Task Force Suggests Raising Campaign Donation Limits
There’s probably a website dedicated to ways one might spend $32 million. It’s a lot of money.
But that’s how much politically involved nonprofits spent to influence Oklahoma voters in 2022. As Keaton Ross reported, it was a significant increase from the previous gubernatorial election cycle in 2018. Outside groups are allowed to spend unlimited amounts to influence voters as long as they do not coordinate with candidates.
Those contributions, which have been around since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United v. FEC case in 2010, are commonly known as dark money. That’s because unlike individual donations to candidates, which are capped, the political action committees that receive those contributions don’t have to reveal where the money come from. They operate in the dark.
So much dark money flowed into Oklahoma in 2022 that Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed a nine-member task force to study the money flow and make recommendations about how the state could curtail it. Keaton’s story explains those recommendations, which were revealed this week.
“Oklahoma does not have a mechanism to reverse the long line of Supreme Court precedent, nor can we simply ignore it,” the report said. “But Oklahoma does have the ability to require more rigid reporting and accountability of the officers of the entity.”
More worth reading:
Court Rules Osage Not Subject to McGirt
The closely watched decision means Oklahoma can continue to prosecute tribal citizens accused of committing crimes in Osage County, which Congress established as the Osage reservation in 1872. [The Oklahoman]
Budget Stalemate Continues
Disagreement over how the Legislature can move forward in crafting a state budget for the coming year remained apparent between the Senate and House on Thursday. [Tulsa World]
Doctors Won’t Be Able to Opt-Out
A Senate committee on Thursday killed a bill that would have allowed health care providers and insurance companies to deny services for non-emergency procedures based on moral or religious grounds. House Bill 3214 died in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on a 6–6 vote. [Oklahoma Voice]
Oklahoma’s first newspaper was the Cherokee Advocate, which began publication in Tahlequah in 1844. It was printed in English and Cherokee.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
