Oklahoma finance officials predict $868M budget hole

After two consecutive years of deep cuts to state agencies, including public education, the Oklahoma Legislature will again be grappling with another budget hole estimated to be about $868 million, or more than 12 percent of state spending, finance officials announced on Tuesday. Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger, the governor's chief budget negotiator, released budget projections that show state revenue collections won't be enough to trigger a further cut in the state's individual income tax rate from 5 percent to 4.85 percent.

Wisconsin’s Walker asks Trump for more control over refugees

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker asked President-elect Donald Trump in a letter delivered Tuesday to give his state more authority in determining how many refugees can come from countries with ties to terrorism. Walker also asked for help to allow the state to proceed with drug testing for some food stamp recipients and legalize the hunting of gray wolves.

Meet Debra Wong Yang, who could be Trump’s SEC chairman

The next top cop on Wall Street could be Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor who is currently a star lawyer who has defended the likes of Uber and Chris Christie. Yang is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump to become chairman/Gibson Dunn Law practice via CNN The next top cop on Wall Street could be Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor who is currently a star lawyer who has defended the likes of Uber and Chris Christie.

The Latest: McConnell says no to select panel on Russia

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting calls for a special Senate investigative committee focused on possible interference in U.S. elections by Russia and other countries. McConnell says a finding by U.S. intelligence officials that Moscow hacked Democratic emails in a bid to elevate Donald Trump "is a serious issue, but it doesn't require a select committee."

Conway vows to go after political consultants

Kellyanne Conway, senior advisor to President-elect Trump's transition team, vowed Tuesday to rein in the power of political consultants, in addition to that of lobbyists. "Draining the swamp is not just about lobbying and politicians, it's also about consultants," Conway said during an interview on "The Laura Ingraham Show" radio program on Tuesday.

McConnell rejects calls for select panel on Russian meddling

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting bipartisan calls for a special committee to investigate Russian interference in the U.S. election, which American intelligence says was aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. The likely meddling by Russia "is a serious issue, but it doesn't require a select committee," said McConnell, R-Ky.

Grassley questions oversight of foreigners who get US flight training

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is demanding information about the Obama administration's oversight of foreign nationals who receive flight training in the United States. In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Grassley, R-Iowa, said an Oct. 11 airplane crash in East Hartford, Conn., has raised his suspicions about flight school training of the pilot, Feras M. Freitekh, a Jordanian national living in the United States.

Trumpa s infrastructure splurge would collide with U.S. skilled labor crunch

President-elect Donald Trump's drive to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges, ports and other public works projects with a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan would come as the country faces a shortage of skilled laborers. Before any dirt can be moved, Trump would have to get approval from Congress.

Trump wins Electoral College vote; a few electors break ranks

Republican Donald Trump prevailed in U.S. Electoral College voting on Monday to officially win election as the next president, easily dashing a long-shot push by a small movement of detractors to try to block him from gaining the White House. Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20, garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen U.S. electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state's directives, the largest number of "faithless electors" seen in more than a century.

Setting the Record Straight on Sessions & School Funding

On November 21, 2016, Thomas J. Sugrue published an op-ed titled, "Jeff Sessions' Other Civil Rights Problem," in the New York Times that I believe unfairly criticized Senator Sessions regarding the so-called "equity funding" case. Before my retirement, I served as an associate justice on the Alabama Supreme Court that decided four appellate matters arising from that case.

Revolt fizzles as Trump easily wins Electoral College vote

Despite weeks of lobbying and a day of protests, President-elect Donald Trump won all but two of the Electoral College votes he claimed on Election Day, ensuring he will become America's 45th president. All 538 electors met in state capitals across the country Monday to cast their votes.

Ohio Senators Vote To Advance Unemployment Insurance Bill

Both Ohio senators voted Tuesday to move ahead with debate on a three-month, $6.4 billion extension of emergency unemployment insurance. Around 40,000 Ohio residents saw their insurance cut off at the end of December after congressional Republicans left the program out of a last-minute budget deal, and another 128,000 stand to get cut off sometime in 2014.

Obamacare’s Tennessee inroads tenuous under Trump

Obamacare's Tennessee inroads tenuous under Trump Tennessee, even without Medicaid expansion, saw a 4 percent decrease in uninsured people from 2010. Check out this story on jacksonsun.com: http://tnne.ws/2idFAkw Chris Kane had insurance through Community Health Alliance before it went defunct then moved to Blue Cross Blue Shield Tennessee, now will have to go to Humana.

Electors stick to Trump script

They convened amid unusual scrutiny, widespread protests and rafts of speculation about efforts to alter the outcome, but, in the end, the nation's 538 presidential electors mostly stuck to the script Monday, formally sealing Donald Trump's victory with 304 votes in the Electoral College, well above what he needed to capture the White House. After all the efforts to lobby Republican electors to desert Trump, only two did - a pair from Texas, one of whom voted for former Rep. Ron Paul and the other for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.