Echols Tops Lobbyist Gift List
Freshman Oklahoma lawmaker top recipient of lobbyist attention
By Michael McNutt Published: August 4, 2013
A freshman lawmaker who handled two key pieces of legislation, including a measure that drastically changed how Oklahomans are compensated for on-the-job injuries, received the most gifts from lobbyists so far this year, reports filed with the state Ethics Commission show.
The $1,541 that Rep. Jon Echols received in gifts from lobbyists is about $115 more than the leader of the Senate received for the first six months of this year.
Echols, R-Oklahoma City, said he expected he would be among the top lawmakers receiving gifts from lawmakers because of his work on Senate Bill 1062. He presented the rewritten 284-page measure in a House of Representatives committee and helped present it on the House floor.
SB 1062 changes the workers’ compensation system from a judicial system to an administrative one. It also allows businesses to opt out of the workers’ compensation system as long as they provide equivalent benefits to injured workers.