Muskogee Politico | OKGrassroots

Small: ‘Trigger’ law needed for income tax repeal

by Jamison Faught | Jul 15, 2023 | Muskogee Politico, OCPA, OKGrassroots, Supreme Court

‘Trigger’ law neededBy Jonathan SmallThe fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma continues today. A recent federal court decision declaring Indians to be exempt from city police enforcement of municipal laws in local courts in Tulsa is...

House Speaker McCall reacts to audit finding $30M in questionable state spending

by Jamison Faught | Jul 5, 2023 | Education, Muskogee Politico, OKGrassroots

This is a week old, but I thought this statement from House Speaker Charles McCall regarding State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s recent audit finding $30,000,000 in questionable pandemic-related grant spending deserved getting posted: OKLAHOMA CITY (June 27th) –...

Small on Oklahoma’s plunging reading, math scores: “Back to the ’70s”

by Jamison Faught | Jul 5, 2023 | Education, Muskogee Politico, OCPA, OKGrassroots

Back to the ‘70sBy Jonathan SmallThe surge of inflation under President Joe Biden has given many people flashbacks to the 1970s. Sadly, the latest data released by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) evokes a similar sense of déjà vu.The National...

Oklahoma leaders celebrate after ending June with major conservative wins at the Supreme Court

by Jamison Faught | Jul 3, 2023 | Muskogee Politico, OCPA, OKGrassroots, Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ended June (or as I saw one person dub it, "LGBT Ramadan") with a string of major wins for conservatives. Below are press releases from Congressmen Brecheen and Hern, Senator Lankford, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, and OCPA on several...

State Auditor Byrd after finding $30M in questionable spending: “State of Oklahoma dropped the ball on compliance and oversight”

by Jamison Faught | Jun 29, 2023 | Education, Muskogee Politico, OKGrassroots

Ouch. This audit is pretty bad. State Auditor Cindy Byrd has released an audit of federally-funded grants (mainly COVID relief/stimulus money), finding about $30,000,000 in "questioned costs". This audit is federally-mandated, and could end up with the State...

Small: Time to act on college tuition

by Jamison Faught | Jun 27, 2023 | Muskogee Politico, OCPA, OKGrassroots

Time to act on college tuitionBy Jonathan SmallThe story of Oklahoma college tuition usually falls into one of three patterns.Lawmakers cut college appropriations and colleges raise tuition, blaming the lack of appropriations.Or lawmakers provide steady...