Opinion

We spend a lot of time talking about public records in our office. If that’s a new topic to you, you’ll find it worth your time to become familiar. State law enacted in 1985 requires that most publicly funded entities make their records available to the public for inspection or copying. That’s an important piece of government transparency; those records belong to the public and they help keep our elected officials accountable. Although news organizations request documents regularly in the course of their research and reporting, there are no special privileges. Anything available to a journalist is also available to you. There are some problems with the law. At nearly 40 years old, there is no provision for emailing records, but there are stipulations about faxing them. The only deadline an agency has is to respond to be prompt and reasonable, which is undefined. And the only remedy for noncompliance is to file a lawsuit or persuade your local district attorney to file a misdemeanor charge against his fellow government employee who works across the hall. Some agencies are very, very good about keeping the public’s business public. Others are not. In the past year, Oklahoma Watch has filed three lawsuits to force agencies to comply with the Open Records Act. Two were successful and one, against the Tulsa Police Department, remains open.

I am currently preaching through the Gospel of John at First Baptist Church in Newcastle. As I have worked my way through this great book of the Bible, there are several things I have been challenged by in Jesus’ life, in particular the way He was with people.

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling of Dobbs v.

As enshrined in the Constitution, the Second Amendment guarantees law-abiding citizens of the United States the right to bear arms. Freedom and personal responsibility are pillars of our nation, and the Second Amendment must be protected, especially for those who suffered injury or were disabled while serving in our armed forces protecting the freedom of others.

Another area that saw incredible investment this session was public safety to better support our law enforcement agencies, courts, and victims. Together, our 14 public safety and judiciary agencies received nearly $980 million.

While back in the Fourth District of Oklahoma, one of the top concerns I hear from constituents is the crushing weight of increasing overreach, overregulation and red tape from the federal government, which does not allow families and small businesses to flourish and succeed. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has not taken note, and while forcing its progressive policies on the nation, President Joe Biden and Democrats have instead abused regulatory power and have produced egregious regulation after regulation.

This week, the Board of Equalization certified a $190 million decrease in state revenue for 2024. House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City said the decrease in state funding is largely due to the Republican supermajority’s decision to use taxpayer dollars to fund private schools.

June is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time to encourage national conversation about brain health and raise awareness to improve health care outcomes. Over six million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Of that number, 67,000 are Oklahomans. Anyone who is impacted by Alzheimer’s understands the gravity of this disease and the hardship endured by both the individual and the loved ones surrounding them.

s someone who has dedicated her career to improving healthcare, I was pleased with the tremendous investments we made this session. We worked extremely hard in our Appropriations Subcommittee for Health and Human Services to secure this vital funding. Overall, health and human services received 24% of the nearly $11 billion appropriated to state agencies.

Americans want Washington to spend less. Yet for the past two years, hard-working Oklahomans have been crippled with the consequences of Joe Biden’s reckless government spending, skyrocketing inflation, and high interest rates. In Biden’s economy, families and businesses have been forced to make near impossible choices to keep themselves afloat.

Free speech and public debate are necessary ingredients of a democratic government, which is why the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution enshrines free speech as a basic right. But that hasn’t stopped some entities from trying to do an end run on that fundamental right, including here in Oklahoma.