Let's Pod This

On the ballot this year are several changes to Oklahoma City's governing document - the city charter. We're joined by City Councilors JoBeth Hamon and James Cooper, municipal attorney Laura McDevitt, and Generation Citizen's Elizabeth Sidler to discuss the nine proposed changes.

News9 just released the results of their most recent poll, and some of the results are downright surprising. We discuss them as well as the latest ad from Senator Jim Inhofe, which was also surprising (but for different reasons).

Happy Labor Day, listeners! We break from the usual format to pause & reflect on the origins of this holiday and share a "civic sermon" by Whitney Kimball Coe , which she delivered during our Civics Con event in May 2020.

We discuss some of the most notable results from this week's primary run-off election, including: (1) Bice squeaks out a win over Neese for CD5 nomination (and what happens to Bice's campaign now as she turns to face Congresswoman Horn in November), (2) Tommie Johnson bests incumbent PD Taylor for OK County Sheriff, thereby guaranteeing OK County will have its first black sheriff, and (3) three #o...

The DNC goes virtual, Oklahoma County commissioners go rogue, and contrary to what the Governor has said, apparently the White House does have a whole bunch recommendations for how Oklahoma should be responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Universities struggle to articulate what it is they offer to students and Oklahoma County has a budget board meeting go in an unexpected (and potentially unwise) direction.

While the usual partisan gridlock in Washington is holding up additional stimulus money for the entire country, we discuss whether or not Oklahoma really needs more money and some ideas on how to disrupt that two-party, partisan gridlock. Also: zombie insects. Links: Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop by Lee Drutman Zombie cicadas Zombie bees

We discuss how the state and federal government continue to struggle to respond to COVID-19 (despite how they frame it). Meanwhile, significant movement in the criminal justice space: a ballot initiative qualifies for the ballot, the director of the Pardon & Parole board resigns and, ironically, two men escape from the Oklahoma County jail. Also Scott apparently loves magicians. Helpful Links...

We discuss the possible reasoning behind and implications of the resignation of Governor Stitt's Chief of Staff, Michael Junk, the state legislature announces interim studies, and...apparently aliens may actually exist? Links mentioned in this episode: House interim studies Senate interim studies NYT article about aliens Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma Summer Advocacy Bingo

Wow, what a week! Governor Stitt has COVID, cities are mandating masks, updates on SQ807 & SQ810, a lot of folks are down with PPP, the McGirt ruling breeds disagreement amongst the Five Tribes, and the food banks partnered with OESC to help help Oklahomans in need. During the episode we reference this legal filing regarding SQ807 as well as this article from The Frontier about PPP recipients...

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that 19 million acres of Oklahoma is indeed part of an Indian reservation. Legal correspondent Brian Jones joins us to discuss the potential implications of the McGirt vs. Oklahoma ruling, the continued increase in COVID-19 cases, and the Governor's refusal to require masks. Things to read: Stephen Colbert’s “Truthiness” video clip McGirt majority o...

Bailey shares her experience being a first-time poll worker and we recap the results of the 2020 state primary election.

The number of COVID-19 cases is up, attendance at President Trump's campaign rally was down, problems with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission are up, and a reminder that there's an election going down...right now, actually.

Happy Juneteenth! We take a few minutes to discuss the history & significance of the holiday and then get into the big news of the week: COVID-19 numbers are WAY up and there's going to be a huge campaign rally tomorrow. What could go wrong? Also, remember to VOTE on or before June 30th - by mail, early in-person, or in-person on the day of the election.

It’s been three months since the NBA suspended their season following the announcement that a member of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a day that effectively marks the beginning of a new era in our lives. At the time that happened, March 11th, Oklahoma only had two confirmed cases of COVID-19; now there are 7,848 confirmed cases and today, June 11th, 222 of which were rep...

In the two weeks since our last episode, the nation has erupted in protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. We stand with #BlackLivesMatter, and in this episode we have a discussion about racism, policy, and how we can do better. Below are the resources we discussed: Resources list referenced by Andy: Anti-Racism Resources for White People Video referenced by Bailey: Br...

As the legislative session draws to a close, Governor Stitt had a busy week signing - and vetoing - a large number of bills. In doing so, the divide between the legislative and executive branches appears to be growing ever wider. What does that mean for the Governor's agenda...and for the state? The Oklahoma legislature ended both their regular session and their special session today . In doing so...

When a quadruple veto override is the least notable thing that happens at the legislature in a given week, you know session must be drawing to a close. This week the Governor vetoed the budget plus three related bills, the legislature quickly voted to override the vetoes, and the legislature passed all manner of other bills that would do everything from:  Changes to the initiative petition pr...

This week the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the notary requirement for absentee ballots, and three days later the legislature put it back. But that’s not all they did - they also extended the Governor’s emergency powers under CHEPA for another month and passed a budget for FY21. And don't forget for register for CIVICS CON , which is coming up on May 29th!

The State seems to be having a hard time acquiring personal protective equipment (PPE), and that has led to some...questionable purchase decisions and a forthcoming audit of the state Department of Health. Also, it looks like the state budget will be $800M-$1.3B short next year...but why can't the legislature and Governor's office agree on how much? SHOW NOTES Announcements  Civics Con regist...

A whole lot has happened over the last week! From declarations of revenue failures at the state and city level, to civic groups suing the election board, to legislative candidates who don't actually live in Oklahoma, to - wait for it - the state is slowly beginning to reopen. But is that a good idea? We discuss it all! Governor Stitt announced that SQ802, Medicaid Expansion, will be on the ballot...

We spend a little extra time discussing not just the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic but how we get to the end of the pandemic, specifically four proposals for how we get there. SHOW NOTES State of play in Oklahoma Avg Tests per day: 1440 (265-2750) Positivity: 7.0% # Tests available: 86,603 Testing supplies available: 41,327  Serology testing is underway How does OK stack up? To test...

Just when it seemed like the 2020 #okleg session was going to be smooth & uneventful, budget negotiations took an unexpected turn this week when the Governor threatened across-the-board cuts all state agencies if his "digital transformation" project isn't fully funded. In response, House & Senate leaders pushed back hard in an attempt to call his bluff. Where does leave us?

On Thursday Governor Stitt invoked the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act (CHEPA), which is a set of emergency powers that was passed after 9/11 to enable the state to respond more quickly to a nuclear or biological attack.  Needless to say, this has never been used before.  What we know this means:  Well, the Legislature will go back to the Capitol next week for a special ses...

Most of country is now working from home, and that includes the state legislature. We're joined by Oklahoma House minority leader, Representative Emily Virgin, and House majority floor leader, Representative Jon Echols, to talk about how #okleg is working remotely, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the state budget, and what bills we might see squeak though this session.