Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/series/inside-democracy/page/2/)
The daughter of a state House leader who pushed a bill to protect the right to sentence juveniles to life without parole is a district attorney who seeks such a sentence in a Custer County case. The bill, however, was killed by an appeals court ruling and a requested veto.
A small group of unelected citizens, all appointed by Republican state leaders, will soon be exercising significant powers to decide how the state’s top agencies spend their funding and which services they should provide. Will it have a political agenda or be independent?
Oklahoma Watch reporter Trevor Brown is interviewed on OETA-TV’s “Oklahoma News Report” about his story and data tracing all donations to legislators from oil and gas industry interests.
Although the Step Up Oklahoma plan failed to pass, it highlighted a gap in state campaign finance laws that can keep much of the funding and spending on both sides of the issue a secret.
An Oklahoma Watch review of campaign records sheds light on a little-known perk: After being elected, legislators can tap campaign donations to pay for meals, trips, memberships and other expenses.
From January to September legislators spent $462,315 in campaign donations on “officeholder expenses”. Some were questionable. This data shows a sampling of lawmaker spending on trips, meals and event tickets.
A nonprofit foundation created by Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb has raised more than $850,000 since it launched nearly two years ago. But with Lamb’s candidacy for governor, the nonprofit is treading a fine line between issue advocacy and appearing to promote Lamb in the race.
Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, is a rarity in the Legislature: He refuses to accept any gifts or meals from a lobbyist. Two other legislators received less than $100 each from January to June.
Explore our searchable, sortable database showing all reported lobbyist gifts and meals for legislators and other officials.
An Oklahoma Watch review of thousands of gifts and meal purchases in 2017 found it’s impossible to confirm who was bankrolling efforts to influence policymakers for a quarter of the record-setting amount that lobbyists spent on legislators and other state officials last session.