Joy Hofmeister enters the the race for Governor...as a Democrat! Also some other stuff happened, but that's most of what we discuss.
Links discussed in episode:
- First, the public affairs software company Quorum recently released a report summarizing information about state legislatures during 2021. Some interesting takeaways:
- In general, the larger a state's population, the more bills their legislature filed.
- No correlation to the number of bills enacted, though.
- Oklahoma’s 149 state legislators filed 3,057 bills, of which 582 were enacted.
- That averages out to 20.5 bills filed and 3.9 bills enacted per legislator, which is the 11th highest rate in the country.
- Health and Education were far & and away the most popular topics for bills nationwide.
- Oklahoma state Senator Mary Boren is the most active Oklahoma legislator on social media with 3,600 posts on Twitter & FB this year.
- Advocacy group “Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action” filed two initiative petitions this week. One would basically fully legalize recreational marijuana for anyone age 21 or older, including growing, buying, transporting, preparing and consuming it. The measure would double the excise tax on marijuana sales, from 7% to 15%. It would also allow anyone serving time for a marijuana-related conviction to request that conviction be dismissed. (Which seems like it violates the single subject rule.)
- The second initiative would eliminate the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, which is a part of the state dept of health, and create a standalone state agency called the Oklahoma State Cannabis Commission, which would also have a seat in the Governor’s cabinet. It would also remove the cap on the number of cannabis-related business licenses and allow for home delivery of marijuana products. (Again, seems like a violation of the single subject rule.)
- Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax sent a letter to lawmakers debunking allegations of election hacking by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell
