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Oklahoma Joe: Coup illustrates democracy’s power, fragility By: Joe Dorman Guest Columnist April 12, 2021 Joe Hight One photo can make an impact, even taken from far away. You probably don’t know about Launglon Township, more than 9,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Oklahoma City. You may know little about Myanmar, the southeastern Asian country formerly called Burma. In the Reuters photo, you see a long line of protesters walking the township’s streets. Among them you see signs that have red backgrounds with these words in bold white lettering: “We Want Democracy.”...

Oklahoma's Religious Freedom Act Just Passed the State SenateBy Benjamin P. Sisney16177175400001617717540000 During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions swirled about what was “essential” and what wasn’t. At the ACLJ, we firmly believe that churches and worship services are essential, and we have fought to safeguard those constitutionally protected rights and institutions. Shockingly, we learned that certain states and municipalities exploited the pandemic to target churches, using the pandemic as an excuse to mistreat these sacred institutions. The pandemic has been te...

An audio version of this story Accompanied by lawmakers, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation Wednesday afternoon on an open public school transfer policy and a change to the statewide funding formula. Credit Governor's office Gov. Kevin Stitt wasted no time in signing bills to implement major education policy reforms he asked for in February during his state of the state address. The Senate passed HB2078 on a 27–19 vote. It changes the statewide funding formula so it’s based on a district’s attendance the prior year, not the higher of the past two years as is in law currently. Opponents...

Oklahoman After some Oklahoma City voters waited two or more hours to cast early ballots in November, Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to extend the state’s early-voting period. State legislators have advanced a bill to add a fourth in-person early voting day in presidential election years.  The proposal would allow for early voting, also known as absentee in-person, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the Wednesday before the election in addition to the current early voting days on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to the election.  House Bill 2663 by House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols and...

The Oklahoma State Capitol is shown in Oklahoma City. Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch The Oklahoma Legislature took action on a multitude of measures recently, from the House of Representatives and the Senate. The following is a brief list of some of that legislation: • House Bill 1246 was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt last week after it was passed out of the House and the Senate. The bill will allow Oklahomans to obtain prescriptions using Social Security numbers if they have a state-issued ID card that has been expired for no more than one year and...