Oklahoma lawmakers have passed several bills the past few years aimed at consolidating duplicative state agencies. One area that has not been discussed much is Oklahoma’s two medical schools: OU’s Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City which offers MD degrees and OSU’s Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa which offers DO degrees (OU also has [...]

According to House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Earl Sears (R-Bartlesville), there are only two bond proposals that he predicts have enough support to be passed this year: one for the State Capitol complex and the other for a new office for the Department of Veterans Affairs.  (see video below)  Sears expects three other bond proposals [...]

The Chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee says if there is an income tax cut this year, it will not be along the lines of the “bold” proposals set forth at the start of session that called for phasing out the income tax over ten years (see video below).  Rep. Earl Sears (R-Bartlesville) [...]

A federal listing of stimulus fund recipients who failed to submit reports on time for the last quarter of 2011 includes three local government entities in Oklahoma.  The cities of Enid and Sapulpa received Department of Justice grants while Wagoner County got one from the Department of Energy.  Oklahoma Watchdog has received information from all [...]

Oklahoma City state representative Charles Key says many members feel their participation in committee meetings is “meaningless” because only a few people are really in charge of what bills get heard.  Key contacted Oklahoma Watchdog after a story posted Monday showing he and two other representatives have missed 10 committee meetings, more than any other member [...]

Earlier this month, Oklahoma Watchdog reported how Rep. Rebecca Hamilton (D-Oklahoma City) had missed every meeting of the House Rules Committee, but had not been replaced with someone who could attend the meetings.  After looking at committee votes on bills, it is apparent that Rep. Hamilton is not alone when it comes to skipping meetings.
Hamilton, [...]

In researching a previous story, Oklahoma Watchdog learned that Rep. Rebecca Hamilton (D-Oklahoma City) has missed every meeting of the House Rules Committee this year in order to care for a sick relative in the morning.  (Hamilton provided more details, but out of respect for the privacy of her family they are being withheld)  While [...]

Two early morning committee meetings had to be cancelled this week when not enough lawmakers showed up to create a quorum.  On Wednesday and Thursday, the Oklahoma House held committee meetings at 8am – earlier than usual – in order to free up the schedule so lawmakers could attend the funeral and/or memorial service for [...]

Oklahomans will see lower income and property taxes if two bills approved by a House subcommittee Monday become law.  The income tax proposal is Senate Bill 1571 by Senator Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) and Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-Chickasha).  It phases out the state personal income tax over a ten-year period with the largest chunk of the [...]

A list of projects to be funded through special bonds issued by the Regents for Higher Education will still include a new Medical Examiner’s Office after action Monday by a House Committee.  Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) tried to remove the $42-million proposal from the Master Lease Program list, arguing that Regents were being “too aggressive” [...]