Latest news with #R-Clinton
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
State Rep. Tim Yocum to hold four town halls this week
CLINTON, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — State Rep. Tim Yocum (R-Clinton) has announced he will be hosting four town halls the week of June 2 to hear from community members and recap the 2025 legislative session. 'Town halls are one of the best ways for me to connect directly with the people I represent. They give me the opportunity to talk about the issues that matter most, reflect on what we accomplished this session and hear from my constituents,' Yocum said in a press release sent to WTWO/WAWV. 'I encourage you to attend one of the upcoming town halls near you.' Tim Yocum chosen as State Representative for District 42 Locations and dates of town halls: 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 2, at Brazil City Hall, 203 E. National Ave. 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at Bridge 61 (Kremer Conference Room), 1248 N. Lincoln Road in Rockville. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, at the Clinton Community Center, 301 S Main St. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5, at the Cayuga Community Center, 103 S. Logan St. The Indiana General Assembly concluded the 2025 legislative session on April 24, and will meet for Organization Day on November 18, ahead of the 2026 legislative session. For those unable to attend the meeting, constituents can contact Yocum at or 317-232-9986. Vermillion officials take next steps on solar farm project Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill restricting gathering signatures for Oklahoma ballot initiatives heads back to Senate
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, left, and House Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, right, both voted to support Senate Bill 1027, which adds restrictions to the process of gathering signatures for initiative petitions in Oklahoma. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation imposing restrictions on gathering signatures for initiative petitions moved one step closer to becoming law after House lawmakers approved a revised version Wednesday. Proponents of the bill called it 'voter empowerment' and 'common sense legislation,' while critics said it would limit voices of rural and urban Oklahomans and make it nearly impossible to get a state question on the ballot. Senate Bill 1027, authored by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, would limit the number of signatures that can be collected in each county to 11.5% of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election for a statutory change and 20.8% for a constitutional change. He said this is meant to include rural voters in all parts of the initiative petition process who are usually left out. 'The metros are getting double the say the rest of the state under the current process,' he said. The measure would give the secretary of state, who is appointed by the governor, the power to remove the gist, or summary of the ballot measure. The gist is currently reviewed by the Oklahoma attorney general and can be checked by the state Supreme Court. Oklahomans who sign a petition would be able to rescind their signatures and file challenges to the gist prior to signature collection, and anyone circulating a petition would need to be a registered Oklahoma voter, disclose any payment and the source of it, and cannot take money from entities outside the state. Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, said the bill would not limit rural participation. 'To say that it silences rural areas is a fantasy, a fabrication, a falsehood and a fallacy,' he said. 'Additionally, it's a delusion, a deception and the source distortion. This bill facilitates the participation of everybody in Oklahoma, of every area in Oklahoma, including the metros, and including, as well, the rural areas.' Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, (right) was one of six Republicans to vote against Senate Bill 1027. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) Six Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the measure, including Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton. The bill advanced from the House with a vote of 69 to 23. Many of Pae's constituents, as well as people from across the state, reached out to him about itl, Pae said. None of his constituents told him they had problems with a previous vote he cast against a similar measure last session, he said. 'Fundamentally, I think this state was founded on populist values and our founders wanted power to be decentralized to localities and communities across the state of Oklahoma,' he said. 'And we have this initiative petition process for a reason. Is it perfect? No, nothing is perfect in this world. But I think we should respect the spirit of this process and respect the will of our founders. Having any attempts to try to modify it in whatever way, I've always been in opposition.' Oklahoma City Democrats Rep. Andy Fugate and Mickey Dollens both attempted to amend Hilbert's legislation. Fugate's amendment would have sent the issue to the ballot for voters to decide on. Dollens' amendment would have extended the period for collecting signatures from 90 to 180 days. Both amendments were tabled. This action reveals the true intent of the legislation, Dollens said. He said extending the time signatures are allowed to be gathered would have allowed petitions to be circulated to all corners of the state and more rural areas. 'It just proves that this has nothing to do about getting more rural votes or signatures. This is simply about silencing the people's constitutional right to petition their government,' he said. 'And it should be noted that signatures make no effect on the outcome of a state question on the ballot. All that does is simply gain and question access to the ballot, and then everyone has the opportunity to vote for it in a general election, just like we do statewide elected officials.' Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa, said the bill limits direct democracy. She said the point of the bill is to make it 'tough, if not impossible' for initiative petitions to be put on the ballot. