Andy & Scott discuss the latest on the Epic Charter School debacle (including breaking news that occurred while we were recording), the latest in Covid, and our current television viewing interests.

Alyssa Fisher joins the pod to chat about the weather, local elections, and, most importantly, to tell us about the new Ambassador Program at Sally's List.

Things mentioned:

• Oklahoma Watch: They Don’t Vote, But They Do Count: How the Incarcerated Skew Political Representation in Oklahoma
• The Oklahoman: Stitt administration suing Dept of Defense over vaccine requirement
• NonDoc: The unearthed Joe Exotic interview about Donald Trump, Oklahoma’s teacher walkout
• How to Win Friends and Save the Republic podcast from the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers

It's been a difficult week. As redistricting draws to its disappointing end, Governor Stitt tries to score political points by blocking vaccines for our National Guard and offering a last-minute merciful reduction in Julius Jones' death sentence.

Wanda Felty (OUHSC Center for Learning and Excellence) and RoseAnn Duplan (OK Disability Law Center) join the show to discuss Oklahoma's disability services waiting list, why it's *still* moving so slowly despite the rhetoric from the Governor & legislature.

We also discuss Oklahoma redistricting, the firing of Maj. Gen. Mike Thompson, and Julius Jones.

Public Radio Tulsa story on Mike Thompson

The People's Map

Governor Stitt travels to Mexico where he travels in style, opposes vaccine mandates, and remains aloof on the subject of Julius Jones' life (which *still* hangs in the balance). Also, the legislature is trying to gerrymander Oklahoma County.

There's so much going on, we have to do a lightning round. Some good, a lot of bad. Don't give up the fight.

We discuss the quarterly polling data from Amber Integrated (mentioned last episode), the state threatening to sue the feds, and how the contract signing event with Canoo was a bit of a publicity stunt.

Links discussed:

• Polling from last week that we said we’d cover
• Can the Governor spell Constitution? Governor Stitt’s AG tells business to ignore the federal vaccine mandate
• Oklahoma Tea Party is at war with the OKGOP leadership
• Is this Canoo taking on water? Frontier has some information on the states deal with electric vehicle manufacturer Canoo
• New General Counsel for the Governor’s office: Trevor Pemberton
• Everyone has their Christmas decorations out - Target, Amazon…and the city of Enid

Joy Hofmeister enters the the race for Governor...as a Democrat! Also some other stuff happened, but that's most of what we discuss.

Links discussed in episode:

• First, the public affairs software company Quorum recently released a report summarizing information about state legislatures during 2021. Some interesting takeaways:
• In general, the larger a state's population, the more bills their legislature filed. 
• No correlation to the number of bills enacted, though.
• Oklahoma’s 149 state legislators filed 3,057 bills, of which 582 were enacted. 
• That averages out to 20.5 bills filed and 3.9 bills enacted per legislator, which is the 11th highest rate in the country. 
• Health and Education were far & and away the most popular topics for bills nationwide. 
• Oklahoma state Senator Mary Boren is the most active Oklahoma legislator on social media with 3,600 posts on Twitter & FB this year. 
• Advocacy group “Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action” filed two initiative petitions this week. One would basically fully legalize recreational marijuana for anyone age 21 or older, including growing, buying, transporting, preparing and consuming it. The measure would double  the excise tax on marijuana sales, from 7% to 15%. It would also allow anyone serving time for a marijuana-related conviction to request that conviction be dismissed. (Which seems like it violates the single subject rule.)
• The second initiative would eliminate the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, which is a part of the state dept of health, and create a standalone state agency called the Oklahoma State Cannabis Commission, which would also have a seat in the Governor’s cabinet. It would also remove the cap on the number of cannabis-related business licenses and allow for home delivery of marijuana products.  (Again, seems like a violation of the single subject rule.) 
• Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax sent a letter to lawmakers debunking allegations of election hacking by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell

Bailey's back! Also, US Senator James Lankford now has three opponents - two conservative Republicans and a newcomer Democrat. We discuss the dynamics of that race, down-ballot races, and the racial disparity in police shooting (a data point for which Oklahoma ranks #1 in the nation).

Links mentioned:

• Oklahoma has highest rate of people killed by police

More than six weeks since the 2020 Census data was released, but the Oklahoma legislature has yet to release any maps. What's up with that? Also—a breaking news announcement happened during recording!

Outline & Links

• State Fair is underway! And tonight: Ginuwine!
• Oklahoma passes 10,000 Covid deaths
• Stitt’s removal of two OHCA board members over the Labor Day weekend has ruffled the feathers of some lawmakers from both parties. His ability to do that, of course, stems from the legislature’s decision in 2019 to grant the Governor broader authority over state agencies. According to The Oklahoman, Representatives Marcus McEntire & Mark McBride expressed some reservations or regrets about how it happened. Rep. Monroe Nichols has pre-filed legislation to change the Governor’s role with the OHCA board specifically by requiring the governor to appoint to the board at least one licensed physician, two Medicaid recipients and several people who have experience in health care fields. The Governor would be able to pick appointees only from a set of three candidates nominated by the board, appointees would have set term limits and the governor would not be able to remove them without cause. 
• Oklahoma County Sherrifs will now be equipped with body cameras and they released their policy for them.
• Special session begins Nov 15th!