Senate Majority Leader Kim David is the latest to receive the Oklahoma National Guard’s highest civilian honor—The Oklahoma Medal of Freedom.  David, the wife and mother of current and former guard members, was honored for her work in the Senate over the past decade on behalf of the Oklahoma National Guard and its members. Previous recipients of the prestigious award include former governors George Nigh, Frank Keating and Brad Henry.

Reason Magazine is reporting that Education Week recently compiled data on the reopening decisions made by 563 school districts in the U.S. The data indicate a stark relationship between school district reopening plans and whether the school district is located in a state that requires union membership as a condition of employment as a teacher. Right now, school districts in states that require union membership are 25 percentage points less likely to plan to reopen with full-time in-person instruction available than school districts in right-to-work states. About 38 percent of school districts in right-to-work states have decided to offer full-time in-person instruction, whereas only around 13 percent of school districts in states that require union membership are offering the same.

Oklahoma voters often are asked to sign petitions to place state questions on statewide ballots that may result in changes to state law. Medical marijuana and Medicaid expansion are just a few examples of statute changes as a result of this process.

Our citizenry must remain free to change laws that affect them – either through direct petition or the people they elect to represent them. It is our duty, however, to ensure the process by which this is accomplished is fair and fraud free.

Legislative leaders announced today a Fiscal Year 2021 state budget agreement designed to hold education funding harmless while limiting most budget reductions to 4% or less amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a far better budget than many expected and that should come as a relief to the citizens who rely on core services and the agencies that serve them, given the effect of both depressed oil and gas prices and the pandemic on state revenues,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City.