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Another Oklahoma City Democrat, Rep. Forrest Bennett, said the current initiative petition process has produced life-saving measures like Medicaid expansion. Medical marijuana was also legalized through a state question in 2018 and raising the minimum wage is set to be on the ballot in 2026. 'I am no stranger to bills not going my way in this room,' he said. 'And it has been suggested that perhaps this is being run because some of my colleagues and some folks with power in Oklahoma are upset with what people do with their direct democracy now.' Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, said it is not the job of representatives to 'exercise the will of the people,' but to protect their rights. 'We do not live in a democracy. We don't,' he said. 'It was asserted here yesterday that we live in the greatest democracy in the history of the world. We do not. We live in a republic. As a matter of fact, our entire system is designed around the premise of a representative republic.' Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, pointed to Colorado, a 'blue' state, as having a similar policy. Colorado requires the total number of signatures collected to be 5% of those cast for secretary of state, but requires petitions seeking to amend the state constitution be signed by 2% of the total registered voters in each of the state senate districts. Because House lawmakers amended the measure in committee, it heads back to the Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Kevin Stitt wants sole power to appoint Oklahoma Supreme Court justices
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt wants to wield the power to appoint state Supreme Court justices without involvement of the Judicial Nominating Commission as legislators work to reform the way judges are vetted and selected. The governor said he believes the federal government's model of selecting U.S. Supreme Court justices is the best, adding that he'd prefer to appoint justices to the state's highest court directly. "To get the very best and brightest, and to be able to get the best pool of people into these different positions, sometimes you have to go recruit them," Stitt said Wednesday during his weekly news conference. "You have to go make some phone calls. You have to say, 'Hey, I really need you to apply.' And when you have all these restrictions around, it's difficult." Stitt's comments come after he named Travis Jett, a conservative lawyer with no judicial experience, to fill the open seat on the Oklahoma Supreme Court Monday. The seat became vacant after Stitt and the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a right-wing think tank in Oklahoma City, pushed to oust three justices from the state's highest civil court. Jett previously served as a lawyer for OCPA. Two measures authored by House Speaker Pro Tem Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, seek to reform the nomination process for judges. House Joint Resolution 1024 would send to a vote of the people a state question asking whether to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to establish that at least one member of the Judicial Nominating Commission be from each of the state's five congressional districts at the time of their appointment. More: Travis Jett named to Oklahoma Supreme Court by Gov. Kevin Stitt House Bill 2103 would prohibit any Judicial Nominating Commission member from participating in the decision-making process if the member is related to a nominee to the third degree either through ancestry or by marriage. The governor also addressed several other topics at his news briefing: Stitt commented on his decision earlier this week to appoint a special investigator to look into the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. He said he believed the recently appointed Commissioner Allie Friesen offers a fresh set of eyes on the agency, but that its contract spending still needed to be examined. "As soon as you start questioning things, you start saying, 'Hey, this contract doesn't sound right. I want to give the money over here to this vendor. This nonprofit is doing a better job.' These guys start spending," Stitt said. "They can afford to hire lobbyists." More: Gov. Stitt wants special investigator to look into Oklahoma's mental health agency Stitt's comments coincide with an announcement earlier this week from House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, who formed a select committee to examine the mental health department's operations and budget. The committee will meet Thursday afternoon. Stitt said he welcomed lawmakers' review. "I tell people, 'Let's shine a light on some of these dollars,'" Stitt said. "Let's see where all the mice scatter. That's what you're seeing right now. The rats are running, and they're screaming as we thought before." Stitt also expressed his support for a Senate bill that would prohibit the governor from closing businesses during a pandemic unless they have evidence that the nature of a particular business would contribute to spreading the disease. Authored by Sen. Julie McIntosh, R-Porter, SB 672 would require the governor to send a notice to each affected business and allow time for a hearing before mandatory shutdowns could occur. "President Trump, during that initial time, I think the whole country, learned a lot from COVID, and every leader had a difficult decision," Stitt said. "There were leaders of businesses, and there were leaders in athletics and the NFL and NBA. Everybody was dealing with uncertainty during that time." The governor said in the case of another pandemic, the state would take guidance from health care professionals in Oklahoma. He touted his decision not to enact a mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Most people agree that you don't put our U.S. Constitution in the attic just because somebody in Washington, D.C. tells us to," Stitt said. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gov. Stitt wants sole power to appoint Oklahoma Supreme Court justices
