With less than a month left to go in the legislative session, House and Senate leaders are inching closer to a budget agreement and Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed hundreds of bills into law. But disagreements over potential income tax cuts remain a sticking point among the Republicans in charge at the Capitol. The post Stitt Signs Hundreds of Bills Into Law as Budget Negotiations Continue appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

Three years after a winter storm led to massive costs for Oklahoma utility customers, the state’s attorney general has filed the first of several lawsuits against natural gas pipeline operators and traders over a huge spike in natural gas prices. The post Oklahoma Attorney General Files Winter Storm Lawsuits Over Natural Gas Prices appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

Gov. Kevin Stitt, Attorney General Gentner Drummond and House Speaker Charles McCall all voiced support last week for a Texas-style immigration law that would allow law enforcement to arrest undocumented migrants. The post Oklahoma Officials Eye New Immigration Laws appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

Hundreds of bills have survived the Oklahoma Legislature’s first big policy deadline, new Republican leaders have been chosen and the House and Senate are starting budget negotiations in the weeks leading up to candidate filing for this year’s election. The post Legislature Focuses on Budget, Policy at Halfway Point  appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

With nine weeks to go in the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers have advanced several bills that would increase sentencing ranges for certain offenders. The post Lawmakers Seek Tougher Shoplifting, Domestic Abuse Penalties appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

An extreme winter storm hit Oklahoma and other states in early 2021, bidding up the price of fuel. Bonds were sold to deal with the high costs. Natural gas producers and traders got paid, the utilities took billions of dollars in natural gas costs off their corporate balance sheets. Who got stuck with the bill? Consumers. The post Winter Storm Natural Gas Price Lawsuits Languish appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

The Oklahoma Department of Education hired Vought Strategies, a communications firm in Arlington, Virginia, to write speeches and op-eds and book Walters on at least 10 national TV and radio appearances per month. Some are questioning whether Walters is simply boosting his national profile at the public’s expense. The post State Dollars Prop Walters’ National Media Blitz appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

Direct democracy advocates fear a proposal to require signature collection in all 77 counties would severely hinder Oklahoma’s initiative petition process. The post Oklahoma Lawmakers Again Take Aim at Ballot Initiatives appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

State Reps. Justin Humphrey and Kevin McDugle have until mid-March to amend their petition or the case will be dismissed. The post Judge Sides With Defendant in Lawmakers’ Open Records Lawsuit  appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more

AG Drummond rebuffed Governor Stitt’s request to sue ClassWallet again. After private attorneys filed on the state’s behalf, Drummond took over to dismiss the case. The post State’s AG Dismisses Second ClassWallet Lawsuit appeared first on Oklahoma Watch ..read more