(Update: After the publication of this article, the Board on Legislative Compensation and the Statewide Official Compensation Commission scheduled meetings for 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said lobbyist James Leewright was being replaced on the boards by Krista Ratliff, the president and CEO of the FISTA Innovation Park in Lawton.)
Several votes affecting salaries for Oklahoma legislators and statewide elected officials may have been invalid owing to a registered lobbyist being appointed to a state compensation board in violation of law.
James Leewright is the president and CEO of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association and a registered lobbyist for the organization. In October, he was appointed to the Board on Legislative Compensation by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert. This spring, the Legislature created the Statewide Official Compensation Commission and said its members “shall consist of the same persons who constitute the Board on Legislative Compensation.”
But Title 74, Section 291.2 of state statute explicitly prohibits registered lobbyists from serving on the BLC.
“No member of the board shall be a lobbyist as required to be registered pursuant to the Oklahoma Campaign Compliance and Ethical Standards Act,” the law reads.
In contentious meetings Oct. 21 and Nov. 12 that featured extensive confusion among members, Leewright made at least two motions to increase legislative leadership stipends and cast several votes in favor of statewide official salary changes that passed by 5-4 majorities.
Leewright’s eligibility for the board — and, subsequently, the commission — has not been challenged in court, but members of Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office attended Wednesday’s chaotic hearings and confirmed the concern Friday.
“Unfortunately, it does appear that a board member was prohibited from serving in the position,” said Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Drummond. “It is our understanding that House leadership is aware and working to remedy the matter.”
Leewright said Friday morning that he was “just finding out” about the issue but that he raised the concern himself when Hilbert’s office asked him to serve.
“Whenever the request came for the appointment, I said, ‘I am a registered lobbyist, so make sure that I qualify,'” Leewright said. “And from my understanding — and I don’t know that they checked it — I guess one doesn’t require that and one does. And I guess they only checked the one and thought the other was the same. I’m not sure how it got mixed up on their end. But I had the same question at the beginning.”
Leewright said he was “absolutely not” trying to do anything improper, and he believes the actions taken at the two meetings were compromised by the misunderstanding.
“I definitely believe in fairness that they should redo it,” Leewright said.
Hilbert (R-Bristow) issued a statement Friday praising Leewright’s qualifications but acknowledging the statutory issue.
“Mr. Leewright is a well-qualified choice for the board as a former senator and representative with ample experience in the private sector,” Hilbert said. “Unfortunately there are dueling statutes for the two boards — one of which has the prohibition preventing him from serving while the other does not. As such, I will be replacing Mr. Leewright on the board.”
Legislator stipends, statewide official salary hikes in question
Throughout the Oct. 21 and Nov. 12 meetings about elected official compensation, Leewright was among the most vocal members in support of increasing salaries. A former House and Senate member who chose not to seek reelection in 2022, Leewright argued that low pay for elected officials limits the pool of people who can consider running for office to those “fresh out of college” and “retired or extremely wealthy.”
“I’m trying to help defray some of the cost,” Leewright said Oct. 21. “I almost personally take it as an insult that this is an increase in what they are taking home. This is trying to defer costs that they have already.”
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At that meeting, Leewright made the motion that resulted in the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore having their bonus stipends raised to equal 50 percent of base legislator pay. He also made the motion that resulted in other legislative leadership positions — floor leaders and budget committee chairpersons in both chambers — having their bonus stipends raised to equal 33 percent of base pay.
Both of those votes passed 6-3. While removing Leewright from the vote tallies would still show five votes in favor, the fact Leewright made both motions could lead a judge to invalidate the actions if someone filed a lawsuit challenging his eligibility for the board.
When Leewright and the eight other Board on Legislative Compensation members returned to the Capitol on Nov. 12, they convened for the inaugural meeting of the Statewide Official Compensation Commission, which the Legislature created in an effort to depoliticize salary considerations for future holders of Oklahoma’s 11 statewide elected offices.
When the 80-minute meeting ended, the new commission had raised pay for all 11 positions but had moved the governor from the top-paid post to the eighth highest. The state superintendent of public instruction’s salary doubled from $124,373 to $250,000 — a figure higher than the U.S. vice president’s $235,100 salary. The positions of attorney general, insurance commissioner, state treasurer and three corporation commissioners all jumped the governor in terms of salary.
Among the statewide official pay raises in jeopardy are those that were approved 5-4 with Leewright in favor:
- state superintendent of public instruction
- attorney general
- corporation commissioners
- lieutenant governor
Leewright also seconded motions to raise pay for the state treasurer and commissioner of labor, which passed by 7-2 and 8-1 majorities.
Mulready’s pay raises questions, Pugh’s path to office complicated
The Nov. 12 meeting of the Statewide Official Compensation Commission revealed two other issues that generated State Capitol chatter about adherence to the law.
Office of Management and Enterprise Services staff noted that, for unclear reasons, Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready has been receiving annual compensation $12,000 above the $114,713 salary figure outlined in state law.
A spokeswoman for Mulready confirmed he has been paid $126,713 in recent years and directed comment to Liz Heigle, his chief of communications. Heigle said she would review the situation and respond after speaking with Mulready.
Less than an hour after the publication of this article, a lobbyist and former assistant attorney general notified NonDoc that, under Title 59, Section 858-705.1, the insurance commission “shall be paid an additional $12,000 annually” for serving as the ex officio chairman of the Real Estate Appraisers Board.
Meanwhile, the votes to raise statewide elected official pay could complicate the 2026 campaign of Sen. Adam Pugh, who announced his campaign for state superintendent of public instruction Oct. 2. Pugh (R-Edmond) would not see his current four-year term representing Senate District 41 end until 2028.
Article 5, Section 23 of the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits legislators from being “elected” to “any office” that saw its salary increased “during his term of office.”
“No member of the Legislature shall, during the term for which he was elected, be appointed or elected to any office or commission in the State, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during his term of office,” the constitutional provision states.
With Pugh’s current term as senator running through 2028, it appears he could be deemed ineligible to be elected in 2026 to any statewide office that saw its salary increased this week. However, if the Nov. 12 vote to increase the state superintendent salary were deemed invalid owing to Leewright’s apparently improper membership on the commission, the issue could be moot for Pugh — for now.
Pugh did not respond to a request for comment through a Senate spokesman, but fellow state superintendent candidates Craig McVay and Rob Miller each issued statements Thursday criticizing the commission’s action doubling the position’s salary.
“I am making a binding commitment,” McVay said. “If elected, I will redirect the full amount of that raise into high-quality tutoring programs dedicated to Oklahoma’s public school students. I also challenge the other candidates for this office to make the same pledge. If we are serious about putting students first, then let’s show it in concrete financial commitment.”
Miller said the commission’s decision sends “the absolute worst message about where our state’s true priorities lie.”
“Doubling the salary for this position while thousands of dedicated teachers, support staff, and bus drivers across Oklahoma continue to struggle to make ends meet is simply wrong,” Miller said.
(Update: This article was updated at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, to clarify information about the reason for Mulready’s additional salary and change the article’s subheading.)
Review James Leewright’s lobbyist registration
