We’ve heard it.  If you are a political junkie in Oklahoma you’ve most likely heard it, and there is no doubt that the folks in the media rooms out at 23^rd and Lincoln have heard it.

‘It’ is the story of one of Oklahoma’s most influential elected officials being caught in an illicit affair with a top staff member by the elected official’s spouse. We’re also hearing that the subsequent staff member may have retained legal counsel in an effort to protect their job. Sources tell us that the charge of sexual harassment is being considered by the high level staffer if they are terminated.

If true, the situation is very dangerous and fraught with peril for the politician, the staff member AND the taxpayers.  It would be far more than a ‘private’ matter for the official, as so many philandering politicians so self-righteously like to state when caught red-handed.  In this situation, the politician is known as an ambitious sort who craves power and higher office.  But the circumstances of this internal sex-scandal at a major state agency suggest the resolution could involve the operations of the agency and state tax dollars.  The public has every right to know if a philandering dirt-bag is buying off their trouble with a big fat settlement or job in another agency.  The whole situation has the stench of corruption attached.  The only antiseptic is pulling back the shroud and letting the public know if this elected official’s business is legitimate, or more of the monkey variety.

The public has a right to know, and the folks on the 4^th floor have an obligation to ask.  We’ve mocked the Oklahoma press corps for their often indolent and lazy attitude toward news that matters, and their evident indifference to scandal, but there’s smoke here.  We’ve done our job.  Let’s see if the press can figure out how to do theirs. Here’s a hint for the press. The elected official will be announcing soon that they are not running for re-election.

Attached is the final draft report of the Jail Cmte. Study.  Judging from the recent editorial in the Oklahoman, Sheriff Whetsel may get a free ride in the press.

However as you can see, it is a scathing indictment of the OPERATION of the jail while addressing some of the problems with the capacity of the jail.  Many feel that Sheriff Whetsel should not get a free ride on this.

There is some indication the Feds may get involved, but if they do, every county jail in Oklahoma is at risk – with very few exceptions.  Insiders we’ve talked to believe they are waiting to present their final report on what the County does.  OKPNS attempted to get the Sheriffs response to the DOJ report, but you will notice in the report a subtle hint that his response is flawed and he may well have misrepresented several issues in his response.  (A possible crime?)  An example is the reference to staffing levels.  The sheriff represented inflated staffing levels in his response, using AUTHORIZED levels rather than actual! note reference to that in report.

As to food service, when the kitchen is shut down for repairs, the Baptist Convention disaster team moves their mobile kitchens on the jail parking lot and prepares food for the detainees.  We’ve been told that when this occurs, invariably the detainees write letters complimenting the quality and preparation of the food, even though it is the same food!!
Estimates of the cost from professionals of building 600+ new cells, an infirmary, and reception ctr. (the sheriff also wants new office space, not included in the recommendations) is approx. 150 million. Just an informed guess, no real work has yet been done. Sheriff Whetsel wants more naturally and it will be interesting to see how the report is viewed by the Comm. next week when it is presented. Many speculate the Committee and Sheriff will take political cover behind the committee, as noted in the report.

This week the Oklahoma House of Representatives took action to again send to the Senate and the Governor an important pro-life measure. Senate Bill 139 (SB 139), authored by Oklahoma City Democrat Rebecca Hamilton, would stop the use of taxpayer money from funding almost all abortions. SB 139 is very similar to Senate Bill 714, which passed both the House and the Senate earlier in the session but was later vetoed by the Governor.

The Senate has twice attempted to override the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 714, but both attempts fell just one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed. Because the Senate could not override the veto, the bill was bottled up in the Senate and the House did not get to vote on the override attempt.

SB 139 offered an opportunity for those of us in the House to again press the issue that taxpayer resources should not be used for abortions. It is important for us to take action, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because of the groundswell of public support for this policy. I have received more calls in support of Senate Bill 714 than any other bill this year. It is clear that people do not want their tax dollars used to destroy life and they are demanding the government take action.

In order to entice the Governor to sign this measure, authors of the bill have used almost identical language as that in Senate Bill 714, with slight changes in wording. This new language may be instrumental in chipping away support from Senators who until now have been willing to back the Governor’s veto.

In order for SB 139 to pass the House, it faced the difficult hurdle of two procedural votes requiring approval from two-thirds of the members of the House. Tony Lauinger, State Chairman of Oklahomans For Life, stated that these were the most important pro-life votes of the year. Each vote passed by a margin of one vote and I was pleased to cast my vote to help insure passage.

During the upcoming two weeks, your continued support of ending the policy of taxpayer funded abortions will be vital to the success of SB 139. Thank you for calling my office with your concerns. Please continue to contact the Governor and your Senator as well.

As always I may be contacted on the web at www.housedistrict31.com or on the phone at 557-7350.

Murphey Legislative Update
2/21/2006

One of the most important issues before the legislature this year is Governor’s Brad Henry’s proposal to issue $663,362,000 of new bonded indebtedness.

I feel strongly that state government should avoid long-term debt. I believe it is irresponsible for politicians to saddle citizens with millions of dollars of debt and debt interest and then allow the bill to come due in the future when they are no longer in office. This places debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. It also makes it difficult to reduce the size of government because government will be forced to keep taxes high in order to pay the debt and interest.

What seems particularly egregious about the Governor’s proposal is the fact that in a year when state government will have approximately $250,000,000 new dollars to spend, there is a move to incur millions of new debt.

Of additional concern is that the Governor’s proposal attempts to use this debt to fund non-capital items. Traditionally, government bonds are issued for capital projects such as the construction of buildings. However, in his budget proposal, the Governor appears to be seeking the authority to spend a sizable percentage of this debt on non state-owned capital items. This is money that will disappear into government bureaucracy, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for years to come.

It is also important to remember that the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits the government from going into debt. However, years of creative interpretation by the judiciary have made it possible for those who advocate for public debt to open up a Pandora’s box of spending.

If we are serious about rolling back big government and enacting important pro-growth reforms such as eliminating state income tax, this is an issue we can not afford to ignore. As it stands now, the job of reducing the size of government has been made difficult enough because of inappropriate spending by politicians of the past, such as raiding the teachers’ retirement system and leaving us with $7,000,000 of unfunded retirement system liabilities. I believe that members of the legislature must understand that it is our responsibility in representing the people to draw a clear line in the sand and defeat this attempt to mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren.