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I have previously written about some state’s rights initiatives which will be considered by the Oklahoma Legislature in an attempt to counter some recent expansive actions of the federal government.
Proponents of this legislation point to the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution which states that power not specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution shall be maintained within the states. This is an especially important component of our governance structure as we have a much greater opportunity to have our voices heard when the power of government is placed at the most localized level possible.
One of these state’s rights initiatives is House Joint Resolution 1054 authored by Representative Mike Ritze and Senator Randy Brogdon — and co-authored by several Legislators, including myself. The concept behind HJR 1054 was successfully introduced into the Arizona Legislature last year in response to the federal government’s attempt to expand its role in the health care industry. HJR 1054 would allow Oklahomans to vote on placing a new section into the Oklahoma Constitution. If approved by Oklahoma voters, the new provision would state that laws “shall not compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system.” Read more…
By Rep. Jason Murphey
Last week I enjoyed being in attendance at a Social Media conference which encouraged participants to engage in discussion and strategy sharing regarding their use of social media. Myself and State Representative Joe Dorman were in attendance to share our experiences of using social media as Legislators.
This forum provided me with an opportunity to explain how House Bill 2318 will empower the state’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) to develop and implement uniform social media policies by which state government can use social media.
I believe this is extremely important as social media provides the potential to establish an effective feedback mechanism in which the citizens can let state officials, and everyone else for that matter, know about the performance of state government.
In the past, when a citizen was ill-served by state government they likely had a few select channels into which they could direct their story of state government’s failure to perform. They could place a call to the bureaucracy which had performed poorly and with luck their complaint might reach up into the bureaucracy at some level. However, it is extremely unlikely that the leadership in that particular bureaucracy would ever hear about, much less remedy, the wrong. In too many cases the citizen’s voice simply goes unheard. Read more…
By Rep. Jason Murphey
In recent days there has been a good deal of debate surrounding the fact that the federal Congress is not allowing C-Span cameras to televise the meetings of the health care legislation conference committee. This debate has illustrated the importance of allowing the citizens to observe legislative proceedings.
In the summer of 2008, I wrote a series of articles in which I defined a check list of items which the taxpayer could use to see if their elected official was truly representing the citizens or was representing the bureaucracy, special interests and the status-quo. One of the most important of these items is that of transparency. In my view, transparency issues provide the citizens with a defining issue by which they should hold an office holder accountable.
If the office holder is opposed to openness and transparency then it is my belief that he is acting contrary to the principles of good government and should be replaced as soon as possible. Oftentimes those opposed to these reforms will cloak their arguments behind any number of superfluous arguments but the end result is the same; they don’t want the citizens to know what goes on in government. Read more…
Over the past few months I have enjoyed working to put in place the legislative framework for this year’s House Modernization agenda. This has included sourcing the number of ideas generated over past months, determining the political feasibility of winning legislative approval, constructing a legislative framework to serve as implementation vehicles, and working with other Representatives to incorporate their ideas.
This process has produced one of the Modernization initiatives which I will be sponsoring this year: House Bill 2310. HB2310 contains an aggressive effort to target some of the most obvious waste in state government. Read more…
By Rep. Jason Murphey
I find it helpful to use the occasion of the new legislative session to think back about my experiences and observations over the last three years and apply the knowledge picked up from this review to strategize how to conduct my efforts during the next year.
Perhaps you have encountered someone of the belief that in order to win approval for legislation, an elected official must play a political game in which he compromises his principles.
I can distinctly recall the comments of those who asserted it would be nearly impossible to pass legislation because politicians would be alienated with stances such as my pledge to sponsor a bill to reduce legislative pay, refusing lobbyists gifts and contributions, massively reducing government spending and voting against all new debt spending.
However, with the support of a large number of reform-minded legislators, I have been blessed to win approval for a number of legislative initiatives codifying a modernization agenda designed to reduce the size of state government while making it more transparent and accessible to citizens. This was done while still refusing to compromise on these principles. Read more…
State Rep. Joe Dorman will join two other American state lawmakers and one Canadian federal lawmaker on the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Transatlantic Dialogue Program Study and Information Tour of Germany.
“I am honored to serve on the tour, representing Oklahoma in a visit to Germany , where they’ve just underwent federal elections,” Dorman, D-Rush Springs said. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to interact with German officials and get ideas as well as share ideas with them about our government.”
The Transatlantic Dialogue Program (TAD) is part of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The TAD promotes the exchange among decision makers to exchange their ideas, opinions, and experiences in order to formulate new approaches and solutions for future-orientated politics. Part of this dialogue is a program for German and U.S. State Legislators as well as Canadian Federal Legislators. Read more…
This week I will be hosting the third of four Town Hall meetings which are scheduled in House District 31 during this year’s legislative interim. At each of these Town Hall meetings, it has been my goal to bring together state and local officials to provide updates to area residents. At almost every meeting, I have invited at least one area State Senator and one local County Commissioner to provide a broad base of access to both state and local issues. Read more…
Hello again, everybody! Some battles at the State Capitol are over quickly; others continue, waiting on political leadership to catch up with public opinion.
The struggle to provide health insurance coverage to children with autism is one of those battles that will continue. Finding a way to help these children and their families is one of the issues to which I have devoted much effort.
