Oklahoma Legislator Scorecard 2023

by | Oct 25, 2023 | Issues, Legislation, OK GOP, OKGrassroots, Original Content, Wayne Hill

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2023 OK Republican Platform Scorecard: What does it mean to be a Republican?

Since 2009, the Oklahoma Legislature has been Republican controlled. Currently, the Oklahoma Legislature is comprised of 40 Republican Senators (8 Democrat) and 81 Republican Representatives (20 Democrat). As of September 2023, the Oklahoma Election Board reports well over 1,000,000 active Republican voters, more than all other parties (Democrat, Independent, Libertarian) put together.

The State of Oklahoma overwhelmingly supports Republican candidates for office but who determines what it means to be a Republican? According to the Rules and Platform of the Oklahoma Republican Party, it is the Republican voters of Oklahoma who determine the criteria for the party. “All citizens of Oklahoma are invited to join the Oklahoma Republican Party to perpetuate this Republic.”(OKGOP Rules) “We believe in limited government, individual liberty, natural rights, and personal moral responsibility.”(OKGOP Platform)

It is our responsibility as citizens of the United States and as registered Republicans in Oklahoma to hold elected Republicans to an appropriate standard. The idea of examining all legislation and comparing it to the Republican Platform has been in the minds of Republicans for some time. It is an ambitious undertaking to analyze the thousands of bills filed each year. All other legislative scorecards choose to examine bills covering a specific area of interest. This Legislator Grading system is a small-scale version of what we hope to accomplish in the upcoming session. For the 2023 session, we have decided to grade all of the bills from the regular session (no special session bills) which survived the entire process and were signed by Governor Stitt. Unfortunately, many of the strong conservative bills were killed before they were given a committee hearing. We look forward to incorporating all legislation in the upcoming 2024 session to give full credit to those Republican legislators who strive to uphold Republican principles in spite of opposition from leadership in the House and the Senate. As more conservative bills are given full hearings, the Republican scores of each legislator will improve!

Notes about this Scorecard:

  1. The 2020 OKGOP Platform was used in this grading system because it was in effect when the legislature convened in February. For most bills, this will not affect the grade. A notable exception is HB1934 the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act. For this scorecard, HB1934 supports the 2020 Platform. But under the newest OKGOP Platform, it is not supported. The 2023 OKGOP Platform states, “We oppose government expansion and control by the use of public tax dollars to fund and interfere with private forms of education.” However, the 2020 OKGOP states, “We support free-market education and the use of educational savings account vouchers and/or tax credits.” (see **Platform suggestions**)
  2. Bills are scored based on the new or altered language in the law, not the existing language. Be sure to examine the STRIKETHOUGH (being removed) or UNDERLINED (being added) language of each bill. If the bill is adding ALL new language it will state NEW LAW at the beginning of the new section. In those cases, the new language is not underlined.
  3. EXCUSED VOTES: We understand that sometimes a legislator missing a vote is unavoidable. It is up to the voters to determine if missing a vote is acceptable to them. For the purpose of supporting the Republican Platform, the objective is to cast a vote. Therefore, if a legislator misses a vote, it has been marked against the platform.
  4. Great effort has been taken to ensure the Platform Principle is clearly seen in the bills. If it isn’t a clear case in support of or against the platform, the bill was given a neutral score. This method of analysis has resulted in just over 100 bills with a score of either YES (supports the Platform) or NAY (opposes the Platform). [This column has been edited at the suggestion of fellow Republicans. The bill scores are unchanged. The +1 scores have been changed to YES. The -1 scores have been changed to NAY.] We removed the bills with neutral scores from the published list to reduce the number of bills the reader must examine. The full list of bills scored can be found on the Secretary of State’s website. There are no weighted scores or hidden calculations. If a legislator votes with the platform according to this scorecard (YES or NAY as listed), they will score 100%. Our goal is for this grading system to be not only transparent but something that any Oklahoma citizen can compile on his own legislators.
  5. This scorecard looks strictly at the voting records of legislators. It does not take into consideration the Constitutional bills which were filed or the efforts made in committees by those who are fighting for your liberty. Some of those conservative bills which never get a hearing due to the politics in the leadership of both chambers deal with the 2nd Amendment, election integrity, government spending, emergency powers, and stopping federal overreach. Several of those bills filed by legislators with the highest Republican Platform scores are listed below.

Future Oklahoma Republican Platform Suggestions:
The OKGOP Platform is currently 30 pages in length. The word count of the OKGOP Platform is 10,184! Did you know that our unamended US Constitution is only 4,543? With a platform of this length which changes with each Oklahoma State Republican Party Convention, it is challenging for Oklahoma Republicans to unite in a direction.

The first page of our OKGOP Platform is a statement of principle. This is a broad statement of conservative Constitutional Republican principles which are constant. The remainder of the platform is used to address specific issues which vary from convention to convention. We recommend that Oklahoma Republicans agree on a platform of two parts to allow the best chance for Oklahoma Republicans to agree on core principles.

  1. CORE PRINCIPLES: A Statement of Principles as in the current platform (1 page in length recommended)
  2. CURRENT ISSUES: An original addendum which will consist of the Resolved Statement from each resolution passed by the State Committee at the biennial state convention with no carryover from previous conventions

This will allow the core principles to remain constant while giving an opportunity to each newly elected State Committee to address important current issues.

CANDIDATE PLATFORM SURVEY: We have included on the website a survey that can be submitted to Oklahoma Republican candidates in accordance with the OKGOP Rules. It is the entire 2023 OKGOP Republican Party Platform in an easy to complete format. Feel free to use, as needed.

As we prepare for the 2024 session of the Oklahoma Legislature, we welcome feedback on the legislation-platform comparisons. It is up to the Republican voters of Oklahoma to determine what we expect of our elected Republican legislators. What does it mean to be a Republican? Let the debate begin!

In Liberty,
The OKGRASSROOTS Team