Latest news with #ToddGollihare
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Flash Point: New state social studies standards and NIL legislation
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — State Sen. Julia Kirt (D-Oklahoma City) joins the Flash Point team to discuss new state social studies standards. Also on the show, State Sen. Todd Gollihare (R-Kellyville) discusses NIL legislation awaiting the Governor's signature. Watch the episode above. Now Flash Point can be seen on the new SmartTV app KFOR+! Download the app on ROKU, AppleTV, or FireTV. It can be seen at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays on KFOR or KFOR+. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate advances bill to protect Oklahoma religious services from protests
State Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, attends a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Oct. 3, 2023. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday advanced a bill that could imprison protesters who interrupt a religious service. Critics said the prohibition, which extends to one mile of the religious service, violates free speech rights. Senate Bill 743 makes it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and or one year in prison to willfully disturb a worship service within one mile of a church. A second offense would be a felony and carry a fine of $1,000 and or two years in prison. It would apply to those who protest or demonstrate without a license by the proper authority. Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, said the protest would have to be directed at the worship facility. He is the author of Senate Bill 743. The nation's Founding Fathers and Pilgrims crossed oceans to get here so they could worship without prosecution and do so in peace and tranquility, Gollihare said. He said the measure strengthens existing law. Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said the bill seeks to stop disruptive, threatening behavior around houses of worship. It does not apply to peaceful protests, he said. But Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, said he's concerned that it would impact those protesting or sharing the Gospel outside Planned Parenthood clinics located within a mile of a church. Deevers said he remembered when the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church tried to picket at his church. 'We asked them to move to a public easement and would not suppress their First Amendment rights,' Deevers said. The Westboro Baptist Church, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has held controversial protests across the country, including at the funerals of deceased military personnel. Deevers said the bill is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, said the bill gives the government a tool to erode or diminish the right to free speech, to assemble and to protest. 'I don't like anyone disrupting a church, a mosque or a synagogue for any reason,' Jett said. 'It is inappropriate. I may not like what people have to say, but they have a right to say what they want.' The bill passed by a vote of 43-4 and is available for consideration in the House. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill banning energy companies from using eminent domain moves through OK Senate
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Senate lawmakers voted to move forward with a bill that would ban certain green energy companies from using eminent domain on private property. Senate Bill 352 states that eminent domain can not be used by 'wind energy facilities, solar energy facilities, battery storage facilities, or hydrogen gas facilities on private property.' 'Private property owners must have protections,' said Sen. Todd Gollihare (R-Kellyville). Gollihare authored the legislation. He was asked how he identified these businesses as ones to restrict. Bill locking the clock on standard time in OK passes committee 'These green energy facilities and all the conflict that's going on in rural Oklahoma with wind turbines as well as solar projects,' said Gollihare. He cited recent projects in northern Oklahoma, where companies used eminent domain to move forward. He said his bill adds safeguards for landowners.'These landowners want to have a say in who's taking their property and who's using their land for what. That's how we identified that,' said Gollihare. The legislation would also require electric companies to get approval from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on high-voltage line projects. Senator Mary Boren (D-Norman) said she started looking into the state's eminent domain laws after having to deal with the possibility it would be enforced for a turnpike in her district.'I learned that Oklahoma has some of the worst eminent domain laws in the nation as far as private property owners,' said Boren. Gollihare said the legislation would strengthen those statutes while protecting private property owners.'Since 1915 no significant changes have been made to the eminent domain statute. Other than prohibiting its use for wind turbine in 2011,' said Gollihare. 'Senate Bill 352 is the first step in updating this statute to protect private property rights in the modern era.' The measure passed the full Senate and will now make its way to the House. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
