Interesting News That Needs Reading Today

Oklahoma Voice gets the prize for having the most interesting reads in one place this week.

When I opened the email today I was pretty surprised at the topics they’d covered.

Panasonic to delay production at Kansas battery plant as electric car sales decline, policies shift – Oklahoma had tried to land this plant, offering nearly $700M in incentives.

Why is this important? Because of the tag line – Oklahoma was going to offer SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION of YOUR tax dollars to get the plant here. Fortunately, everyone and their dog in Topeka, Kansas, offered more taxpayer dollars than Oklahoma and the plant went to Topeka.

As so many of us fighting the ‘green agenda’ have said – most of these deals are done via non-disclosure-agreements (NDA’s) that leave neighbors of the plant/project/etc. almost completely in the dark as to what has been promised to the plant/project/etc., though the neighbors (i.e. tax payers) are paying for it and will have to live with it as part of the “people in their neighborhood“.

Here we have a plant that was ready to go, but then had to scale back because people are deciding to scale back on EV purchases and because President Trump has put the kibosh on EV subsidies through the Big Beautiful Bill. The plant has already spent taxpayer dollars to get up and running. What’s going to happen to the rest of Panasonic’s community promises of jobs, etc. with the scaleback?

This is just one of the many reasons why OKLAHOMA should NOT be pumping taxpayer dollars into private businesses – in so many cases, taxpayers aren’t getting what they paid for. But who cares, right? It’s not the Governor’s money, or the Commerce Department’s money…

Oklahoma parents, faith leaders drop lawsuit over Catholic charter school

There’s no reason to sue when the Supreme Court has said that taxpayer funds can’t fund religious education.

“The plaintiffs and their legal counsel — who include attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation — declared victory while dropping their case”. The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Advocacy Coalition was also involved.

Sadly, these are all left-of-center organizations that hate Christians and religion. I’m a conservative Christian, so they don’t represent me – other than my viewpoint that the state should not fund religious schools. Here’s why:

My God is a jealous God and if I had autonomy over my purse I would not ever financially support another religion. It’s America. You do your own religion. But don’t do it on my dime. When the government takes my money by force and gives it to a church outside the sphere of my religious belief, I’ve funded a religion whether I meant to or not. I vote. The government is of the people, by the people, for the people. How I can say I have absolutely no say against that is mind-blowing.
The government controls what it funds. During COVID, lots of churches closed down because their state told them to. People quit going to church because they were simply told, “you can’t” and lots of people listened. I do not want my government controlling religious institutions of any kind. Churches are to be the pillar of the state. They can’t be that when the government tells them “you can’t”. Churches should make the state accountable to the people and to God. They can’t if the government tells them, “you can’t”.
It is against the Oklahoma State Constitution to use tax dollars to subsidize religious schools. How did a bunch of attorneys decide that the highest land in the nation can just change Oklahoma’s Constitution and not its people. Who knows? Maybe Oklahomans would decide to change the state Constitution to allow that, but we wouldn’t have known because Oklahoma school choice pushers – Governor Stitt, etc. – wanted to remove The People from the government by making an end-around to the Supreme Court. Nope.

So, obviously, I’m thankful the Supreme Court deadlocked and the School Choice pushers were thwarted.

Former Oklahoma agency head prohibited from working for state, under settlement agreement

Well, the Ethics Commission actually did their job and slapped Shelley Zumwalt on the wrist.

In a story that personifies – for me – the absolute horror show that is the Oklahoma government revolving door of agency heads making the round of government agencies (Stitt appointed Zumwalt to three positions: the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage – a Cabinet secretary position), Zumwalt was fined $20,000 by the State Ethics Commission and told she can’t work for the state FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. Just enough time for Governor Stitt to be removed from office by term limits (thankfully) so that he can’t appoint her to anything else.

As the head of the OESC, Zumwalt created contracts with a business run – in part – by her husband. But don’t worry, neither she nor her husband benefitted, according to Zumwald and the Ethics Commission.

About this situation, AG Drummond said, in April of 2024: “This level of self-dealing represents an unforgivable breach of trust that disqualifies Ms. Zumwalt from overseeing the expenditure of our tax dollars,” Drummond said. “She should resign immediately and cooperate fully with my office as I seek to determine whether any Oklahoma statutes were violated.”

But, never fear, our intrepid AG will not now investigate Ms. Zumwalt because he’s satisfied – after the Ethics Commission ruling – that no crimes were committed here. Come on. Seriously? State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s office found that she violated the rules on conflict of interest by issuing contracts to a company of which her husband was vice-president.

So, breaking the rules isn’t committing a crime? Rules put in place to protect taxpayers from contract-fixing? Why have rules then? What are those supposed to do exactly? Provide a typist somewhere something to do entering it into a database? Again. Slap on the wrist. Yawn. Sigh. Who cares? It’s just taxpayer money…

State board calls for investigative audit of Epic Charter School – Mismanaged budget resulted in mass layoffs at Epic, state officials say

Why has somebody at the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board not created an agenda item for closing Epic Charter Schools? My word. This school has been mismanaged from the word “go” and cost taxpayers MILLIIONS and MILLIONS of dollars. Why does this keep happening? Why is the OSCSB LETTING it happen?

First there was State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s scathing audit of Epic which showed that, “since 2015, Epic was allocated $458 million in tax dollars, with $125.2 million funneled to a private company owned by Ben Harris and David Chaney, according to the audit“, though AG Drummond has declined to prosecute the men since taking the case over in 2023. Now, there are massive layoffs and a $30 million shortfall.

Cindy Byrd’s office performed the original audit. Now, Chair Bryan Shellem and the OSCSB have decided to hire an outside auditor to examine the school’s books. This is concerning. The ‘right’ auditor has to be found. So many state agencies and governments use auditors to obtain generalized information that doesn’t provide meaningful results to taxpayers. It will be interesting to follow this story to find out how EPIC will be audited now – and by whom.

FAMILY ORIENTED INFORMATION –

Porn and marijuana are hurting our boys. Parents and schools need to speak up.

“They smoke to relax. They watch to escape. They become lethargic, less motivated, more isolated. Not because they don’t care; but because they’re chemically rewarded for not caring.”

This is a HUGE and IMPORTANT statement. In point of fact, every dad (and mom) needs to read this OpEd in the Daily Oklahoman today and ACT ON IT. Young men in our society are being turned into zombies and we’re effectively letting this happen. Unfortunately, too many parents don’t care as much as this letter-writer. Please read this short editorial and take it to heart.

