Work continues at the state Capitol. Thursday, April 23 marked the deadline for Senate committees to consider legislation that started in the House of Representatives – likewise, House committees had to conclude their work on legislation that began here in the Senate. The next deadline is on May 7 for floor votes on bills that made it through the committee process.
The big issue in the spotlight has shifted to state questions the majority party is pushing to get before voters this fall. Many of them are policy issues I’m concerned about, and I’m not sure that Senate Democrats are going to support, because they actually undermine voters’ voices.
There have been two different state questions brought forth about Medicaid expansion, better known in Oklahoma as SoonerCare, for working adults. We have another state question about how judges are picked, and one about the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), the state entity dealing with our tobacco settlement money that Oklahomans voted long ago to protect so that legislators couldn’t control those funds. There’s also a potential state question dealing with property taxes.
First of all, most of these state questions are issues that have previously been decided by voters.
- Voters wanted to keep politics out of spending the tobacco settlement funds and voted twice to protect them from that. The people made TSET and its leadership separate in the constitution to be sure the money is used to improve Oklahoman’s health. Most states have spent all their tobacco settlement funds and have nothing to show for it. Oklahoma was smart to lock up the money for the long-term benefit of our people.
- Oklahomans strongly supported SoonerCare expansion in 2020 after the Legislature and governor refused to make this health care available to even more working Oklahomans. Now they are pushing through not one, but two state questions that would clear the way for the expansion to be reversed, leaving some 250 thousand Oklahomans without insurance and putting rural hospitals and clinics at risk of closure. Those who still can pay for health care will be paying much higher costs.
- Judicial reform was in response to scandals in Oklahoma that came to a head in the 1960s. The reforms worked and are still working. This is about the supermajority wanting control over the courts.
Secondly, we want to highlight the questionable way Republican leaders have worked to get these state questions on the August ballot in particular. Why? Because, that is the runoff election, which typically has the lowest voter turnout during our big election cycles. Most voters will only see a slate of Republican candidates on the runoff, including the race for governor. If they really wanted to know what the majority of Oklahomans felt about these state questions, they’d all be on the November ballot. That’s clearly the opposite of why they are aiming for August – they don’t want everyone voting on these questions, because there’s a bigger chance they will fail if more people show up. I am worried they really don’t trust in the public’s ability to choose what is best for themselves.
This is rigging the system.
Nor do they trust the people to bring forward ways to improve our state – they’ve already put changes into place that make it even harder, if not impossible, for everyday Oklahomans to even get initiative petitions on the ballot. It’s much easier to push through a state question in the Legislature and then rig the system to schedule them for a low-turnout election.
Right now, Senate Democrats are working hard to push back on these efforts. We’re committed to listening to people’s voices and supporting measures that actually help solve the problems Oklahomans face every day. Keep watching and let us know what you think.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact me at 405-521-5636 or Julia.Kirt@oksenate.gov. We want to hear from you. Onward!
