By Jason Murphey

From time to time, there’s a vote in the Oklahoma House of Representatives that most clearly differentiates those legislators with core principles from those whose constant playing of the political game leaves them unable to recognize down from up – even when, to anyone not on that House floor at the time and place, the latter is extremely obvious.

These aren’t just 80-20 votes – votes where 80 percent of the high-propensity voting electorate will have a strong point of view on one side of the issue – but they are also defining votes. This is a vote in which the incumbent’s bad judgment is so questionable as to risk defining that incumbent as unelectable, not just in the upcoming election, but for each and every future election in which they have the bad judgment to participate.

One of these votes took place on March 26th. It occurred as the House approached its house-of-origin deadline week, a week in which less-than-consistent legislators can easily become confused and lose their sense of up and down.

And it took place late in the day, near dinnertime – always a risky time for votes – as State Representative Rick West took to the floor and prepared to give Oklahoma’s legislators, constantly compromised from having to vote for bad legislation, a chance for redemption. It was one of those easy “Aye!” votes that would allow the lawmakers to return home and prove to their pro-American electorate that they understood the times in which we find ourselves: a time when the forces of borderless nations and globalist thought seek to, at all turns, undermine the values of American citizenship.

In contrast to many of the other bills heard in the year, West’s House Bill 1190 – as are all of West’s bills – wasn’t sponsored by a monied special interest group. And it wasn’t a request bill from a powerful state bureaucracy. It was the type of bill that was actually deserving of consideration: a constituent request bill.

West’s constituent, a retired law enforcement officer, had spotted a dangerous trend and brought it to his state representative.

By giving voice to a constituent request, West was demonstrating what a representative republic is supposed to look like. West doesn’t take lobbyist money, so he has the bandwidth to stay in contact with and represent the values of his actual employers – his constituents. Of the more than 200 lobbyist-funded meals and “drinks” on that day, West would not be the recipient of one of them. But unfortunately, because this wasn’t lobbyist-backed, it meant that House members could vote against the platform they campaigned on and betray the values of their constituents without incurring the wrath of the powerful lobbyists waiting in the House lobby to finance the legislators’ dinner fare.

What ill did House Bill 1190 seek to remedy?

Those who have perused social media recently will know that it’s one of the latest fashionable trends in virtue-signaling blue state America – a new form of attack on the value and concept of American citizenship: hiring non-citizens to be law enforcement officers.

After years of demoralizing and demoralizing their police forces, those states are now set to fill the ranks with those who haven’t first taken the time to, at the very least, become citizens of this country.

These non-citizen police will be empowered with the enforcement or non-enforcement of our laws, arrest actual citizens, and have the authority to make life-and-death decisions under the color of law and protection of sovereign immunity.

In 2023, California legalized the practice in that state – then, after just a few months on the job, a new California law enforcement officer who was a citizen of Brazil was arrested and charged with rape.

Last September, the Minneapolis Police Department made headlines by hiring their first non-citizen police officer after a 2022 effort in Minnesota legalized the practice there.

Both Illinois and New Mexico have also recently legalized the practice.

And, though apparently a citizen, a New Jersey police officer was recently highlighted for giving an interview while sporting a Palestinian flag on his uniform.

All of this has a powerful impact on the ability of law enforcement to command the respect of the citizenry – and one can’t help but believe this undercutting of law enforcement authority is a delightful side benefit to the virtue-signaling leftists in those states.

Citizens will continue to lose their respect for the principle of law and the social contract when they see that law being “enforced” upon them by those who haven’t bought into the shared experience of American citizenship.

But back to Oklahoma.

As Rick West took to the floor of the House, as one might imagine, the Democrats relished the opportunity to defend the non-citizen – as they often do – and they quickly engaged to defeat the legislation. That was to be expected. But notably, their ranks were joined by over half of the “Republicans” including, for some reason, Speaker of the House Kyle Hilbert and many of the “Republican” leadership team.

When they voted to defeat this proposal, those House members sent a strong message: citizenship isn’t so important anymore!

Why does this matter?

First, there are numerous national security implications. At a time when nation-states and cartels have been given carte blanche to flood the country – specifically Communist China – it’s deeply problematic to suggest that the standard for acquiring the badge, qualified immunity, and access to the public’s data – access that’s provided to even small-town departments – should be extended to non-citizens. Especially in an era where emerging Artificial Intelligence and related technologies are expanding the warrantless surveillance state at breakneck speeds.

But even more important is the underlying principle.

Those who wish to serve by defending the law must have an appreciation for that law and its history. They must understand that it’s based on hundreds of years of learned experience in the Western Judeo-Christian tradition, and its fair and consistent application to all – regardless of social status – has been the foremost defining characteristic of our nation’s success.

The failure of law enforcement to possess this understanding leads to third-world corruption.

Those who truly appreciate this defining characteristic of Americana will want to share in it and will take the time and make the effort to become citizens and to claim their share of ownership in the American experience.

Those who would prefer the transformation and degradation of the American experience are relishing the opportunity to put badges on the non-citizen. And by rejecting House Bill 1190, Oklahoma’s legislators put our state in the ranks of those blue states.

This vote provides just one sample component of the upcoming release of The Oklahoma State Capital’s People’s Audit. It’s a breakdown of the 80-20 votes and it will provide the needed information necessary for challengers to educate their local electorate.

These types of votes traditionally fly under the radar, as-due to the fact that the bill was defeated – it’s difficult for scorecards to include them.

Not anymore.

The People’s Audit will grade this and numerous other votes that aren’t easily caught but are nevertheless vital to the ability of the electorate to cast an informed vote. With the help of courageous candidates across the state, the 2026 electors will be better positioned than ever before to cast that vote.

That audit will be initially released to the subscribers of the Oklahoma State Capital Substack. If you have yet to subscribe, you may do so at oklahomastatecapital.com/substack.

Jason Murphey was a member of Oklahoma House of Representatives and was term-limited in 2018. He scored a perfect 100% score on the Oklahoma Conservative Index for each of the 12 years he served.