2025 Homeschool Curriculum Picks and Practical Planning Tips – Aby Rinella and Yvette Hampton

We’ve had Yvette on the show before. She and her husband produced the movie, “Schoolhouse Rocked: The Homeschool Revolution“, a documentary about the rise and possibilities of homeschooling.

Yvette – and Aby Rinella – just released this list of homeschool curriculum picks and planning tips! JUST IN TIME FOR YOU TO DECIDE TO HOMESCHOOL INSTEAD OF GOING BACK TO YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOL!

Check these out and opt for staying home with your kids. It was the best thing I EVER did and I wouldn’t take it back for all the money in the world. In fact, the only downside I EVER found to having my kids with me 24/7 was that when they finally grew up and flew out of the nest, it was just SO LONELY. Having them around was just the best! I recommend it HIGHLY.

July 15, 2025 0

According To Grok, Oklahoma’s Tax Credits Are Not, “publicly available in a straightforward way”

As many of you know, I’ve been hammering away for years about the massive number of tax credits/incentives our Oklahoma legislature is giving away so we can become a “Top 10 State” – whatever the heck that means. I’m not really sure, frankly, and according to the ways in which Governor Stitt is incentivizing businesses, it would be very hard to determine.

Look at Canoo, for example, and the Denmark deal for ‘green’ energy? How did Canoo’s bankruptcy help Oklahomans? How are deals brokered with other countries really going to help Oklahoma businesses, or help Oklahomans afford to be able to buy things from Oklahoma businesses to keep them going?

Recently, I decided to try and decipher all the tax incentives Oklahoma actually offers, so I started doing some basic internet searches. I always ended up back at the Oklahoma Commerce Department. On the website they do have a page for Business Incentives. On this page, you’ll actually find – make sure you’re sitting down – a SIXTY PAGE booklet that describes all the tax credits Oklahoma provides select businesses.

I say “select” businesses because do not forget – tax incentives don’t help ALL Oklahoma businesses, only SOME businesses – only those businesses that the Governor and his team ‘select’. And also don’t forget – the government only has the money they take out of our pockets – We The People are its only source of funding.

Because I think you might be interested, I’ve uploaded the booklet below so you can see it for yourself. There are SIXTY-SEVEN ways in which our Oklahoma government STEALS money from “We The People” and then redistributes it to ‘select/preferred’ businesses. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been offered even ONE way to get out of paying my income or the tax on the home I’ve paid for but the government could take if I don’t provide them a yearly check (aka property tax/ad valorem taxes). I guess I’m not a ‘select/preferred’ citizen.

So now you have an idea of how many tax incentives Oklahoma has for private businesses.

How much money would you say we spend on those tax incentives? Well…here comes GROK.

I’m a writer/researcher. I don’t like data centers and I don’t love the idea of AI, HOWEVER, it certainly does come in handy when search results are not forthcoming in a reasonable amount of time. Consequently, I asked GROK today, “What is the amount of money paid by the state of Oklahoma in tax incentives in 2024?” I’m posting GROK’s answer below.

Researching tax incentives

I’m looking into the user’s request about Oklahoma’s tax incentives in 2024. It’s a specific figure, so I’ll check official state sources or financial reports first.

Searching for “total tax incentives paid by Oklahoma in 2024”

What Is The Oklahoma State Income Tax In 2025?

The search shows Oklahoma offers various incentives like the Quality Jobs Program and film tax credits. Still, there’s no single total for all incentives paid in 2024.
It seems the state doesn’t publish a unified report summing up all incentives for that year. That explains why I can’t find a direct figure.
I’m thinking I need to dig deeper, maybe checking annual reports from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce or Tax Commission for more details.

Browsing okcommerce.gov for “total tax incentives paid in 2024”

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce website doesn’t have the info on their homepage. I’ll try searching for a specific report or section next.
Just found a document called “2024-OKLAHOMA-BUSINESS-INCENTIVES-AND-TAX-GUIDE.pdf” that might help. Let’s check if it has the total for tax incentives paid in 2024.

Browsing okcommerce.gov for “total tax incentives paid in 2024”

Hmm, the PDF doesn’t directly provide the total tax incentives paid in 2024 either. It seems to be a guide on available incentives rather than a report on expenditures.
From the web search, budget documents mention FY24 totals, like $12.8 billion, but that’s the overall budget, not tax incentives House Approves.
Another result talks about grocery tax elimination, reducing revenue by $418 million annually, but that’s a cut, not the total incentives paid Fiscal Year 2025.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission has publications, but no “2024 tax incentives report” is listed. Still, there’s a “2024 Summary of Tax Legislation” that might have details on incentive changes.

Browsing oklahoma.gov for “2024 Summary of Tax Legislation”

The browse result shows COPO documents for 2024, but no specific “2024 Summary of Tax Legislation” is listed in the provided content.

Searching for “Oklahoma Tax Commission 2024 Summary of Tax Legislation”

From the fifth web search, there’s a document titled “2024LegislativeUpdate.pdf” on the Oklahoma Tax Commission’s site. It might be the summary we’re after.

Browsing oklahoma.gov for “total tax incentives paid in 2024”

The “2024 Legislative Update” mentions the Parental Choice Tax Credit Act, but no total for 2024 tax incentives is given. It does say the OTC must publish monthly updates on payments claimed each year, though.
I’ve exhausted several avenues and can’t find a single figure for Oklahoma’s total tax incentives paid in 2024. I think it’s safe to say this info isn’t publicly available in a straightforward way.

And so, there you go. Oklahomans have no idea how much of their hard-earned dollars are going to fund business incentives in the state.

We do know, however, that Governor Stitt AND A WHOLE LOT OF HIS STAFF went to PARIS for the Paris airshow this year where they announced three new business deals; Kratos Defense and Security Solutions (I wrote about the 1.7 million dollars Oklahoma has given this HUGE publicly-traded defense giant, you should check it out), Dawn Aerospace (which is apparently working out a deal with Oklahoma Commerce and the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA), but Subsidy tracker has no idea what and it’s not found anywhere for public eyes according to GROK) and MST Manufacturing (which has so far received apparent COVID bailout dollars in the amount of $130,000, but doesn’t appear to be taking tax dollars for this new venture).

But it doesn’t stop there, my friend and amazing researcher herself, Nancy McDaniel collected the number of pieces of tax incentive legislation that were brought to the capitol this year. The list is SHOCKING. The ones below PASSED this last session:

SB44 (2025) Rader/Fetgatter – SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS to contractors with a tax exempt entity.

SB119 (2025) Green/Archer – REBATES for hydrogen industry.

SB234 (2025) Rader/Lepak – 50% TAX CREDIT for remodeling old buildings for rentals.

