State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd spoke last week at a training seminar on governmental open records requests while being sued for her failure to comply with an open records request made against her office. It would be humorous if not so sad and, potentially, unlawful in Oklahoma.

Byrd has refused to fully comply with an open records request made back in 2020 that asked for any documentation or communication between her and Andrew Speno, a State Auditor employee who has also worked as her campaign consultant.

The clock is ticking! State legislative leaders must craft a budget by Friday, May 27. On its face, the budget for the next fiscal year would seem simple, because there is so much extra cash to work with. Revenue estimates indicate more than $10 billion is available for spending, but nobody really knows what our current stable revenue base is.

At the moment, the state of Oklahoma is awash in “funny” money due to the massive amount of stimulus funding provided by the Federal government during the COVID pandemic.