WASHINGTON — FEMA announced today that federal disaster assistance has been approved by President Donald J. Trump and is available to the state of Oklahoma to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding from Nov. 2-5, 2024.
FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during and after disasters.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond today in a release is urging legislators to significantly strengthen government transparency by passing House Bill 2163. His push for the measure comes during Sunshine Week, an annual event spotlighting the importance of public records and open government.
Authored by Rep. John Pfeiffer and Sen. Brent Howard, HB 2163 would statutorily create the Public Access Counselor unit in the Office of the Attorney General to review complaints where the requester believes a state department, board or commission has not addressed the request in a timely and reasonable manner.
Let’s hope this includes the Attorney General’s own office that is years past due in responding to this publication’s request for information on the unsolved Gertrude Marshall Blakey murder now over 44 years ago. The Tulsa Police Department will not release the file, claims the investigation is ongoing, but no investigation is being done. Someone is lying like a snake in the grass.
V1SUT.Substack today connects the dots on how Oklahoma’s power elite continues to betray voter’s desire to improve education. Of course, Tulsa’s “highly progressive” George Kaiser Family Foundation is a key player. Further, the Board of Control for Southern Regional Education (a non-profit with ties to USAID funding) is helping our two-stepping politicians pander to power and money.
Oklahoma’s initiative-petition process allows voters to determine major policy issues, but some system flaws have become apparent. That’s why Oklahomans should support bringing greater transparency to the petition process.
Under Senate Bill 1027, the initiative-petition process would have to include clear language, transparent reporting of funders, and buy-in from a wider swath of Oklahoma. None of these ideas should be controversial.
The House passed legislation off the floor today that would allow for additional state investments in infrastructure tied to Oklahoma’s five military bases. None of those are located in Northeastern OK yet they provide over 133,800 well paying jobs (FY 2010) adding $9.6 billion to our state’s GDP which was more than 7% of the state’s entire economy when studied years ago.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert authored House Bill 2516 and House Bill 2518, which create revolving funds at the state Treasury for use by the Oklahoma Military Department. The Base Infrastructure Needs and Development (BIND) fund will have a technology and a schools component that will allow for additional support to the state’s military bases in the hopes of preventing any future base closures and expanding operations when possible according to a release today.
“Oklahoma has a long history across multiple branches of the military and we want to send a loud signal that the state supports our bases,” said Hilbert, R-Bristow. “These funds will allow funds to accrue over time so we are able to take advantage of potential expansion opportunities as they become available and fight against any potential closures in the future.”