SB235 (2025) Pugh/Kerbs – Grow Your Own Educator GRANT program.

SB239 (2025) Wingard – This bill TRIED to repeal Oklahoma statute O.S. 68 (2021) Section 2357.32A which relates to TAX CREDITS on the sale of electricity generated by zero-emission facilities. There were two years remaining. The Senate Revenue and tax committee voted 5 to 5, a tie, therefore considered the measure as failed and the TAX CREDITS continue for 2 more years.

SB249 (2025) Thompson, K/Townley – Extends the expiration date for TAX INCENTIVES provided by the Oklahoma Tourism Development Act to January 1, 2032.

SB287 (2025) Pugh/Miller -TAX CREDITS for aerospace industry.

SB324 (2025) Thompson, K/Hill – TAX CREDITS for research and development with no specific industry named.

SB469 (2025) Boles/Woods – Oklahoma Emission Reduction Technology REBATE Program.

SB578 (2025) Coleman/Kelley – Quality Events Act – Extends GRANTS for 5 MORE years.

SB663 (2025) Pugh/Hill – The Workforce Coordination Revolving Fund may be used to create a workforce data integration system as well as provide GRANTS for critical workforce needs.

SB687 (2025) Hall/Caldwell, T – Broadband SALES TAX REBATE PROGRAM.

SB688 (2025) Hall/Hilbert – EXEMPTIONS OF AD VALORUM TAXES for payroll for manufacturing aerospace equipment.

SB713 (2025) Jech/Newton – TAX INCREASE FOR THE PEOPLE via bonds. A county can issue revenue bonds to purchase light mitigating technology for EXISTING windmills that do not currently have the technology. (If the windmill private companies are to pay for NEW wind turbines to have these lights, then they should also pay for THEIR EXISTING wind turbines to have them NOT tax the people through bonds).

SB987 (2025) Thompson, K/Osburn – Creates the Oklahoma Department of Commerce Board consisting of 9 voting members. The board must meet within 60 days of its creation, may create working groups to help carry out its responsibilities, and may accept GIFTS, GRANTS and DONATIONS from NON-GOVERNMENTAL SOURCES. (ARE THESE FROM LOBBYISTS???)

SB998 (2025) Green/Caldwell, T – Allows a utility to start recovering work-in-progress expenses prior to the commercial operation of a new, or newly expanded, natural gas facility. The Commission is required to permit a SPECIAL RATE for the recovery of such expenses. (the customers get screwed again with utility rate increases).

SB1150 (2025) Hall/Caldwell, T – Appropriates $15,000,000.00 from the PREP Fund to the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics for the construction or upgrades to a primary commercial airport. There is a $15,000,000.00 impact to the state budget. (who exactly is benefiting from this?)

SB1438 (2025) Patzkowski/Kern – Rural Economic Development GRANTS. Raises the cap, from $150,000 to $350,0000, on certain Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) grants administered by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.

HB1571 (2025) Lawson/Gollihare – Removes the expiration date for the Route 66 Commission who is responsible for funds awarding of GRANT funding for projects on the historic highway Route 66.

HB1727 (2025) Moore/Pugh – College SCHOLARSHIPS only for public teachers’ kids.

HB2019 (2025) Pae/Pugh – A TAX CREDIT for aerospace industry extended to 2032.

HB2260 (2025) Miller/Haste – Establishes 3 TAX CREDITS for civil engineers and their employers beginning tax year 2026. Qualified engineering businesses that employ a civil engineer will receive a TAX CREDIT equal to 5% of the compensation paid to an engineer until January 1, 2031, or 10% if the engineer graduated from an Oklahoma college or university. The TAX CREDIT is capped at $12,500 per employee, per year, and may claimed for up to 5 years. An employer can also CLAIM ANOTHER TAX CREDIT for up to 50% of the tuition reimbursed to an employee for up to 4 years of employment until January 1, 2031. Additionally, the engineer hired is eligible for a TAX CREDIT of $5000 per year, for up to 5 years until January 1, 2031.

HB2402 (2025) – Fetgatter/Murdock – INCOME TAX ABATEMENT for manufacturing of electricity from low grade heat.

HB2407 (2025) Fetgatter/Coleman – Oklahoma “Main Street” GRANT program.

HB2645 (2025) Hilbert/Paxton – HB2645 provides a $20,000 INCOME TAX CREDIT for doctors that practice medicine in a rural area for up to four years. A rural area is considered a city or town with a population of less than 25,000 that is at least 25 miles from the nearest city or town with a population greater than 25,000. The TAX CREDIT is available beginning tax year 2026 and is limited to $1 million in total claims each year.

HB2753 (2025) Caldwell, T/Howard – TAX CREDITS for Rural Jobs Act.

HB2767 (2025) Caldwell, T/Hall – Transfers $255 million to the ROA-25 Revolving Fund which was created to support industrial projects. The program is part of the Reindustrialize Oklahoma Act run by the Dept of Commerce to incentivize manufacturing companies to invest in Oklahoma.

HB2768 (2025) Caldwell, T/Hall – AMENDS the EXISTING Oklahoma Quality Jobs Incentive Leverage Act by increasing the maximum allowable investment for qualified establishments to $700,000,000.

HB2778 (2025) Caldwell, T/Hall – Creates the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program, which exempts household income from being factored in when determining eligibility for the Child Care Subsidy Program for employees of child care facilities.

HB2781 (2025) Caldwell, T/Hall – Creates the Reindustrialize Oklahoma Act (ROA-25) investment REBATE PROGRAM. The program will be administered by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce (ODOC), run through July 1, 2045, and provide rebate payments to a manufacturing establishment that makes a capital expenditures investment of at least $2 billion in the state and creates 700 or more new direct jobs by year one of the rebate period. By year two, the jobs threshold is increased to 1000 and will remain so for the remainder of the rebate period. The establishment must also meet the program requirements under the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program

HB2792 (2025) Caldwell, T/Hall – Makes changes to the Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity Fund to create a revolving fund and reappropriates to projects funds that were originally appropriated in 2022; a continuation of funds as several projects still have on-going expenses. The amounts for those projects are:

$25,000,000.00;
$1,000,000.00;
$20,000,000.00;
$20,000,000.00:
$20,000,000.00;
$22,350,000.00;
$14,000,000.00;
$4,000,000.00;
$22,500,000.00;
$5,000,000.00;

These ones below were brought to committee and thankfully VOTED DOWN: (notice this is a MUCH smaller list!!!)

