Two Fewer Candidates In House Special Election - Only seven of nine candidates remain in the special election for Tulsa’s State House District 71, which was vacated when Rep. Dan Sullivan took the top job at the GRDA.  Two candidates that filed for the office will not appear on the primary ballot.  Janet Sullivan filed to run for the seat last Wednesday, but withdrew from the race by the deadline.  Janet Sullivan, the former wife of Rep. Dan Sullivan, is now supporting Republican candidate Katie Henke. 

Jacqualyn Moss, a registered Democrat that filed to run as a Republican, had her candidacy challenged by Republican candidate Katie Henke.  Henke alleged that Moss was not properly registered to vote in the district for the six months prior to filing, as required by the Oklahoma Constitution.  The State Election Board agreed with Henke and removed Moss on Tuesday.  That leaves two Democrats and five Republicans to face off in winner-take-all primaries on February 14, with the resulting nominees moving on to an April 3 general election.
Contact Cordon DeKock

Four Workers’ Compensation Court Judicial Positions Open Up - The Judicial Nominating Commission announced this week that it is seeking applicants to fill four positions on Oklahoma’s Workers’ Compensation Court.  All are for an eight-year term: July 1, 2012 - June 30, 2020. Governor Mary Fallin will choose from the candidates nominated to her, and, for the first time in state history, the Oklahoma Senate will have to confirm her appointments.  There are currently 10 judges on the Workers’ Compensation Court.  These four will be the first appointed by Governor Fallin.
Contact Mike Seney

Governor Fallin Needs Your Help - The State Chamber of Oklahoma has partnered with Governor Mary Fallin and we would like to be sure you know about an unprecedented opportunity to tell the Governor about your business and the issues that are important to you. 

Just log on to www.FallinForBusiness.com and scroll down to the Take the online survey arrow. Click on the arrow to get started. Completing the survey takes about 15 minutes. We believe you will think it was time well spent.

Never before has an Oklahoma Governor asked every business owner and executive in the state, regardless of size, industry or location, to provide the data that will help guide economic development policies. We are proud to be a partner in that initiative. If you are a business owner or executive, please log on and take the survey.

Click here to see State Chamber members talking about this project.

The State Chamber Of Oklahoma's Business Roundtable is a TV show presented by Cox Communications that tells the business story of Oklahoma and how legislation affects Oklahoma's economy. State Chamber President Fred Morgan hosts weekly Roundtable guests including Oklahoma's business leaders and legislators. This week, Roger Mashore, President, is the guest talking about his company MTM Recognition.

Spending Bill Agreement Reached - Congressional negotiators reached agreement yesterday on a compromise spending bill.  The tentative agreement should avert a weekend federal shutdown. Negotiators were still working on a deal to renew the payroll tax cut and extend unemployment benefits for another year.  The House is expected to approve the spending measure today, and the Senate will vote on the bill shortly thereafter.
Contact Mike Seney

U.S. Supreme Court To (Again) Decide Arizona Immigration Dispute - After siding with the State of Arizona in upholding a 2007 state law relating to immigration during its last term, the U.S. Supreme Court this week announced it will decide the fate of another Arizona immigration law, a measure that was enacted – then blocked by a federal judge – in 2010.  The State of Arizona is seeking to dissolve a temporary “hold” a federal judge imposed on certain provisions of the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Act” (Arizona Senate Bill 1070).  Among other aspects of the 2010 law, the challenged provisions: (a) require state law enforcement officials to ascertain an individual’s legal status if there is a “reasonable suspicion” regarding the individual’s status during the course of a lawful stop, detention or arrest, and (b) criminalize any attempt on the part of an “unauthorized alien” to seek or secure employment or independent contract work in Arizona.  Justice Elena Kagan will not be participating in deciding the fate of the 2010 law (due to her previous involvement in the case as U.S. Solicitor General).  Consequently, the possibility of a 4-4 decision (a circumstance that would translate to the automatic affirmation of the lower court’s decision without establishing any national precedent) exists.
Contact Mike Seney

U.S. Supreme Court Sets Affordable Care Act Briefing Schedule – The U.S. Supreme Court has now set a comprehensive briefing schedule for the parties to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) legal challenge appeals, a schedule that suggests oral arguments will likely be held the week of March 26.  In the original order announcing their decision to accept the legal challenge appeals, the Court targeted four issues – whether the parties have standing to challenge the ACA, the constitutionality of the ACA’s Medicaid-expansion and minimum-coverage provisions, and whether the ACA can survive absent the minimum-coverage provision.  In their most-recent order, the Court is now directing the parties to file a series of briefs addressing these four issues pursuant to a schedule that runs from January 6 through March 13.  Given the timing of the final brief-filing deadline, the Court will most likely conduct the 5-1/2 hours of oral argument allotted for the appeals sometime during their March 26 oral argument docket.  The Court’s decision is expected before their term ends the last week of June.
Contact Matt Robison

Report: U.S.'s Vast Natural Gas Shale Reserves Could Create A Million Manufacturing Jobs – According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (12/15, Napsha) National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said this week that "the amount of gas in the Marcellus shale reserves in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia, and about 25 other shale plays in the United States, estimated at 862 trillion cubic feet, is sufficient to be 'absolutely a game-changer for the US economy." Robert McCutcheon, U.S. industrial products leader for PwC, which produced the report with the manufacturer's association, said "the jobs would be created by companies expanding or building new plants, as well as companies bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. The number of U.S. chemicals, metals and industrial manufacturing companies that disclosed shale gas potential and its impact so far in 2011 easily surpassed that of the last three years combined, indicating this is of growing importance in the outlook of U.S. manufacturers," McCutcheon said.
Contact Mike Seney

Retailers Embrace An Expected Increase In Sales Throughout The Holiday Season – Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports should be up 0.3 percent in December compared with the same month last year as retailers head to the finish line of the holiday shopping season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today (December 13th) by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. “We expect to see a mini-resurgence in December,” Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said. “With consumer spending on the rise, it would seem that the pace of retail sales will continue through to the New Year’s sales at least.”  Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast. To see a copy of the NRF Press Release, click here.
Contact Matt Robison

Companies Finding It Difficult To Fill Skilled Positions - The Financial Times (12/14, Weitzman, Harding, Subscription Publication) reports that U.S. companies are finding it difficult to fill skilled positions. The article notes that, according to a recently released report by Deloitte and the National Association of Manufacturers, manufacturers have 600,000 unfilled positions because of a lack of qualified skilled workers.
Contact Mike Seney

National Association Of Manufacturers/Industry Week Fourth Quarter Survey: Manufacturer Optimism Increases - In IndustryWeek (12/14), the National Association of Manufacturers Chief Economist Chad Moutray writes that the latest NAM/IndustryWeek Survey of Manufacturers shows that 80.2 percent of members "have a positive outlook -- up from 65.4% in September. While this is still below the 86.4% reading of June, it reflects a nice turnaround in confidence." Moutray writes, "The response was 13% lower for individuals saying that they are 'somewhat negative,' while the 'somewhat positive' and 'very positive' responses both edged higher. Even though uncertainties remain, particularly with regard to European sovereign debt, business confidence is clearly higher, which is boosting expectations for 2012."
Contact Mike Seney