The initiative petition process in Oklahoma is in need of a fix. The issue also is complicated enough that it requires thorough study, which is what a bill filed this session sought to accomplish.
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Unfortunately, although perhaps not surprisingly, the bill was jettisoned last week when it failed to receive a hearing in a Senate committee. This after it was approved 86-11 in the House.
The floor substitute to a bill by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, and sponsored in the Senate by Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, would have established a task force to study a process that's stacked too heavily against those who wish to get referendums and initiatives placed on the ballot.
Most of the initiative petitions circulated in Oklahoma in recent years have gone up in smoke, derailed by challenges ranging from the logistical (having to gather huge numbers of signatures in a short time) to the legal (felony charges filed for allegedly using out-of-state circulators). Just last week, a group seeking to end affirmative-action hiring by the state withdrew its petition over concerns it couldn't survive a challenge to the number of signatures it had gathered. The group had rounded up about 2,000 more than the 138,970 signatures it needed.
"This bill would simply allow legislators to find out the facts about the petition process and to discuss possible solutions,” said the head of Oklahomans for Initiative Rights. "How can anyone be against having more information?” It's a valid question.
We're generally not fans of task forces, but the complexity of this issue warranted such an approach. We also aren't fans of Terrill's relentless immigration reform efforts. On this idea, though, he was on the mark. That the bill got shelved is evidence the status quo on this issue suits some policy-makers just fine.
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Oklahoma has been known as a populist state. Our leaders during statehood made sure that the initiative petition was available in a reasonable fashion in order to keep the elected officials accountable to the citizens. The legislature recently made the process so difficult that it essentially is unusable. That action was slap in the face to citizens of Oklahoma. Now, to refuse an effort to review the situation is further evidence that politicians don't want citizens meddling in "their" business. It's time to send a message to the legislative leaders that trust is a two-way street.
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