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Oklahoma
Posted: Feb 06, 2026 10:50 AMUpdated: Feb 06, 2026 11:28 AM
CAPITOL CALL Powered by Phillips 66
Tom Davis
Appearing on KWON Radio's CAPITOL CALL Powered by Phillips 66, State Representatives John B. Kane and Judd Strom along with State Senator Julie Daniels brought us up to date on their work at the state capitol.
Last week, Rep. Strom talked about getting tough with those who are irresponsible with state monies,"We put together a task force and came up with a slate of bills of changes in policy that are hope seek to eliminate a lot of misspending and poor spending choices by your government, the state of Oklahoma.' He added, "A lot of that centers around if you misspend or or abuse the trust of taxpayers with your spending choices, that it won't be looked at as an oopsie anymore to be looked at as a misdemeanor."
When asked how this message was being received in Oklahoma City, Strom said, "Well, the people that are worried about going to jail don't like it much." He added, "They've been through my office a few times, but other than that, it's had a pretty warm reception, I believe. It has actually been pretty popular this week. We've got a lot of co-authors on that legislation, those eight bills that we worked on over the summer out of the working group, and they're moving along, so that's been pretty exciting this week as well."
State Senator Julie Daniels reported that she went to the Energy Committee, and presented the Energy Security and Independence Act for Oklahoma. Daniels said, "When people in the fossil fuel industry in Oklahoma are following all the rules, and they're following the federal and state regulations, they're operating within their permit in a highly regulated industry, you may not sue them for alleged damage to climate, climate change, or emissions, because this has become a practice in some states where, if you don't succeed with Congress or legislatures, just go to the courts and let judges and juries set policy. That's not what separation of powers is about." She added, "We in Oklahoma are going to proactively say, if you have good actors, they're following all the rules, and you can't prove that they caused this particular damage, then you may not sue them in our courts. We'll be the first state to do it."
Rep. John B. Kane provided an update from the Appropriation and Budgeting Office. Kane was amazed how quickly things are progressing saying, "We came out of the state of the state, and we were having meetings, and we know that the budget is going to be a little bit tighter this year." He added, "We know we don't have as much money as pwe previously had so, we're going to have to really sharpen our pencil on some things."
Kane continued saying, "We also have some real stress points, mainly being in our Human Services, Department of Mental Health. The Medicaid issue is going to be huge. It's a lot of money, and we have to figure out how we are going to square that circle and get this budget together."
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