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The Oklahoma Legislature returned to the Capitol Monday for the start of a special legislative session to address a $215 million shortfall in the state budget, but have not yet reached a deal on exactly how to plug the revenue gap. Members of the House and Senate met briefly to formally hear bills, and the House seated two new Democratic members elected in special elections over the summer.
IN a narrow 5-4 decision, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a new car tax is not subject to the Oklahoma Constitution's 75 percent supermajority requirement for enacting new taxes. The court said lawmakers didn't need supermajorities to remove tax The practical effect is that lawmakers are now free to approve literally billions in tax increases - as that term would be understood by a layman - with only simple majorities.
With the automobile sales tax decided, lawmakers are expected to finalize plans for a special session. The session, if it happens, likely won't be announced until the governor and legislative leaders agree on how to address a $215 million shortfall caused by the Oklahoma Supreme Court's rejection of an unconstitutional cigarette fee.
A state Muslim civil liberties group, governor and state Republican party are responding after a Facebook post by a Republican state representative equated the removal of confederate monuments after the Civil War to removing mosques after the 9-11 terror attacks. State Rep. John Bennett, R-Salisaw, posted on his Facebook timeline early Thursday morning "If we're removing confederate monuments after the Civil War, I think we should also be removing mosques after 9/11."
Buena Vista wind farm turbines photographed in the Altamont area of Contra Costa County, Calif., on Friday, May 8, 2015. The question of how many birds are killed on the Altamont Pass by the wind turbines located there has once again reared its ugly head.
In a hand delivered lawsuit two tobacco industry powerhouses say the state's newly passed cigarette price increase is illegal. Tobacco giants Phillip Morris USA and RJ Reynolds are suing Oklahoma over a recently passed $1.50 fee on cigarettes.
A white Oklahoma police officer acquitted in the killing of an unarmed black man last year will be allowed to return to the force - although she won't be allowed on patrol, Tulsa's police chief said Friday. Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced in a one-sentence email that officer Betty Jo Shelby will return to active duty.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, left, listens as Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan speaks during a press conference, Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Tulsa, Okla., about the not guilty verdict in Tulsa police office Betty Jo Shelby's manslaughter trial. A jury on Wednesday acquitted Shelby, a white Oklahoma police officer who says she fired out of fear last year, when she killed Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man with his hands held above his head.
Protestors gather in front of the Mayo Hotel after a not guilty verdict for Tulsa Police Officer Betty Jo Shelby is announced at the Tulsa County Courthouse Wednesday, May 17, 2017, in Tulsa, Okla. Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Mary Fallin has called for calm after a jury found a Tulsa police officer not guilty in the shooting of an unarmed black man last year.
The Latest on the not guilty verdict in the manslaughter trial of a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man. : Demonstrators blocked a main road in downtown Tulsa for a short period of time after a police officer was found not guilty of manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed black man.
A Massachusetts doctoral student is trying to force the CIA to open up about how it uses jokes on social media. A Massachusetts doctoral student is trying to force the CIA to open up about how it uses jokes on social media.
Back in the 1930s, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously referred to states as “laboratories of democracy.” Enraged by the hundreds of thousands of women who peacefully took to the street in Washington in January, and the activists who camped out to block the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, lawmakers in 20 states are debating or voting on more than 30 bills aimed at criminalizing or otherwise cracking down on the protest movements spawned by President Donald Trump's administration. But critics say that, in their haste, these lawmakers are shredding the Constitution and stomping on free speech rights as they shovel the proposals into the legislative maw.
Apparently not satisfied with the progress on the state budget, the Senate amended a House bill with a Senate budget proposal Monday and sent it back to the lower chamber for consideration, Senate Pro Tem Mike Schulz said. But House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said the Senate proposal contains a "poison pill" - an increase in the fuel tax.
The Oklahoma Senate has given final legislative approval to a bill to repeal the trigger that would cut the state's individual income tax rate from 5 percent to 4.85 percent. The Senate voted 32-9 for the bill Monday, sending it to Gov. Mary Fallin who is expected to sign it.
The Oklahoma Legislature faces political gridlock as lawmakers balk at legislation to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue and close an $878 million hole in next year's budget to avoid catastrophic cuts to state agencies and services. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin has called for a "major overhaul" of the state's tax system and says she is willing to veto any budget that does not include new revenue for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. So far, lawmakers have supported adjusting the state income tax standard deduction and attaching fees to tickets to professional sporting events to raise relatively small amounts of revenue.
Gov. Mary Fallin has vetoed a bill pushed by the payday lending industry that would have added to the kinds of high-interest loans to be offered in the state. Fallin issued her veto message late Friday, saying she had concerns about the impact that House Bill 1913 would have on low-income families in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter discusses plans for legislation to create Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse. [Photo by Grayson Cook, The Oklahoman] Declaring that Oklahoma is in the midst of "an opioid abuse epidemic," Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter joined state lawmakers Wednesday in announcing support for a resolution to form an Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse.
Almost three-fourths of Oklahoma voters are opposed to Gov. Mary Fallin's proposed half-cent tax on wind generation, according to a new poll sponsored by a wind advocacy group. The State Chamber also is voicing opposition to the plan.
In this Feb. 6, 2017, file photo, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin delivers her State of the State address in Oklahoma City as Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb listens at left.