For me, this struggle is a moral issue. My continued work on this is borne from my commitment to strengthen families and help ensure that every child has a chance to reach their God-given potential. Read more…
I’m sorry I missed last week’s column. It was a busy week and I did not have the chance to sit down and reflect on all which occurred. I’ll try to get everyone caught up to date.
My family lost my grandmother, Jackie Henderson, to cancer this past Friday. She lived in Jacksboro, Texas and her funeral was on Monday. It was a service she would have liked as people reflected on the good times with her and the memories which brought back laughs. It was the first time many of our cousins had been together in years and we agreed that we would try to spend more time together, especially since many of them have children the same age as when we would get together at holidays. She and my grandfather were very supportive of the grandkids and encouraged us to achieve our dreams. All eight of their grandchildren will have completed college degrees (one is in his final year). This is truly the meaning of family values when they worked to improve the lives of the next two generations of their family. Read more…
Learning from the Failures of other States
Rep. Jason Murphey
If you spend much time watching business or news networks such as CNBC or FOX, you may have noticed a commercial promoting Michigan as a good location for business owners to conduct business. For the past several years, Michigan’s political leaders have offered $3.3 billion in tax credits through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and spent another $1.6 billion in outlays to create and retain jobs. The subsidies include tax breaks for film production, funding for new industrial plants, and millions for the nationwide TV ads starring celebrities talking about business and tourism to Michigan.
Upon seeing the ad, and aside from thinking about how wasteful it is for state government to spend money on television commercials, I seriously question how the politicians in Michigan can so aggressively insult the intelligence of American business owners. Read more…
Hello again, everybody! Recently, I was in a political skirmish with an organization that issued a report critical of Oklahoma’s back-to-school sales tax holiday.
Passing the sales tax holiday was one of the most important legislative goals I had when you elected me to be your senator. Forces from big city mayors to high-dollar lobbyists worked to defeat the proposal. After years of hard work, perseverance and bipartisan cooperation, we finally overcame those obstacles to pass the bill.
Although the sales tax holiday has been in effect for three years, and is very popular across Oklahoma, some still fight it. One of those groups continuing to oppose the sales tax holiday is The Tax Foundation, a Washington special interest group. Read more…
By Rep. Jason Murphey
Legislators should certainly have the ability to expend funds in order to secure the proper support for the responsibilities of the Legislature such as hiring staff etc. They should not however be able to direct appropriated funds once those funds have been appropriated to the various agencies.
Oklahoma legislators have historically been experts at getting around these restrictions. They have found ways to “pass-through” money to certain entities where it is subsequently directed to the recipients of the legislators’ choice. This allows for the possibility of corruption. In a recent federal criminal case, it has been demonstrated how legislators have used this system for their own direct financial benefit.
Unfortunately, this system of inappropriate pass-thoroughs is still alive and well. However, the recent effort of some courageous local officials could send a strong message to the Legislature and win a big victory for the taxpayers. Read more…
Hello again, everyone! Last week, I wrote that no one is talking about a special session to adjust the state budget in light of the revenue shortfalls.
This week, almost everyone is talking about whether lawmakers should return to the Capitol. Initially, it looked as though the governor would call the Legislature into special session beginning on Monday, August 31. Within a few hours, however, it began to appear that a slower “wait-and-see” approach would prevail.
Finally, the governor announced the question of “if” we return for special session would be answered after the tax revenue numbers for next month are known. Should we have another shortfall – a situation in which the state collects less than what is necessary to meet the conservative budget approved in May – a special session in September is very likely. Read more…
By Rep. Jason Murphey
I will be hosting a series of Town Hall Meetings across House District 31 this week.
During the last mid-term interim, I conducted a series of these meetings in order to provide updates about both state and local government events and to provide an opportunity for questions and answers so my constituents could be better informed about issues of importance to them.
The meetings were attended by several hundred people and provided another opportunity to see how people felt about the issues at hand. This feedback has allowed me to advocate for issues such as road funding and property tax reform knowing that I was representing the desires of the people. I am also very appreciative to a number of other elected officials who took the time to attend those meetings as guest speakers. Read more…
I was in Oklahoma City over most of the weekend visiting friends in the hospital. I won’t mention their names, but please keep those from our area who are sick or injured in your prayers. It is amazing what the will of people and the spirit can do to heal when there are friends who believe in you. I’m sorry I had to miss a couple of events at home, but I felt that I needed to be at the hospital to be with friends and help those families in need.
Best wishes are to be extended to one of my colleagues who will be leaving the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Ryan McMullen, who shares a portion of Caddo County with me, as well as other parts of the state to the west and north, will be leaving the legislature to take a position in the Presidential administration running the USDA Rural Development Programs. This area is key to providing assistance through grants and loans to rural Oklahoma. Ryan will do an excellent job in this job. Read more…
DURANT, Okla. – Hello again, everyone! The summer generally is a very slow time at the State Capitol. With the legislative session complete, lawmakers return to their districts and their families. The focus of lawmakers’ work becomes constituent service and preparation for the next year’s session of the Legislature.
One of the ways in which we prepare for the next legislative session is through a series of meetings called interim studies. Lawmakers request these studies to get more information on issues; the interim gives us more time for in-depth study. Read more…