'Here We Are Again'

If nothing else, the Oklahoma Legislature’s Republican supermajority has proven itself world-class at one thing: virtue signaling.

Any piece of legislation they can remotely link to DEI or ESG … anything they can tar-and-feather as “Woke” … anything they think undermines the historical, patriarchal, white status quo … they attack like buzzards feasting on roadkill, knowing such legislative action will thrill the extremists in their base who live in constant fear that “others” who don’t look or act or pray or love like they do are somehow getting the upper hand in modern America.

These indefensible, unnecessary, and often unconstitutional new laws often end up being overturned in court – wasting precious tax dollars that could be invested in schools, health care, roads and other essential public services.

This summer’s case in point: a state district judge permanently banned enforcement of the so-called Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Act … designed to prohibit the state from doing business with financial institutions it identified as hostile to the oil and gas industry.

Former Democratic state Rep. Collin Walke was in the Legislature when this law was enacted. Now in private law practice, Walke is representing those who successfully challenged the law on the grounds that it could prevent state pension systems from maximizing returns for state retirees.

The case is not over, of course. Attorney General Gentner Drummond promised to appeal. But Walke joins us for this week’s Observercast – ‘Here We Are Again’ – to take a deep dive into yet another legislative solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.