SB119 (2025) Green/Archer – Creates an investment REBATE program for investments on property for the purpose of refining, manufacturing, and processing compounds or elements into hydrogen-based products. (NO senate floor vote).

SB236 (2025) Haste – Establishes an INCOME TAX CREDIT for employers required to comply with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements. Individual claims for the credit shall not exceed $50,000.00. The credit may be carried forward for a period of 5 years. NO vote in senate rev/tax committee.

SB241 (2025) Thompson, K – Appropriates $20 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to provide a REBATE for capital investments in an establishment that refines, manufactures, or processes compounds or elements into hydrogen-based products. NO appropriations committee vote.

SB271 (2025) Rader – A repeat of HB2305 above. (Did not get a senate committee vote). Creates the Oklahoma Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Act. The measure stipulates that passive receivers of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) providing essential services shall NOT be civilly liable to the state for costs associated with the release of PFAS to the environment. NO senate energy committee vote.

SB820 (2025) Boren/Gise – Amends the Oklahoma Five Major Sports Leagues REBATE Program Act which expands eligibility to the Womens Nat’l Basketball Association, Womens Professional Fastpitch and National Womens Soccer League. This Act provides a REBATE PROGRAM similiar to the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program with a maximum annual rebate of $10 MILLION per qualifying entity or establishment. NO house floor vote.

SB938 (2025) Kirt – Creates the Municipal Workforce Housing Development GRANT PROGRAM within the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency to provide financial assistance to municipalities for the purpose of increasing the availability of workforce housing. NO senate ecomonic development committee vote.

SB1501 (2024) Paxton – Income tax credit for geothermal. (NO senate floor vote).

HB2305 (2024) Rader/Pfeiffer – Oklahoma PFAS Act which said receivers of PFAS shall NOT BE LIABLE for the release into the environment. Also, that Oklahoma will accept other states’ PFAS. Oklahoma is not a toxic waste dump site! (Died in conference committee 5/30/24).

HB1848 (2025) Thompson, K/Schreiber – Committee substitute grants a TAX CREDIT to employers that provides a childcare subsidy to its employees or operates a childcare facility for its employees. The credit is equal to 30 percent of the subsidy amount or operating cost, limited to $30,000 per employer. The credit may be claimed for tax year 2026 through 2030 and capped at $5 million in total claims each year. NO senate floor vote.

HB2026 (2025) Archer/Haste – RENAMES the Oklahoma Aircraft Engine Testing Development Grant Program to the Oklahoma Aircraft and Rocket Engine Testing Development GRANT PROGRAM. (an EXISTING GRANT program). NO senate aeronautics committee vote.

Bottom line – this giving away money to PRIVATE BUSINESSES has to stop. Period. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat, tax incentives are NOT A PROPER FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT.

If you’re a REPUBLICAN, however, and you’ve had anything to do with business incentivizing tax credits, you need to change your political affiliation. The Republican platform includes planks on our belief in the Free Enterprise system (which can’t exist side-by-side with tax credits for businesses of any kind) and our belief in SMALLER GOVERNMENT, which will never happen when new employees have to be hired to maintain and care for another system of tax dollar giveaways. Sadly, note that the same legislators appear to be running tax credit legislation and they are nearly all Republicans.

Please, PLEASE, share this information with anyone you know and ask them to contact their Senator and Representative (at the Oklahoma Capitol – you can find yours here) and tell them that – if they want YOUR vote – they need to stop authoring and/or voting for tax incentives for businesses of any kind. We’ll never be able to lower income tax rates or try to divorce ourselves of property taxes if the government keeps stealing from us to fund pet business projects. Period.

June 25, 2025 1

Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of March 3, 2025

Oh my gosh. Lots and lots and lots of news from last week!!! So many things going on to try and follow – including legislation!

ROPE2.org

Colonel Jim Putnam, Candidate for Edmond School Board – Virtual Presence Is Actual Absence

Colonel Jim Putnam is running for Edmond School Board. We interviewed him on the podcast, Wednesday, February 26th, and had such fun. That guy is smart and tough and tested and has the right idea about school boards – they control the school! I made a couple video clips from our interview which I hope everyone will share with people who live in the district. Edmond Public Schools would absolutely be a better place with Colonel Jim on the Board! Make sure you click on the link to see the videos. In one, he tells a story that is just hysterical. It’ll start your week off with a giggle.

Governor Stitt (R) Warns Trump Not To Dump Green Subsidies.

While I was researching something else this week, I accidentally came upon an interview that Governor Stitt had done with the online rag (I mean mag…LOL) POLITICO. Yes, POLITICO. I guess they wanted to talk to him because our Governor now sounds more like a Democrat than a Republican. The article was a mess, but even worse was the video interview he did with them. The interviewer was HORRIBLE and Governor Stitt honestly made a fool out of himself talking about the free market while giving tax subsidies and other handouts like candy. Links to the articles and the interview is in the piece – including a video I put together SHOWING that our governor literally loves green energy and has no clue what ‘free enterprise’ and ‘picking winners and losers’ means.

Guest Don Spencer, OK2A President Wows Us With Some History And 2A Legislation

Former Representative, Jason Murphy knows a lot about the legislature, having served there a full 12 year term. Today, he is making the most of that knowledge by writing a Substack called, “The Oklahoma State Capitol“. He joined Michael and I on the podcast last week to talk about how the legislative process – at least the way its been run in recent history – is simply a shell game to keep the citizenry appeased and the lobbyists/big business interests that run the state, happy. You’ll want to read the blog to see who all these interests are so you can keep your eye out for them.

Former SD15 Candidate Robert Keyes, His Fight For Election Integrity, The Evidence In His Case And SB654 To Remove The Election Law At The Center Of It All

Friday morning (2.28.25), we had President of OK2A, Don Spencer on to talk about gun bill legislation going through the capitol this session. It was a really great conversation – especially when he talked about the Oklahoma Constitution and why Don and his group are still having to work so hard on firearm legislation. See the article for video clips. We also talked to Michael’s brother Mark about the federal Department of Education employee who got busted by Project Veritas for admitting that they protected illegal aliens from ICE. Mark also talked a bit about when he was a professor.

Who’s Running The Show? Oklahoma Carbon Capture, Part 2

Those of you who read Part 1 in my Oklahoma Carbon Capture series might be interested in Part 2. In this segment, I outline the people who are ‘invested’ (for lack of a better word) in Oklahoma’s carbon capture plant – the biggest one in the US. I’m not sure it’s who you think it might be, but you might have pegged the fact that they are a group of elitists who care about making money off the backs of taxpayers while ‘saving the planet’. They could care less if you want to farm or have an unobstructed view of the prairie, you’re just the little people who don’t really know what you want any more than to be guided by their much smarter (and richer) hands. This is a good one to share with friends and family who still think we’re a red state.

