Two Oklahoma members of Congress report assets worth as much as $100 million each

Two Oklahoma members of Congress have assets worth as much as $100 million, according to financial disclosure reports that show a majority of the state’s lawmakers in Washington are worth at least $1 million.

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Tulsa, reported dozens of assets with a total range of value between $36 million and $110 million, while Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s assets carry a value between $26 million and $100 million.

Reps. Tom Cole, R-Moore, and Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, also reported assets worth at least $1 million. Sen. James Lankford and Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City, have assets that may be worth as much as $1 million.

How do financial disclosures work? Who has to report them?

The financial reports are required to be filed by all members of Congress and candidates who have raised or spent $5,000 or more.

Assets and liabilities are reported in such broad ranges that the reports do not reflect net worth. Rather, they are intended to let the public review a member’s holdings and financial transactions for potential conflicts of interest.

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Income received from rental properties, interest, dividends and other sources also is reported in broad ranges. Members do not report their salaries of $174,000 as income or the exact amount of spousal salaries. The value of a primary residence does not have to be included, though a mortgage must be reported.

Hern and Mullin attained wealth from building businesses — Hern through fast food franchises and Mullin through plumbing companies. Hern sold the franchises two years ago; they had been estimated on his previous financial reports to be worth between $25 million and $50 million.

Mullin, who won the U.S. Senate seat last year after 10 years in the House, told reporters last summer that he had sold his plumbing companies. They were not listed as assets on the report covering 2022, but their sale was not disclosed on either of the last two reports.

The freshman senator's wealth has grown dramatically since the change in his relationship with the companies; just two years ago, he reported asset values between $7.2 million and $30 million, a third of what he reported for 2022. On the report covering calendar year 2021, Mullin reported the plumbing companies as assets but also listed a new holding — $25 million to $50 million in a cash management fund. He also listed interest in the COP Hometown Service company worth $1 million to $5 million.

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The most recent report shows the purchase of shares in dozens of mutual funds, with several worth between $1 million and $5 million each, and holdings in the COP Hometown Services valued between $3.5 million and $7 million. The company's website lists Mullin as one of its brands.

Hern’s and Mullin’s personal wealth allowed them to make sizable loans to their campaigns, and both have been paying themselves back with contributors’ money. Hern’s latest campaign report shows $75,000 in payments to the congressman in April. Mullin’s campaign in April repaid him $38,000 of the $1 million he put into his Senate race last year.

The businesses owned by Hern and Mullin received Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020, which led to pushback from the White House last year when the two criticized President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loans.

Mullin’s companies had $1.45 million in the pandemic loans forgiven, while Hern’s fast food franchises and his wife’s custom seating businesses had nearly $2.6 million in loans forgiven.

The Hern family’s trusts and foundation received between $1 million and $5.6 million in 2022, mostly from dividends and capital gains. Selling a plane yielded between $100,000 and $1 million, while dividends from Devon Energy also were valued in that range. Hern’s office has said the congressman is not involved in the trading of his equities.

Some lawmakers have called for barring members of Congress and some other government officials from owning shares of specific companies.

Hern is consistently listed by Capitol Trades as one of the most active traders in Congress. Many of the stock purchases listed on his 2022 report are automatic reinvestments of dividends into the companies or funds that distributed them.

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Tulsa

Assets: $36 million to $111 million

Holdings: Hern’s wealth is concentrated in a foundation and family trusts, including ones in the names of his wife and children. The foundation and trusts hold individual stocks, mutual funds, money market funds, bank accounts, a real estate company, a 50% interest in a custom seating and interiors business, an aviation company that owns an airplane and hangar, a 4% interest in a bank and other investments.

Liabilities: None listed

Income: $1 million to $5.6 million in dividends, capital gains, interest, rent.

Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate

Assets: $130,000 to $350,000

Holdings: Brecheen listed livestock, ranch land and a commercial trucking services company. The land’s value is between $100,000 and $250,000.

Liabilities: None listed

Income: Brecheen, who was not in Congress last year, reported income between $100,000 and $1 million from his trucking company and a salary of $20,000.

Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne

Assets: $1.5 million to $3.3 million

Holdings: Farm land, mineral rights, retirement funds, insurance policies

Liabilities: $235,000 to $515,000: lines of credit, revolving credit and mortgage on farmland

Income: $65,000 to $135,000 in oil and gas royalties and gross farm income

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore

Assets: $4.4 million to $10 million

Holdings: Cole and his wife have money in individual stocks, mutual funds, money market accounts, property and businesses. Cole holds an interest valued at $250,000 to $500,000 in a political consulting and polling firm and an interest valued at $100,000 to $250,000 in a phone bank company.

Liabilities: None listed

Income: $98,000 to $280,000 in capital gains, dividends and interest. Cole also reported a $20,000 management fee connected to the consulting and polling firm.

Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City

Assets: $435,000 to $1.7 million

Holdings: Bank accounts, college savings accounts, retirement funds, U.S. Treasury bill

Liabilities: $101,000 to 250,000 for mortgage on personal residence

Income: $8,900 to $19,000, capital gains and dividends from mutual funds and exchange-traded funds

Sen. James Lankford

Assets: $345,000 to $1 million

Holdings: Bank accounts, mutual funds

Liabilities: $100,000 to $250,000 for mortgage on personal residence

Income: $4,300 from religious services in Lawton, Yukon, Oklahoma City and Chickasha; annuity income of $21,000

Sen. Markwayne Mullin

Assets: $26 million to $100 million

Holdings: Mullin reported assets being held in accounts individually and jointly with his wife and accounts in the names of his wife and children. The assets include property valued between $4 million and $20 million in Washington, D.C., Oklahoma and Florida. Investments worth between $3.5 million and $7 million were reported in the home services company COP Hometown Service. None of the Mullin plumbing and service companies listed for the last 10 years were reported as 2022 assets. Mullin also reported shares in individual stocks, mutual funds and exchange traded funds, along with life insurance.

Liabilities: $1 million to $5 million for a mortgage

Income: $509,000 to $1.4 million, from dividends, capital gains, interest, rent and royalties

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Two Oklahoma lawmakers are worth as much as $100 million each