Jason Murphey


Losing a kindred spirit

I remember that day in 2009 as one of those busy days in which I struggled to keep up with work. I was almost certainly…


The Senate transparency conundrum

Regular readers of the state’s appropriations bill were greeted by something new as they opened this year’s version of the venerable legislation.


Realizing the benefits of transparency

I have always believed that citizens are the best positioned to hold government accountable. Unlike legislators, citizens are not subject to co-option by bureaucracy, unlike…



Fantastic news for the taxpayer

It is perhaps the best news from this legislative year and a reform for which legislative and state leaders should rightly take credit. It could…






The next abandonment of principle

The first warning sign happened last year on April 2nd of 2014. By a 20-3 vote, a legislative committee unexpectedly approved a 30 million dollar…


The pivot and the latest earthquakes

Oklahomans are coming to terms with the decision of this year’s Legislature to slow the amount of motor vehicle funds going to roads and bridges…


Absolute power

During the last fifteen months I have mostly resisted the temptation to write about my feelings regarding the current state of transparency in the Oklahoma…


Working on Saturday vs. Transparency

The circumstances of Wednesday, May 22 brought me to the stark realization that two important concepts of reform have been abandoned by the Legislature.






Never, ever retaliate

In the middle of April 2014, I finished my work for the day at the House of Representatives and drove to the Cedar Ridge neighborhood…