LEGISLATION

Much legislation has been passed through Committees this session, with more coming up this week. The cell phone bill was the first bill passed off the floor, unsurprisingly, since the Governor and the House and Senate leadership all want this STUPID bill (Usurping Local Control – Cell Phone Restrictions In Oklahoma – NO on SB1389 and HB1276). That article goes over the many reasons this is such a BAD bill and why it needs to be voted down by the House and Senate both.

As usual, the two-tiered committee system in the House is making it very hard to see which bills are out of committee and going for the floor. The week of the 3rd is the last week for bills to be heard in committees. After that, all the bills will finish up their hearings on the floor of the Senate and the House. We’ll have a pause then, to take stock of the bills that have passed BOTH houses, so we can put our heads together and determine which bills must be stopped (or passed) in committee on the other side of the capitol. We’ll publish the list at that time so EVERYONE can keep them on their radar!

I have to say that I felt so much more informed when I was just following education legislation. Trying to keep up with bad bills in all the legislative sectors is making my head spin!

OKLAHOMA SUBSTACK AUTHORS

Don’t forget to check out our Substack authors this week!

The Oklahoma State Capitol by Jason Murphy

The Sooner Sentinel by Marven Goodman

V1SUT Vantage by ‘Mary’

LOCAL MEDIA

The biggest local news of the week was the TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS audit by our fabulous State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. Here is the link to the actual 60-page audit. I suggest you at least scan it.

State audit finds culture of poor financial transparency at Tulsa Public Schools

Oklahoma Voice – We intend on having SAI Byrd on the ROPE Report Live podcast as soon as she’s able to talk to us in depth about this audit. There can’t be enough said about what a big deal it was. In fact, one of the biggest findings showed how the school board was left out of the administrative process altogether, while administrators created the school culture they wanted using lots of loopholes. It also shows the problem with public money being ‘given’ to private organizations which were used extensively at TPS. Now that the audit is through, we need to keep an eye on what happens next. If there are no arrests or prosecutions in this case, Oklahomans should throw up their hands in disgust and Tulsans should get a new DA as soon as possible. There is no reason for the SAI’s office to work this hard on an audit only to have the audit offenders in the same positions they were in BEFORE the audit. Prosecutions MUST be made for taxpayers, parents and the community to get any real relief.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Counties and Townships Authority to Zone, Permit, and Approve Certain Wind, Solar, and Other Green Energy Construction Projects

AG’s Office – This document is from the Oklahoma AG’s office. It’s a series of questions and answers about different types of local governments and what they can and can’t do so that citizens will know how to properly petition them for redress of local issues related to green energy projects.

Report shows $19.3M in Oklahoma’s private-school tax credits went to wealthier households

The Oklahoman – We’ve said it SO many times – the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit was going to be a boondoggle for Oklahoma taxpayers. It’s already caused private school tuition to go up – which we hypothesized it would – and now we find that nearly 25% of all the scholarships are going to people who can afford to send their own kids to private school if they really wanted to do so – families who made more than $250,000. Yes, Democrats are opposed to the voucher system because they claim it takes money away from public schools, but Conservatives like us rail against it because it violates the two biggest tenets of Conservatism – it grew government and it takes from one set of taxpayers to give to another. Only those people making over $250k are an actual tax credit – and even then, depending upon their income, they may have exceeded their tax credit and need a voucher for a second or third child’s tuition. Just a horrid plan. The legislature should quit giving public schools money carte blanche and make them actually perform to get paid. THAT would straighten them out, but our legislators are too chicken to even try the one thing that would make schools responsible to parents instantaneously.

Bixby superintendent Rob Miller announces run for state superintendent

News 9 – Back in the day, Rob Miller actually helped ROPE stop Common Core. We still have the video of Miller testifying before the House Common Ed Committee in November 2013 on our YouTube channel. Unfortunately, since that time, Miller has veered off the more conservative track. In fact, in Bixby, a group called Bixby Parents Voice has had to fight Miller’s leadership on a number of issues, including disgusting literature and parent comments at school board meetings. We’ll have to keep an eye on this situation and maybe even ask Miller to come on the podcast…

Could Oklahoma schools start offering free three-year-old pre-k?

KGOU – “House Bill 2395 by Rep. Brian Hill (R-Mustang) would amend existing law to allow schools to offer half-day or full-day pre-kindergarten for three-year-olds.” ABSOLUTELY NOT – UNDER NO CONDITIONS. Number one, schools are now going to have to possibly find day care teachers to change the diapers of toddlers in public school? Isn’t that what day care centers are for? If it’s to help parents who can’t afford day care, there are (of course) taxpayer subsidies to help with that. Secondly, it takes SMALL KIDS AWAY FROM PARENTS and makes the SCHOOL THEIR PARENT! We’re not going to get any closer to a world where we have happy families with children who can think for themselves if we’re going to allow government schools to start raising kids at younger and younger ages. NO NO NO NO NO!

Supreme Court sets date to hear whether Oklahoma can open publicly funded religious charter school

KOCO 5 News – The Supreme Court has set April 30th as the date when it will hear the case of St. Isadore Catholic school receiving taxpayer dollars as a private, religious charter school. This situation actually violates the Oklahoma Constitution, but apparently, in their desire to completely begin to fund ALL KINDS of religious schools with taxpayer funds, the state could care less. They’ve had to drag it to the Supreme Court. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will put the Supreme kibosh on this idea, because my God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) and I can’t imagine having to fund a Madrasa or a school of Satan via my tax dollars.

NATIONAL MEDIA

IMMIGRATION

I’m lumping several articles together here because I think they’re important as a group.

DHS will require migrants without legal status to register with U.S. government – Oklahoma Voice

Maine’s Schools Collapse as More Migrants Pour In – Breitbart

Hispanic Americans Eager for Bold Immigration Reform – The Washington Stand

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt Signs Illegal Immigration Bill Only To Open Door To VISA Taskforce

For those who may not remember, last week, Governor Stitt – angry over a State School Board agenda item to allow schools to simply count the number of illegal students – fired the three board members who voted for it and replaced them with three other picks. Please note the Breitbart article, which essentially says that Maine’s schools are collapsing under the weight of illegal students who can’t take tests in English but are required to, who can’t communicate with their teachers – which means they can’t learn anything – and who need so much remediation that Maine is having to spend more and more money just to keep their heads above water. No one is helped in this situation – not the students, the families, the schools or the taxpayers, but Governor Stitt simply wouldn’t entertain the notion that Oklahoma is having the same problem and needs to get a grip on the problem – the first start of which would be to see how many illegal students there are in the Oklahoma public education system.

