$255 Million in 72 Hours

The Oklahoma House just gave a foreign corporation one of the largest handouts in state history—with almost no public debate. This is not lawmaking. It’s looting.

You’ve heard it said that “never is a man’s life, liberty, or property more in jeopardy than when the Oklahoma legislature is in session.”

And as this year's session comes to a close, that statement has perhaps never been more true, maybe in the entire history of our state than it is right now—this very week—in Oklahoma.

That's because, over the past few years, legislators have removed safeguard after safeguard, allowing themselves to act with very little public notice or deliberation. Their "get-it-done-at-all-costs" approach has destroyed transparency and meaningful deliberation in the House. It has devolved into a culture of lawlessness, where anything goes—so long as the powerful person in the corner office signs off.

Nothing better illustrates this point than the action taken just yesterday, when the House gave final approval to a proposal that had first been made available to the public on Saturday afternoon. It was a complicated corporate welfare scheme, designed to hand $255 million to a foreign corporation—one of the largest corporate giveaways in Oklahoma history and the latest chapter in the state's new ethos of "Corporate Welfare on Steroids."

This extremely complex proposal was first made available to the public on a Saturday afternoon, pushed through committee on Monday, and passed on Tuesday. Does anyone seriously believe that legislators, let alone the public—most of whom still haven’t even heard about it—understand the full implications of this?

For perspective, that $255 million giveaway is nearly double the impact of next fiscal year’s tax relief package. Compare the two approaches: the people of Oklahoma will benefit from approximately $130 million in tax relief in the next fiscal year; meanwhile, a single corporate entity will benefit from $255 million—after just three days of public awareness, half of which was over the weekend.

The insanity isn't limited to the House of Representatives. The Senate has decided to jump in on the "win at all cost" ethos as well. State Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, upon witnessing the failure of that same $255 million giveaway in a Senate committee, discovered a procedural maneuver to "rescind the vote"—allowing senators to flip on a subsequent attempt. But, also this same week, and quite ironically, when it came to the wind turbines setback proposal—a proposal heavily opposed by wind energy lobbyists, whose industry is surging the Biden administration’s green energy invasion of rural Oklahoma—Paxton suddenly rediscovered the concept of “final action,” and appears to have unilaterally killed the bill.

If this seems familiar to readers of this publication, it’s likely because Paxton borrowed his “rescind the vote” strategy from the House. That’s where Speaker Kyle Hilbert, sitting in the Presiding Officer's chair, personally moved to reverse a vote he didn’t like, giving a bill an unprecedented third vote—a bonus vote. When criticized for this lawlessness, House leadership didn’t correct the mistake. Instead, they doubled down by issuing a ruling that removed the long-standing precedent that once a bill is defeated in a public vote, it’s done.

Now, in this lawless new environment, the arm-twisting and behind-the-scenes dealmaking can continue indefinitely. House and Senate leaders are destroying sound legislative protocol and the safeguards that once preserved integrity. A new win-at-all-costs ethos is obliterating the credibility of Oklahoma’s legislative institutions—a credibility that many of those of us who served in previous years had sought to establish through a program of reform and transparency. Those efforts have long ago been abandoned as the legislature descends deeper and deeper into a culture of lawlessness.

So, why couldn’t the House have provided at least a few days for the people of Oklahoma to see and understand the massive giveaway proposals?

And, why are legislative leaders destroying the rule of rule to advance their proposals?

I would suggest they are acting out of fear. They fear the transparency of due process because it would allow the people's voice to be heard, and that voice would offset the power of the monied special interests who benefit from the bad proposals.

And that fear is in and of itself a sign of progress.

We know this: when the people fear the government, that’s tyranny; but when the government fears the people, liberty is the likely outcome.

So, as legislative leaders act out of fear, it’s important to not become discouraged, but more determined—to realize this is a sign of progress. And with each passing election cycle, enabled by the rise of independent media and technology, more and more regular Oklahomans are becoming positioned to challenge the co-opted incumbents who unfortunately still make up a majority of sitting representatives and senators.

That said, it’s important to stress that while the next election cycle will undoubtedly be the election cycle where more regular people, non-political challengers, emerge than ever before, these campaigns must begin soon. Waiting until next year is a tactical mistake, as there’s limited ability to educate and inform the greater public during a compressed time frame.

So, soon after the close of session, The Oklahoma State Capital will publish two indexes: the Capitol Conformity Index and The People’s Audit. In combination, these two tools—coupled with some of the other indexes and measurement tools available to the people—will allow for, first, the identification of those legislators who have perpetrated or enabled this new ethos of lawlessness in our institutions, and second, the identification of the issues, and the specific votes, on which to demonstrate the culpability of those legislators.

With these tools at hand, it’s time for all of those who are able, to act. To adopt their specific House district, to ensure that they or another conscientious, patriotic-minded public servant is willing to step up, and to utilize the forum provided by the election cycle to, win or lose, to achieve the goal of educating a large segment of the voting public.

While doing this work is a sacrifice of one’s time, money, energy, and even reputation—as the dark money will be particularly vicious toward those who are true reformers—restoring the integrity of the people’s governing institutions in the greatest state of the greatest republic in the history of the world is an incredible mission to get to be a part of. It is my sincere belief that, acting together, we are just beginning the first chapter of what will become an extraordinary and transformative movement.

If you’re interested in joining this cause—by recruiting someone, or running for a House or Senate seat in the next election cycle—please reach out at jason@oklahomastatecapital.com.

And, distribute this message far and wide as we work together to inspire and identify those who are ready to step up.

Many more updates like this are planned. If you have yet to subscribe to The Oklahoma State Capital, visit oklahomastatecapital.com/substack.