House Media

OKLAHOMA CITY – Reps. Nicole Miller, R-Edmond, and Chris Banning, R-Bixby, are commending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents across Oklahoma for their continued dedication during the ongoing partial federal government shutdown, which began Jan. 31. As the shutdown continues and TSA officers miss paychecks, airports across the country are beginning to experience longer lines and added strain on operations.  Miller, chair of the Appropriations & Budget Transportation Subcommittee, said the commitment shown by TSA agents during this time has not gone unnoticed.  "These men and women continue showing up, doing their jobs and keeping travelers safe," Miller said. "That kind of commitment speaks volumes about their character and their sense of duty. We are grateful for their service, especially during a time like this."  Banning also praised the resilience of TSA agents who have remained on the job despite the uncertainty.  "Air travel depends on consistency and trust, and TSA agents deliver both every day," Banning said. "They are a key part of keeping our airports secure and passengers moving safely. We are thankful for their dedication to safety and their commitment to their job." The partial federal government shutdown began Jan. 31 and remains ongoing.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation by Rep. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, to ensure Oklahoma participates in the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children program has passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives and now moves to the Senate for consideration. Beginning with the 2027 program year, House Bill 3638 requires the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to administer the program in coordination with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which will assist in determining eligibility. "This is a fiscally conservative, targeted approach to support Oklahoma families while responsibly leveraging federal resources," Gise said. "For every state dollar invested, Oklahoma can draw down roughly twelve dollars in federal funds. That is a strong return for taxpayers and a smart use of dollars already being collected at the federal level." Gise says she believes benefits should be a trampoline to self-sufficiency, not a hammock for dependency. "This program reflects that principle. It is temporary, targeted and focused solely on low-income children during a gap in the school year when meals are not otherwise available because we know that hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation," Gise said. Under HB3638, benefits would only allow for essential food purchases and would not be used for soda, candy or other non-nutritive products, something she says ensures strong guardrails and accountability for taxpayers. Gise gave the example of a $4.9 million state investment under the measure, Oklahoma would unlock more than $63 million in federal funds to support over half a million low-income children. "That’s a strong return for taxpayers, with an estimated $75 million in economic activity benefiting local communities across the state," Gise said. The legislation also would create the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program Revolving Fund, structured to operate with both public and private support. This fund would allow Oklahoma to accept private donations and partner with community organizations to offset administrative costs and reduce the burden on taxpayers. "We are building this the right way," Gise said. "A revolving fund supported by both public and private partners ensures long-term sustainability without growing government. This is about maximizing resources, minimizing state cost and ensuring Oklahoma’s most vulnerable children don’t go hungry." HB3638 now moves to the Senate for further consideration, where Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, is the Senate author.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Reps. Tom Gann, R-Inola, Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rick West, R-Heavener, filed their seventh appeal brief at the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Thursday. It asks the court to overturn Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) orders approving some $1.5 billion of 2023 fuel and purchased power costs incurred by monopoly public utilities, including $530 million for ONG, $550 million for PSO, and $763 million for OG&E. This brings the total utility customer payments these state representatives have officially challenged to $475 million in rate increases, $3.2 billion in 2021 winter storm bonds, and $1.5 billion in fuel charges. They say there is more to come. This brief accuses the OCC of violating state laws about audits and prudence reviews, and of violating ratepayers’ due process rights by failing to give customers notice about these cases and by permitting OCC Commissioner Todd Hiett to participate. ONG, OG&E and PSO were represented in these cases by attorneys who hosted a 2023 party where Hiett allegedly sexually harassed two female OCC employees and drove home drunk. ONG also was represented by an attorney whom the brief