Janelle Stecklein

Hats off to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, which over the course of the past few months has seemingly transformed itself from a toothless shih tzu into an aggressive, but well-trained pitbull that’s going for the jugular. For years, the agency and its governing board inspired about as much fear as a cute baby bunny would into the state employees, lobbyists and political candidates that they were supposed to hold accountable. 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s Republican governor was selected to become the chair of the National Governors Association for the next year. Gov. Kevin Stitt was tapped by his peers during their summer meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo., to lead the group, which represents the leaders of 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Stitt’s term will run from 2025 to 2026.

Ryan Walters and his merry band of administrative leaders should not be operating the State Department of Education like their own private fiefdom, oblivious to the laws that govern public access. Yet our state superintendent and those leaders he’s entrusted to serve us appear to be happily doing just that in denying access to one of the most basic records that’s long been released through our state’s Open Records Act — resignation letters.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol needs to take a hard look at themselves in the rearview mirror and figure out their priorities. Because even as the state agency was planning to no longer patrol interstates in our state’s most populous cities to prioritize resources in rural areas, the Highway Patrol was posting pictures on social media of their patrol vehicles parked in a field of bison, begging people to vote for them so they could be included in the American Association of State Troopers’ calendar. 

I can’t figure out which character Ryan Walters is playing.  Is he the kid who sits in the back of the classroom, quietly sowing chaos by chunking nasty spitballs at his classmates and blaming someone else when he gets in trouble?  Or is Oklahoma’s Republican state superintendent merely a well-intentioned but bumbling public official who hasn’t got a clue about how things actually work?

Every time I doubt the benefits of adding fluoride to drinking water, I find myself thinking about the iconic presidential portrait of George Washington in which he appears pursing his lips, and hiding his missing teeth.

Covering Oklahoma’s Legislature for over a decade, it’s difficult not to feel cynical about the end of session and all the work left undone because they focused on inconsequential or unnecessary priorities.

As tornado warnings popped up across the Oklahoma City metropolitan area during rush hour earlier this month, it became abundantly clear that somebody didn’t know – or didn’t care – that it was smack dab in the middle of tornado season across much of the central and southern United States. Because why else would federal officials choose a peak period for tornado outbreaks to perform routine and needed maintenance on weather radios?

It’s become clear that Oklahoma’s U.S. Sen. James Lankford has apparently taken one too many sips of the spiked, D.C.-flavored Kool-Aid. He’s either become so addicted to the ambrosia served by the Washington elites, or he’s been spending too much time cocooned in our nation’s capital to be in touch with what’s happening at home.

In February, my health care provider reached out with some bad news — my annual mammogram had an “area of concern,” that required me to return for additional screening.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The state’s mental health agency faces billing errors, fraud and information technology vulnerabilities in delivering services, an initial financial examination found.  Over the next 18 months, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services must implement dozens of changes to protect its patients and billing integrity, the review said.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislative budget committees on Monday voted to move forward with spending $312 million to purchase a private prison in Lawton that the state uses to house about 2,300 inmates. Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Faxon, said The GEO Group, which operates the Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility in south Comanche County, no longer wants to continue its business relationship with the state. 

Judging by all the backpatting we witnessed last week, Oklahoma’s Republican legislative leaders want us to believe their latest budget deal will make our state a beacon of prosperity . In reality, it feels a lot like the opposite.

OKLAHOMA CITY — A Democratic lawmaker, who is battling breast cancer, said Wednesday that she plans to try to override the governor’s veto of a bill designed to improve access to diagnostic screening of the disease.

Ryan Walters made a series of big gambles that paid off for him in spades. Somehow over the course of the past few weeks, Oklahoma’s state superintendent bet that he could outplay his constituents, outwit Gov. Kevin Stitt’s three new education board appointees, and outlast the Republican-led Legislature that has long been afraid to stand up to him.

OKLAHOMA CITY — State lawmakers moved one step closer to abandoning plans to construct a state-of-the-art inpatient mental health hospital in Oklahoma City amid massive cost overruns and construction delays. A joint legislative subcommittee on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for the State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to abandon plans to build the Donahue Behavioral Health Campus located near the Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City campus.

OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers on Wednesday fought over whether educators should be able to physically discipline disabled students before ultimately voting to send a bill prohibiting the practice to the governor.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The state House narrowly passed an altered bill that requires school districts to implement “bell-to-bell” cellphone bans for the upcoming school year. Senate Bill 139, which passed by a single vote, heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt for consideration. 

OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would have required schools to add an extra instructional day for every $25 million more the Legislature appropriates to common education.

Oklahoma lawmakers are clearly scared to death of their constituents, and who could blame them? After all, voters in recent years have forced our lawmakers to come face-to-face with the terrifying reality that average Oklahomans can band together to circumvent the Legislature’s will and force the passage of new progressive laws and block boneheaded conservative policies.