Bank shots: Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor and his office last week joined a 19-state alliance investigating banks pursuing net-zero carbon emissions policies promoted by the United Nations.
“We joined this investigation for two reasons: America is not run by the U.N., and these banks are attacking Oklahoma fossil fuel producers and consumers as well as Oklahoma jobs,” O’Connor said in a press release.
“The Net-Zero Banking Alliance, overseen by the U.N., will destroy companies that are engaged in fossil fuel related activities or depend on them for energy or these lenders for capital. It is unacceptable that these banks are pushing an investment strategy designed to impose a leftist social and economic agenda.”
According to the U.N., the Net-Zero Banking Alliance controls 40% of the world’s banking assets and is “committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050.”
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U.S. members include the Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
Campaigns and elections: Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson will speak at a Tulsa County Republican Party Get Out the Vote rally at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Stoney Creek Hotel and Convention Center, 200 W. Albany St., Broken Arrow.
Oklahoma BizPac, the political arm of the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, endorsed a slate of candidates for Tulsa-area races: Republican Ally Seifried, Senate District 2, Claremore; Democrat J.J. Dossett, SD 34, Sperry; Republican Clay Staires, House District 66, Skiatook; Democrat Suzanne Schreiber, HD 70, Tulsa; Democrat Amanda Swope, HD 71, Tulsa; Democrat Melissa Provenzano, HD 79, Tulsa; and Republican Stan Sallee, Tulsa County Commission District 1, Collinsville.
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s reelection campaign tried to get reporters interested again in the $50,000 State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, then a Republican but now Stitt’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 8 general election, received from founders of Epic Charter Schools.
Stitt and Hofmeister both received campaign contributions from the now-indicted founders, but Hofmeister received a lot more.
Hofmeister’s response is that, despite the contributions, she pressed for sanctions against Epic once it became clear that public funds were being misused.
Without naming names, former state auditor and former state GOP Chairman Gary Jones put in a good word for a former Republican — Hofmeister — and a lot of current Republicans who, as legislators, voted for House Bill 1010xx, the 2018 legislation that raised gross production, fuel and cigarette taxes to balance the state budget and raise teacher pay.
At that time, state revenue was chronically short of expectations, forcing severe spending cuts.
“Asking Oklahoma citizens for more of their hard-earned money is never easy, however in this case it saved Oklahoma from disastrous alternatives,” Jones said in a written statement following ads by the Stitt campaign attacking Hofmeister for the rise in the oil and gas tax rates.
As state superintendent, Hofmeister supported the measure but had no direct part in its passage.
Four well-known state military veterans have endorsed Hofmeister: Maj. Pete Reed, Gen. Myles Deering, Maj. Gen. Rita Aragon and Master Chief Larry Van Schuyver.
The Tulsa Firefighters’ political action committee endorsed Stitt.
Gail Bellmon Wynne, daughter of former Oklahoma governor and U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, was among several women to endorse Hofmeister.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin endorsed Stitt.
Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, a national organization often at odds with the pharmaceutical industry, began a digital ad campaign against U.S. Sen. James Lankford’s attempt to repeal recent legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and cap others.
Lankford argues that doing so will reduce innovation and ultimately lead to higher prices.
Stitt signed the Moms for Liberty parent pledge, which reads: “I pledge to honor the fundamental rights of parents including, but not limited to the right to direct the education, medical care, and moral upbringing of their children. I pledge to advance policies that strengthen parental involvement and decision-making, increase transparency, defend against government overreach, and secure parental rights at all levels of government.”
Moms for Liberty was started in 2021 by a Florida school board member who was defeated for reelection after she opposed COVID-19 prevention measures such as face mask mandates. The Tulsa County chapter is known for its criticism of area public schools and anything it deems an infringement on parental rights.
Hours before Hofmeister and Stitt’s only one-on-one debate, state Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, issued a press release complaining that he had not received requested information from the Oklahoma State Department of Education about how COVID relief funds for education were spent.
Stitt and Republican state superintendent nominee Ryan Walters, who is also Stitt’s secretary of education, have been strongly criticized for their handling of such funds. That was touched on during the debate, but not at great length.
The Ekklesia of Oklahoma, a Christian nationalist group based in Guthrie, endorsed Republican Dana Prieto in Senate District 34.
Suddenly, it’s 2024: Republican Jackson Lahmeyer, who mounted a noisy but unsuccessful challenge to Lankford in the Republican primary, is now sending up flares about a 2024 run in the 1st Congressional District.
This seems to be based on the expectation that Republican incumbent Kevin Hern will not seek reelection then.
But Hern has never indicated that such is the case.
“We are thankful for Mr. Lahmeyer’s kind words in regard to Congressman Hern’s record. While he is a staunch supporter of legislation to impose term limits on Congress, he has never self-imposed term limits. He will continue to serve the constituents of the 1st Districts as long as they and (Hern’s) family see fit,” spokeswoman Miranda Dabney said last week.
Transition: Stitt formally named Adria Berry executive director of the reconstituted Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, which will transition from the Department of Health to independent status on Nov. 1.
Berry has been leading the OMMA since last year.
Meetings and events: The Oklahoma Democratic Party’s Leading Ladies Gala is postponed to an unspecified date after the first of the year.
Bottom lines: Stitt appointed Adam Panter district attorney for Pottawatomie and Seminole counties, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of Alan Grubb. … The day before Oklahoma’s most recent execution, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s lethal-injection protocol does not violate the U.S. Constitution or federal law. … A study by personal injury attorneys ranks Oklahoma the ninth-most dangerous state in which to drive. Mississippi was No. 1.
— Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
Ginnie Graham and Bob Doucette talk about the Oklahoma gubernatorial debate between Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, from asking if they ever smoked marijuana (one said yes, one said no) to the closing statement that brought one candidate out from behind the podium.