This was more of a problem under the Biden administration because the Democrats were not only allowing illegal immigration, they were continually promoting it. Now, with Trump in office set on stopping the rolling tide of illegal immigrants to the US by creating policies like that of forcing illegals to register, it shouldn’t be rocket science to at least count the number of illegal students in order to try and help schools appropriately help non-English-speaking students.

According to the article in the Washington Stand, legal Hispanic citizens don’t want the effects of illegal immigration any more than any other citizens in this country legally. We had an entire podcast about that fact with two legal Oklahoma citizens of Hispanic origin. Why Governor Stitt had such a fit over this issue is a complete mystery – or is it? We’re investigating that now.

Examining a new method of estimating homeschool participation

Thomas Fordham Institute – Put under the category “scary”. Why it is that so many people feel as though they need to know exactly how many families are doing the most normal thing in the world – educating their own children just like their forefathers did? But then again, it scares authoritarians when they can’t make everyone do what they want, so I guess it’s not so shocking. I would just suggest that no one needs to know how many homeschoolers are out there for any reason at all and leave it at that.

Apple Rejects Attempts To Protect Children From Online Sex Abuse, Repeal Harmful DEI Policies

The Federalist – Alliance Defending Freedom worked to introduce resolutions at Apple’s shareholder meeting that would protect children from online sexual abuse and remove DEI programming and all four were voted down. I know so many people just can’t live without their I-whatever, but this is truly bad news and should make Apple owners think twice.

Poll: Rate of People Who Identify as LGBTQ at Record High

The Washington Stand – “Gallup chalked up the trend to an uptick in younger, liberal women identifying as bisexual during the years of the Biden administration.” In the last two years of the Biden administration alone there was a sharp increase, with the percent of Gen Z that identified as LGBT going “from an average of 18.8% of Gen Z adults in 2020 through 2022 to an average of 22.7% from 2022 to 2024.” Yet another concerning trend.

March 3, 2025 0

Weekly News Headlines and Commentary – Week of 2.3.25

This week’s headlines include lists of legislation posted to the site to watch for this year’s legislative session. More items will be posted this week.

February 4, 2025 0

Gov. Stitt’s Commerce Department Gives Multiple MILLIONS Of Taxpayer Dollars To Paycom And Love’s Through Quality Jobs Incentives

Granted, in a recommended appropriation budget of 10,060,793,526 for 2024, a million dollars here and a million dollars there, isn’t that big a deal – it’s chump change.

But then again, every dime of this money is taken by force from a working citizen of the state, ostensibly to provide services to the taxpayer – not to enrich the multibillion dollar corporations of billionaires – even ones that make Oklahoma their homes.

Let’s take Paycom, for example. Paycom is an online payroll company created by Oklahoman, Chad Richison. Here is a bit about Mr. Richison from Forbes.

As you can see, Mr. Richison is personally worth over 1 billion dollars. Here are a few articles about Mr. Richison that pop up in a simple internet search:

Meet the highest paid CEO in S&P 500, Paycom’s $211M man

The billionaire CEO of Paycom just paid $26.5 million for a beachfront Malibu mansion that took 12 years to build and blends into the rocks. Take a look inside.

Paycom CEO Chad Richison donates $10 million to UCO for stadium upgrades

Unfortunately, Mr. Richison is also a liberal who is not at all shy about announcing his thoughts on state policy. For example, during the COVID nonsense, Mr. Richison wrote a letter to Governor Stitt complaining about a lack of leadership on COVID and that further restrictions must be made on business and movement in the state.

Also in 2020, Mr. Richison wrote a letter to OU saying that he was pulling his advertising because the University was essentially racist and didn’t have adequate training to establish an understanding of ‘racial equity’. Not long afterward, OU became a bastion of DEI training. But that’s not all.

In yet another letter written to the Regional University Board of Reagents, Richison criticized their pick for UCO’s University President, former Republican Lt. Governor, Todd Lamb.

Why then, has the State of Oklahoma Commerce Department given Paycom Payroll over ELEVEN MILLION dollars in taxpayer funds during the years of 2024 and 2023 and, beyond that, why has it been granting them funds since 2009?

The information above is from a very useful website called, “Subsidy Tracker” by “Good Jobs First”. If you click on the hyperlink on the left side of the spreadsheet (which can be found here), it tells the origin of the subsidy. Note, on this page, apparently Texas is providing subsidies as well, though very limited. Overwhelmingly, Paycom’s incentives are Oklahoma based.

Note, the origin of the subsidy is the “Quality Jobs Incentive” program. Though the money is dispersed through the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the Quality Jobs Incentive Program is a product of the Oklahoma Commerce Department (OCD). Here’s what the website says about the program:

The Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program serves as an incentive for companies to expand or relocate jobs to Oklahoma by providing a rebate of a portion of newly created payroll in the state. The program induces the creation of well-paid full-time jobs and promotes economic development. Companies may receive benefits during the first three years of participation while working to achieve the required payroll threshold for full qualification.

How are these grants dispersed?

The agency – in this case Paycom – that wants one of the many taxpayer subsidies dispensed though the OCD, must fill out a request. Then, at some point, the OCD Incentive Approval Committee calls them in for a meeting during which the asking business may speak. After that, the Committee adjourns to an Executive Session during which they decide how much of a grant to provide the business.

There are several problems here other than the glaringly obvious:

Who is on the Incentive Approval Committee? Internet search turned up no answers, but a concerning Frontier article – Committee approves request for state jobs incentive money by company founded by Gov. Kevin Stitt. This article states that the Committee consisted (when the article was written in 2020) of Department of Commerce Executive Director Brent Kisling and Oklahoma Tax Commission Chairman Charles Prater – both of whom were directly appointed by Governor Stitt. The third board member was Dan Ross, director of capital assets for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
The article mentioned above, also points out the lack of transparency in this process – all of the grants given out through the Quality Jobs Incentive Program are done so through Executive Session of the Committee. The only way to find out how much any company gets is by going to the Oklahoma Tax Commission website and scrolling through the yearly Excel files housing the HUGE number of tax dollar giveaways supported by Oklahoma citizens.
On the website where agendas are stored for the various taxpayer giveaway committees, the only agendas for a program that was created in 1993 (according to the Frontier article), are from 2024 and January 2025. Even then, five months of 2024 agendas are missing. Why?
Every agenda must be scoured to find out the names of the businesses going to the OCD with their hands out asking for taxpayer dollars. There is no searchable list, so each agenda must be read individually – if it’s available for inspection on the website.