describes as “an outcry witness” to Hiett’s alleged sexual assault of a ONE Gas employee at a June 2024 conference in Minnesota. The Representatives argue that State Ethics Rules and the Code of Judicial Conduct prohibit Hiett from participating in OCC cases involving victims/witnesses of his alleged criminal conduct. Charges were never filed, and the Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against Hiett in May 2025. Thursday’s brief asks the Supreme Court to review the Ethics Commission’s legal determinations in that case. A November 2024 Attorney General Opinion (2024 OK AG 17) prevented the Council on Judicial Complaints from investigating Hiett for the alleged Code of Judicial Conduct violations. The state representatives have challenged that too, citing specific “evidence of bias” in the proceedings leading to the appealed orders. “Fuel adjustment clause charges are passed through directly onto customers’ bills, so the utilities have already collected this money from us,” said Gann, who is a customer of ONG, OG&E and PSO. “State law requires audits of the utilities’ fuel charges every year. It also requires the OCC to make sure those costs were fair, just, reasonable and prudent before approving them. These laws exist to protect ratepayers, but the OCC doesn’t seem to care whether the people conducting these audits and prudence reviews are qualified or not.  A December 2025 brief alleged the OCC had allowed a Public Utility Division (PUD) employee, believed to have dropped out of college as a sophomore, to perform required audits of utility companies collectively worth more than a billion dollars. The employee also testified that all the utility charges were “prudently incurred” and should be approved by the OCC. The lawmakers say, sadly, they were.  In an answer brief filed in January, the state attorney general, who represents ratepayers in utility cases at the commission but has instead defended all the challenged OCC orders, also defended the PUD employee. The AG’s brief argued that, “Neither the Commission rules nor Oklahoma statutes [specify] who PUD must employ as part of their Staff.” The attorney general also did not object when the alleged “college dropout” testified again in February 2026 about the prudence of another $600 million of PSO’s 2024 fuel charges he claimed to have audited.   “Not everyone has to graduate from college,” Rick West said. “But state employees being paid with taxpayer dollars have to be qualified for the jobs they’re hired for. This situation is not only an assault on the household budgets of utility customers; it is an insult to thousands of qualified public servants who are legitimately earning their paychecks.” This latest brief asks the Court to overturn the OCC’s approval orders and require new, lawful fuel audits and prudence reviews by outside, independent auditors and experts, instead of the OCC’s Public Utility Division (PUD) staff. “There are serious concerns about how the Corporation Commission is operating,” Kevin West said.  Thursday’s brief also asserts that a Supreme Court opinion cited by the utilities to argue that OCC decisions are entitled to a “presumption of correctness” from the court is actually based on language in the Oklahoma Constitution that was removed by amendment in 1941. The representatives have already accused Hiett’s defenders of relying on old Supreme Court opinions issued before Ethics Rule 4.7 (prohibiting conflicts of interest by state officers) was approved in 2014. “This could be another example of the Court’s need to explicitly recognize that the law upon which previous Court decisions were based has changed,” the brief says. Thursday’s brief is the last in the 2023 fuel cases appeal, meaning a decision by the court could come at any time. The representatives say they also plan to challenge the OCC’s fuel approval orders for 2021 and 2022 in their appeals of the agency’s 2024 fuel approval orders, two of which were filed the first week in December. The next cases are worth another $6.5 billion, they say.  The full Reply Brief for the combined 2023 fuel cases appeal can be read online here: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetDocument.aspx?ct=appellate&bc=1064717532&cn=CU-122991&fmt=pdf The progress of all the appeals can be followed on the Oklahoma Supreme Court website. PSO rate case ($250m rate increases; $700m bonds; all briefs filed):    https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=122861 ONG, PSO & OG&E CY2023 fuel cases ($1.5 billion; all briefs filed):    https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=122991 OG&E rate case ($127m rate increase; $760m bonds; all briefs filed):    https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=123021 ONG rate case ($98m rate increases; $1.3 billion bonds; first brief filed; last due mid-June):    https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=123348 ONG 2024 fuel case ($390 million + $888m for 2021/2022; briefs this summer):    https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=123588 OG&E 2024 fuel case ($925 million + $1.9 billion for 2021/2022; briefs this summer):    https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=123608