of developing an annual listing of Top Ten Stories, a couple of introductory notes: This year’s list is entirely my own.

I wouldn’t want anyone to take the blame for my reflections.

I am both a commentator – leaning conservative – and a news reporter who seeks not “objectivity” – a polite fiction – but fairness in news stories, and clarity and issue engagement (not avoidance) in commentaries.

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Anguish Over Education and TPS

There’s a host of anguish by both conservatives and liberals over education lately—and specifically, Tulsa Public Schools (TPS). Even if heated debate surrounds the discussion, I love that the state’s school performance is receiving attention. 

The most important investment that can be made for our kids and grandkids is the investment in a great education. In fact, the only way to achieve growth and prosperity for Oklahomans is to properly prepare the next generation for high quality jobs with education. 

The commitment of taxpayers should not be in question. Look at TPS: for the current budget year, total appropriated funds are expected to be $755,367,103. That’s approximately $25,179 per student! For that huge investment, the results are simply tragic—according to Public School Review, only 8% of TPS students are proficient in math, and only 12% are proficient in reading.

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