TRANSCRIPT
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum call publisher Shawn Ashley. The State Board of Education did little work at its monthly meeting Thursday after Attorney General Gentner Drummond did not renew the board's contract with its outside legal counsel. Shawn, what is the AG's role in the hiring of outside counsel by state agencies?
Shawn Ashley: A 2022 law passed by lawmakers and signed by Governor Kevin Stitt gave the Attorney General's office more input into agencies' hiring of outside counsels, including the ability to approve or disapprove their plans to hire those attorneys. Now, first, the attorneys have to be on an approved list by the Attorney General's office. Cara Nicklas of the firm McAlister, McAlister and Nicklas, who had served as legal counsel to board members since October of 2023, is on that list. But second, the board has to provide a variety of information to justify hiring outside counsel, including reasons for not obtaining the representation from the Attorney General's office by contract. Now, we need to keep in mind that Nicklas disagreed with Drummond's formal opinion that legislators can attend board's executive sessions. She disagreed, so much so that she said at the board's August meeting that his opinion removed the ability of public bodies to hold executive sessions to receive privileged information from their legal counsels.
Dick Pryor: AG Drummond gave the board of education options on how to proceed. Now, this fix could go quickly or take a while, and it's up to the board to decide the direction.
Shawn Ashley: That's right. Drummond said the board could contract with his office for its counsel, which is more than 100 state agencies and their boards and commissions do. At Thursday's meeting, Brad Clark from the Attorney General's office served as the board's counsel, and Clark has experience in the education arena, having served as general counsel for the State Department of Education previously, where they could hire in-house counsel or find another outside attorney. Now, those two options likely would take some time. Ultimately, it's up to the board to decide, and I'm sure they will take some action at their November meeting.
Dick Pryor: An interim study examining the use of cell phones by students in schools has concluded its work. What did legislators hear?
Shawn Ashley: In simplest terms, cell phones in classrooms are bad. They're distracting. Two school officials told the State Education Committee about experiments teachers and their schools performed where they had their students keep track of texts and social media notifications they received during the class period. Both officials said the students received more than 200 to 300 notifications in each class. And while you and I may have passed notes in school, students today are using text messages and social media applications to do that. And that includes doing things like bullying and planning or documenting bad behavior such as fights and vandalism, the committee was told. And there is a growing body of evidence that adolescents’ constant connection with social media leads to increased anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.
Dick Pryor: Now that legislators studying the cell phone issue have gathered information, what do they plan to do with it?
Shawn Ashley: Well, now they have to try to turn it into legislation to be considered in the 2025 session. The chair of the committee, Adam Pugh, a Republican from Edmond, said a balance has to be achieved between establishing some sort of statewide mandate or guidelines and then allowing local officials to decide exactly how to implement that policy.
Dick Pryor: The first quarter of fiscal year 2025 has passed and figures from the Office of Management and Enterprise Services show that General Revenue Fund collections came in lower than the first quarter of 2024. Is that cause for concern about state government funding?
Shawn Ashley: Well, those collections totaled nearly $2 billion, about 17.4 million or 0.9% below the prior year. General Revenue Fund collections are important because that is the largest source of legislative appropriations, and those appropriations are based on an estimate approved by the Board of Equalization. Those collections were only 4.8 million or 0.2% above the estimate, so they were just about on target. Is it cause for concern? It's something certainly we'll have to keep an eye on.
Dick Pryor: In-person early voting begins Wednesday for the general election. What do voters need to know about how to vote early?
Shawn Ashley: First, you need to know where your early voting location is. You can check with your county election board or the Oklahoma voter portal on the State Election Board website, oklahoma.gov/elections. And of course, you need to bring a photo I.D. which can be issued by the state, the federal government or the tribal government. And if you don't have one of those, you can use the free voter ID card that the county election board sent you.
Dick Pryor: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: And that's Capitol Insider. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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