We close the year with the top ten Oklahoma stories of 2023, as reported and discussed each week on Capitol Insider. This segment, Part 1, looks at stories ten through six.
TRANSCRIPT
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider, where each week we take you inside politics, policy and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. In the final two weeks of this year, we're going to reveal our top ten stories of 2023 as heard on Capitol Insider. So, Shawn, today we'll discuss stories ten through six and in the final week of 2023 will announce our top five. So, here we go with number ten, the decline in state revenue during calendar year 2023.
Shawn Ashley: According to reports from State Treasurer Todd Russ, declining gross production taxes on oil and gas continue to push down monthly total revenue collections. Gross receipts for the past 12 months ending in November were down $312 million, nearly 2% compared to the prior 12-month period. By itself, this is not a particularly big concern, but the energy sector is intertwined deeply in state revenues and could impact other sources such as income tax and sales tax. So, this is clearly a story we're going to have to keep our eyes on in 2024.
Dick Pryor: Number nine, new state anti-abortion laws on hold.
Shawn Ashley: The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently granted a temporary injunction against three abortion bills passed by lawmakers in 2022. And an Oklahoma County district judge will be considering the constitutionality of those measures and two others that the district court previously enjoined. The district court will rule, perhaps in 2024, on the merits of those bills, and those decisions could be appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The Oklahoma Supreme Court also ruled in March that Oklahoma's Constitution provides, quote, “an inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to preserve her life.” The 5 to 4 decision came in a case challenging Oklahoma's 1910 statute that criminalized abortion, and another bill passed during the 2022 regular session. That likely will set the stage for legislation lawmakers will consider in 2024.
Dick Pryor: Number eight, the influence of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Shawn Ashley: Drummond is clearly cutting his own path. He hired an outside law firm, for example, to pursue possible litigation related to alleged natural gas market manipulation during the February 2021 winter storm, something his predecessors had seemed reluctant to even consider. Drummond's largest impact in his first term likely will come from the lawsuit he filed in October against the statewide Virtual Charter School Board regarding its approval of the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School, which would be the nation's first religious charter school funded by public tax dollars. Drummond alleges the school's approval violates the Oklahoma Constitution and the Oklahoma Charter School Act's prohibition on funding sectarian schools. The Supreme Court has yet to set a hearing on the case, but many observers expect that whatever that court rules, it will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and have implications nationally.
Dick Pryor: Number seven, the second inauguration of Governor Kevin Stitt and his relationship with leaders in the Oklahoma House and Senate.
Shawn Ashley: Governor Stitt began his second term in January and in his State of the State speech in February outlined a plan he said would produce the greatest legislative session we've had yet. I'm not sure that happened. Stitt proposed another reduction of the individual income tax. He didn't get it. He ordered lawmakers back for a special session on the issue in October, and the Senate went home the same day it opened the session. The governor sided with the House for much of the regular session in a prolonged dispute over the private school and home school tax credit proposals. Going so far as to veto 20 Senate bills and saying he would veto more if the Senate did not support the House's plan. That did not go over too well. The Senate, in response, voted down two of Stitt’s cabinet secretary nominations. Finally, Stitt vetoed the two bills that give tribes the opportunity to extend their tobacco tax and motor vehicle registration compacts with the state. The legislature overrode those vetoes, and Stitt sued Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat and House Speaker Charles McCall. The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in that case but has yet to announce its ruling.
Dick Pryor: And the number six story of the year - ongoing cultural battles involving Oklahoma schools and State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
Shawn Ashley: Walters campaigned in part on removing what he calls “woke liberal indoctrination” from Oklahoma public schools, and he has implemented several policies he said would accomplish that goal. More recently, he argued a school district was wrong to end its practice of student-led Christian prayer each morning after it was threatened by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Walters told the State Board of Education at its November meeting, “I want to be very clear that we are not going to allow radical atheist groups to target our kids and our teachers that are perfectly within their Constitutional rights to express their religious beliefs.”
Dick Pryor: Thanks, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: So that's the start of our Capitol Insider Top Ten. On December 29th and January 1st, our top ten stories of the year countdown resumes with number five to number one. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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