Representative Tom Gann

R

District 8

Hi, I'm Tom Gann and I represent the people of Oklahoma's 8th District.


representative

News & Announcements

Feb 14, 2025
Recent Posts

‘Undeterred,’ Reps. seeking Hiett's disqualification appeal PSO rate increase; challenge storm bond audits before OK Supreme Court

OKLAHOMA CITY – Although on Monday, Feb. 10, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed their appeal of an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) order approving a $127 million rate increase for OG&E customers, saying it had been filed too early, Reps. Tom Gann, R-Inola, Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rick West, R-Heavener, quickly proved they were undeterred. On Thursday, Gann, who is also a PSO customer, filed an appeal of the OCC’s recent order approving a historic $120 million rate increase for PSO’s ratepayers. Once again, the petition argues Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett violated state ethics rules by participating in the case involving an attorney with direct knowledge of alleged criminal conduct by Hiett.  On Aug. 7, 2024, The Oklahoman reported that two female OCC employees alleged they witnessed or experienced alleged criminal conduct by Hiett – including drunk driving and sexual harassment – during and after a law firm reception at an Oklahoma City bar in June 2023. A November filing by then-Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony further revealed the women also told The Oklahoman Hiett had allegedly exposed himself. The filing also alleged one of the women may have received a "hush money" pay raise just weeks after the incident.  "Hiett has not denied any of the allegations against him, including drunk driving and indecent exposure," Gann told the Court in his petition.  Gann’s petition also argues that the OCC failed to provide a required audit of PSO’s $1.1 billion of ratepayer-backed bonds issued after the February 2021 Winter Storm. Extra charges to pay off those bonds are expected to appear on customers’ monthly bills for 20 years. “We are not deterred by the court’s dismissal of our initial OG&E appeal,” Rick West said. “We appealed early to try to keep OG&E’s new rate increase refundable, which would have been worth hundreds of millions of dollars to customers. Waiting to appeal the commission’s final order can only impact OG&E’s rates going forward, but otherwise, the court was clear that waiting will not hurt our case.”  “It seems our appeal already has had an impact,” Kevin West said. On Tuesday, the OCC posted an amended agenda for its Feb. 18 meeting, including discussion about the OG&E rate case and possible votes to reopen the record “to determine whether discovery, further hearing, and/or additional testimony is necessary to address the issues raised.” “Are they going to put one of their famous one-page ‘audits’ in the record before voting on the final order?" Kevin West asked. " Will Brian Bingman get involved in this disaster, or will Hiett violate state ethics rules and cast the deciding vote again? We’ll just have to see. At least they know people are paying attention.” Bingman took over longtime Commissioner Bob Anthony’s seat at the OCC in January. Anthony voted against the OG&E rate increase in November, and Bingman abstained from voting on the PSO rate increase at his first OCC meeting in January. The OCC and PSO have 20 days to respond to Gann’s new appeal petition at the Supreme Court. Read the pleadings in the new PSO rate case appeal at the Oklahoma Supreme Court here: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=122861 Read the pleadings and orders in the original OG&E rate case appeal at the Oklahoma Supreme Court here: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=122735

