Now that Oklahoma lawmakers can file bills electronically, less paper may fill the halls of state. On the other hand, it won’t reduce the number of bills filed (and may increase it), nor make it harder to recycle failed bills from past sessions.
Advertisement
Legislation is plastic, meaning an old bill can be molded into a "new” one. Several bills that died in the last session will be recycled. Chief among them is the autism insurance mandate that hit an inelastic wall in the 2008 session.
This bill will be hard to stop. Its champion, Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, is determined to get the bill to the governor by the end of May. Republicans could again be just as determined to stop the cornucopia of mandates that run up the cost of insurance premiums.
Another old/new issue is voter identification requirements, an issue that divides lawmakers — with Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposing. Given the Republican majority in both houses of the Legislature, the bill is likely to pass. Given that the governor is a Democrat, passage could be a victory only on paper.
Sending any bill to the governor that he’s already vetoed makes little sense except to score political points. An example is caps on medical malpractice lawsuit awards for noneconomic damages.
The worst recycled bill idea so far is one that would send the legislative term-limit law back to voters, who’ve shown little interest in facilitating another Gene Stipe-style dynasty. We hope that bill gets bagged in committee.
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
1
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).