Obviously, taxpayer dollars are being provided to certain private businesses and the taxpayer – the people funding these ‘grants’ – have to go through quite a process to find out how much of their dollars are going where. How very transparent. But then, the Frontier article is about how Governor Stitt’s mortgage company was receiving grants from the Committee he peopled to make decisions about how to give away state taxpayer dollars.

Unfortunately, this is the same for Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc. According to Subsidy Tracker, Love’s has a large number of ‘grants’ given it by the state of Oklahoma for both 2023 and 2024. In fact, the taxpayers of Oklahoma have given Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS – $8,074,378 to be exact.

Tom and Judy Love, who together founded the Love’s dynasty here in Oklahoma, have both recently passed away (Tom in March of 2023 and Judy in November of 2024). Both Tom and Judy were tremendously generous with their self-made billions in their home state.

A story in the Oklahoman published just before Judy died, listed her as the second wealthiest self-made woman in America, pegging the Love’s net worth at over 10.2 billion dollars. It also provided a long and varied list of their philanthropy in Oklahoma, including Positive Tomorrows, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The Loves were also famous for their support of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

According to Forbes, the estimated revenues of the Love’s stores across the country is 24 billion dollars. Last April, Love’s announced that it would be making a billion dollar investment in updates to their facilities.

Love’s has benefited from tax credits, TIFs, grants or rebates from the states of Nebraska, Colorado, Mississippi, Virginia., Iowa, Illinois and Ohio. All of these subsidies have been a mere fraction of the 8 million dollars provided by their home state of Oklahoma, however.

In 2022, a subsidiary of Love’s, the Musket Corporation, received a $10,800,000 guaranteed loan from the federal Import/Export Bank.

Love’s is on the Quality Jobs Program Incentive Approval Committee agenda for the Regular Meeting of the Committee September 19, 2024 10:00am, along with Paycom. Again, their ‘grants’ were warded via the Committee in a closed door Executive session.

One last piece of information collected by the Oklahoma Commerce Department, indicates that neither Love’s, nor Paycom is in the top 10 hiring companies in Oklahoma. Which begs the question – why are so many millions given to both multiBILLION dollar private corporations for ‘quality jobs’? Paycom is number 25 and Love’s is even lower at 31. Consequently, taxpayers are paying for job recruitment and retention for two billionaire corporations of Oklahoma billionaires that aren’t even top 10 employers in the state.

The number of tax dollars being dolled out to private businesses via incentives by Governor Stitt’s administration is staggering – and we’ve already reported on the unbelievable amount of tax dollars being given to wind generation companies doing business in the state. One only has to go out and look at the Excel spreadsheets of them on the Oklahoma Tax Commission website and scroll through name after name to get the scope of this Santa Claus list.

Just this week, Governor Stitt has announced that he wants to reduce and eliminate the Oklahoma income tax. That’s wonderful. No citizen of America – let alone Oklahoma – should be forced to give their hard-earned wages to their government to be redirected to private entities and other nonsense that doesn’t benefit them directly. Oklahomans should applaud that idea.

It is a cause for curiosity, however, as to how this miracle can occur until Oklahoma stops handing out the millions upon millions in tax-payer funded incentives for private business we continue to shell out on the back of the Oklahoma taxpayer, yearly.

January 31, 2025 3

Oklahoma must stop carbon capture before its too late

Opponents of the green energy onslaught in Oklahoma have celebrated several high profile wins over the past few months. In December, the Department of Energy cancelled the Delta Plains Electric Corridor, a 645-mile long (and 18 miles wide) transmission line project that would’ve spanned the entire northern part of the state, after relentless pressure from landowners, activists, and lawmakers.

A proposed wind farm in McIntosh County was scrapped earlier this month, after intense public outcry. The Canadian company TransAlta planned a massive wind farm of 100 turbines, but scrapped the project after encountering intense pressure from activists who are becoming increasingly organized and vocal about the encroachment of green energy into our state.

In December, a judge ruled that a large wind farm of 84 turbines in Osage County must be dismantled within one year, after ruling that Enel, a renewable company currently operating several green projects in the state, failed to acquire the proper permissions to build, violating the Osage tribe’s mineral rights.

Despite these wins, there has been very little public outcry over the rapid advance of another green energy scam in Oklahoma: the carbon capture industry. How many know that the largest Direct Air Capture facility in the United States opened in Osage county back in August? The project, Bantam, passively draws carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere via a method using heated limestone, and then captures the CO2 to be compressed into a liquid and injected deep below the surface for permanent storage, or transported via a proposed vast network of pipeline throughout our state.

In December, the New York Times dubbed carbon capture as a new “gold rush”, and thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which tripled the 45Q tax credit that companies receive for each ton of captured carbon, billions are being poured into this unproven and potentially dangerous technology.

In November, OU’s Melbourne College of Earth and Energy received an $18.7 million grant from the Department of Energy, the largest grant in the college’s history, to establish the Oklahoma Carbon Hub, and researchers will investigate three separate underground storage locations to potentially inject 54 million metric tons of liquefied and highly pressurized CO2 over a period of 20 years (54 million tons may sound significant, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the 40 billion tons of CO2 pumped into the air globally each year).

Once injected underground, this massive amount of high-pressure CO2 will require constant monitoring for hundreds of years to prevent disastrous leaks and shifts. There are currently three customers committed to providing captured carbon to be stored deep under Oklahoma: the CVR fertilizer plant in Coffeyville, Kansas, the Azure Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production Facility near Cherryville, Kansas, and the Bantam Direct Air Capture facility in Osage County.

I, for one, don’t remember this ever being on the ballot, or even being discussed with the public before proceeding with these plans. Does Oklahoma really want millions of tons of out-of-state CO2 stored under their feet, where future generations will be saddled with the burden of ensuring that the CO2 remains underground?

A new study concludes that sequestered CO2 must be stored for 1000 years, centuries after the companies collecting on the carbon capture “gold rush” have disappeared from the earth, but the CO2 will remain, and all future generations of Oklahomans will be forced into stewardship of these wells. Put in this perspective, its easy to see how outlandish these endeavors are.