Jan 27, 2025
Recent Posts

Gann Sounds Alarm on Warrantless Vehicle Tracking of Oklahomans by the ATF

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, is expressing his deep concern over recent revelations that he believes highlight a widespread and ongoing violation of Oklahomans' rights. Gann led an interim study on this issue before the House State Powers Committee in October. His recent concern follows an open records request filed by an independent media publication, which revealed that citizens of Oklahoma's original capital city, Guthrie, were under warrantless surveillance by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In response to an open records request made by The Sooner Sentinel, Guthrie City Hall disclosed that its network of FLOCK license plate scanner devices has been shared with nearly 100 other government agencies, including the Nashville, TN, branch of the ATF. Gann said this access appears to allow government agencies from multiple states, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, to monitor the real-time traffic of Guthrie drivers. The scanners create a profile of each passing vehicle. "All across the state, police departments are allowing FLOCK to add their cities and towns to a growing, nationwide surveillance network," Gann explained. "I've long suspected that access was being shared with federal agencies, but this is the first time I've seen proof that this was perpetrated on unwitting citizens. It may be occurring in many other Oklahoma towns as well" Gann stated the system appears to be designed to allow the ATF and other agencies to create "Hot Lists," enabling agencies, to receive alerts whenever their target passes by one of the scanners without a warrant. "When city councils approve these systems, they often believe they are simply authorizing a tool to compare passing traffic with National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Amber Alert lists," Gann said. "But what they do not realize is they have just made their town the latest node on a growing surveillance network and have authorized their police departments to share their citizens' travel data with numerous other government agencies. When abuses occur, citizens have little recourse to address their grievances with agencies located far away, where they do not have standing as voters." Gann emphasized the scanners have not been specifically authorized by Oklahoma state law. Last year, a McClain County judge ruled that state law prohibited their use and suppressed the camera evidence obtained through these devices. Despite this ruling, the devices continue to be deployed across Oklahoma. Gann insists Oklahoma take immediate action to put an end to this unauthorized surveillance. "The prying eyes of the ATF have been unleashed on our state. We must step up now to end this madness," Gann said. Additionally, Gann believes it's time to investigate how FLOCK, a specific vendor of the license plate scanning technology and its associated artificial intelligence, appears to be securing "sole source" contracts to deploy hundreds of scanners throughout the state. The company reportedly provides "sole source" letters to police departments, allowing them to bypass essential purchasing policies that would otherwise enable competitive bidding, according to Gann. "The CEO of FLOCK has declared his vision is to put a scanner on every street corner," Gann said. "Each scanner costs local governments thousands of dollars per year. That amounts to a massive wealth transfer from the public purse to this sole-source big tech company. That money has to come from somewhere. Make no mistake, this is about replacing the common sense of human police officers with the uncaring eye of AI, all to benefit a rapidly expanding big tech startup." Gann said FLOCK's lobbyists will be interacting with the Oklahoma Legislature as several bills have been filed this year to authorize warrantless surveillance technology. The Sooner Sentinel's open records request also revealed FLOCK has been pressuring local law enforcement to advocate for their legislation. Gann warns that the upcoming votes on these bills will be among the most critical of the year. "These votes are going to have dramatic privacy implications that will affect generations of future Oklahomans. As legislators, we have a sacred responsibility to hand down to our future generations the freedoms that we were given. We must defeat these measures," Gann said.

Jan 21, 2025
Recent Posts

Gann Warns Against Corporate Welfare on Steroids Following CANOO Bankruptcy

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, an opponent of corporate welfare, today issued a stark warning regarding the ongoing misuse of public funds. "Corporate welfare is when the government takes the public's money to manipulate the economy, choosing winners and losers in the free market," Gann said. "In recent years, this practice has intensified, creating an era of corporate welfare on steroids, as Oklahoma government has pushed massive green-energy giveaways that align more with a liberal agenda than Oklahoma's conservative values." Gann pointed to last week's bankruptcy of the high-profile, green-energy, electric vehicle startup, CANOO, as a prime example of why government must stop interfering in the free market. Canoo's manufacturing plant in Pryor is in Gann's House district. "The bankruptcy of CANOO is yet another indicator that government must stop trying to pick winners and losers—they are terrible at it," Gann said. In March 2022, Gann authored an opinion article titled Is Oklahoma Being Sold Down the River for CANOO? , in which he raised concerns about the company's questionable financial statements and attempted to warn the public about the perils of government subsidies for privileged businesses such as CANOO. "Despite my warnings, my advice was not heeded. Instead, numerous public benefits were lavished on CANOO. Now, three years later, CANOO has declared bankruptcy, once again proving the folly of these corporate giveaways," Gann stated. According to Gann, the last few years have seen an unprecedented acceleration of corporate welfare, with Oklahoma's government pursuing one green-energy scheme after another in a reckless bid to hand out public funds. "This era of corporate welfare has wasted millions of our resources and valuable time. It must end," Gann said. Gann further criticized the methods by which these corporate welfare deals have been carried out, citing several alarming trends, including: The signing of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), effectively preventing public discussion on multimillion-dollar deals; Rushing multimillion-dollar corporate giveaways through the legislative process with minimal public transparency; Awarding public funds to multinational, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)-touting corporations that do not align with Oklahomans' values; and Once, even cutting off debate and denying Gann the opportunity to ask further questions about a specific multi-million-dollar corporate handout. "In the most recent iteration of this disturbing trend, a special super committee has been dedicated to considering future giveaways," Gann noted. "This era of corporate welfare on steroids has led to abuses previously unimaginable," Gann said. "The CANOO bankruptcy is just the latest proof that these policies do not work. Instead of attempting to micromanage the economy, we need to step back and allow the free market to operate without government interference." Gann concluded by calling for a reversal of course, prioritizing fiscal responsibility and respect for the free market. "The government must stop wasting its time and the public's resources on these misguided efforts," he said.