New research has found that existing carbon capture facilities appear to capture almost none of the total emission they release during operation, seemingly cancelling out the carbon that they do capture. A carbon capture project located in Decatur, Illinois, one that the DOE called “the largest demonstration of its kind in the United States”, was recently found to have captured only 10 to 12% of its total emissions each year. The facility, Archer Daniels Midland, was also found to have experienced dangerous leaks last year,

One big question that should be asked is this: what happens when our entire subsurface storage is filled to the brim with CO2? When 50 or 100 million tons are stored under our feet, will it have affected the level of atmospheric CO2 in the slightest? Once we’ve run out of room for captured carbon underground, where will newly captured CO2 be stored? Will the liquefied gas migrate to the surface, threatening the lives of anyone in the vicinity? Will our aquifers or our soil be in danger of contamination? Can this highly pressurized gas cause earthquakes? The questions are almost rhetorical. It seems clear that this is an enormous and dangerous boondoggle, and no one has a right to demand our citizens bear this level of risk.

The massive amount of money being poured into carbon capture appears to be blinding investors and legislators from considering long-term consequences and how this “gold rush” will affect no only present generations, but future generations who will inherit this ridiculous burden.

Unlike other green energy projects, carbon capture has drafted our oil and gas industry into the scam, and they’ve become some of the biggest supporters because they stand to reap the rewards thanks to large increases in the tax credit. To oppose carbon capture in Oklahoma means to oppose the oil and gas industry itself. As more investment pours into Oklahoma-based carbon capture projects, so will be the pressure to expand CO2 pipeline across the state, and the use of eminent domain to fast-track this expansion. The Great Plains Institute has been hard at work promoting the expansion of CO2 pipeline here, and they’ve even created a handy “fact sheet” to see just what might happen if this pipeline isn’t opposed soon.

Carbon capture will be probably the most disastrous “green” boondoggle this state has ever seen. The potential for deadly leaks, where the high-pressure CO2 migrates to the surface and killing everything within the vicinity, as well as aquifer and soil contamination, is enough to reject the industry in toto. The fact that Oklahoma will be expected to act as stewards of these massive reservoirs of CO2 for up to a millennium is laughable.

January 27, 2025 2

Wind Energy Isn’t Benefiting Oklahoma

Wednesday, November 20th, Michael and I were happy to interview Chad McDougall, Chairman of the Petroleum Alliance Of Oklahoma. Check out the full video on our YouTube and Rumble channels.

What he had to say about wind energy and solar energy in Oklahoma was FASCINATING, but FRUSTRATING.

In the clip below, Chad talks about how Oklahoma produces WAY more energy than it uses. In fact, here is an interesting factoid from the US Energy Information Administration: Overall, the state produces almost three times more energy than it consumes, and much of the energy produced in Oklahoma—particularly natural gas, petroleum, and electricity—is sent to other states.

WHAT? How many of us actually knew that?

In the clip below, Chad mentions that, wind energy companies doing business in Oklahoma are just USING OKLAHOMA. We don’t need the energy, but they blight our landscapes with those ridiculous, horrendous wind turbines so that they can turn around and send the energy OUT OF STATE!

In this clip, I asked Chad about the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) and the answer is – OKLAHOMA DOESN’T NEED THIS! Our legislators need to know this information so they can STOP it from coming through Oklahoma.

Also in the clip, Chad refers to the Inflation Reduction Act as the ‘Green New Deal’ because of its incentives and taxpayer giveaways to ‘green’ companies totaling a probable 1.2 TRILLION DOLLARS! And, by the way, if you’ve had OG&E call you lately to tell you that they’ll help you install solar panels, you’ve got the IRA to thank for their largess with YOUR money.

In the clip below, Chad gets to the bottom of the issue – oil and gas producers pay tons of taxes – wind energy companies are subsidized by the state and federal government.

According to the Institute For Energy Research, Oklahoma stopped its wind subsidies in July of 2017 because of the BURGEONING cost to tax payers, yet wind producers that had completed projects prior to that date were still eligible for TEN FULL YEARS of subsidies from the time of project completion.

I guess because Oklahoma likes giving away taxpayer dollars, after the subsidies stopped, a tax credit was made available in 2003 to include wind producers. Here’s what the IER says:

Beginning January 1, 2003, Oklahoma instituted a state income tax credit to producers of electric power using renewable energy resources from a zero-emission facility with a production capacity of 1 megawatt or greater. Besides wind, eligible renewable energy resources include moving water, sun, and geothermal energy. Credits are available for electricity generated on or after January 1, 2003, during a 10-year period following the date that the facility is placed in operation. The credit ranges from $0.0025 per kilowatt hour to $0.0050 per kilowatt hour depending on when the facility is placed in operation and when electricity is generated.

The crazy thing is, we’ve let Oklahoma’s Governor Stitt and our legislature GIVE OUR TAX DOLLARS TO GREEN COMPANIES AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR POCKETBOOKS AND THE BEAUTY OF OUR LANDSCAPE! Why?

Probably because Governor Stitt has an “all of the above” prescription for energy here in Oklahoma – as we’ve so often heard him say, but look at this.

In February of this year, the Italian ‘green’ energy company Enel, was ordered to remove 84 wind turbines from Osage land in northeastern Oklahoma at a cost of $300 MILLION dollars because they acted unethically with the Osage, including conducting unauthorized mining on Osage land.

Last year, Governor Stitt TOUTED this very same company – Enel – for bringing a solar panel factory to Oklahoma.

This year, he and several other Republican governors condemned the Biden Administration for its stance on fossil fuels, claiming that the federal government was blocking permits and creating business-stifling regulations, yet Governor Stitt has not shown any interest in lifting the taxes on oil and gas producers in this state while pimping every green energy business that comes by (see our story on the nation’s biggest carbon capture plant no one knew about located in Shidler, OK). But then, Oklahoma actually has a whole part of its website devoted to all the taxpayer dollars it’s giving away to businesses here and it starts with these words: “Oklahoma has some of the lowest tax rates and some of the best tax incentives in the nation. The state offers companies a low cost of doing business, a low cost of living for employees, and tax rebates that reduce tax burdens even further.“

Meanwhile, though the oil and gas industry is trying to push back on the general unfairness of federal and state energy policy, regular every day Oklahomans should too. While tax incentivized green energy companies are producing energy in Oklahoma and sending it out of the state, Oklahomans continue to pay higher prices on energy than we should if we were using our own natural gas to power our homes. Ask your legislator to make sense of THAT.

BELOW ARE THE SLIDES CHAD PREPARED FOR OUR INTERVIEW THAT WE BARELY USED – check them out for more information.

November 24, 2024 1

Tag

tax credits

Panasonic to delay production at Kansas battery plant as electric car sales decline, policies shift – Oklahoma had tried to land this plant, offering nearly $700M in incentives.

State board calls for investigative audit of Epic Charter School – Mismanaged budget resulted in mass layoffs at Epic, state officials say