OKLAHOMA CITY – Republican state legislators have resumed their efforts to make it more difficult for citizen initiatives to gain approval.
The Oklahoma Constitution stipulates that 8% of the legal voters “shall have the right to propose any legislative measure,” and 15% of the legal voters “shall have the right to propose amendments to the Constitution by petition...” The Constitution also provides that a referendum can be presented to the voters if it’s proposed in a petition signed by 5% of the legal voters or is submitted by the Legislature.
Those ratios and percentages are based on the total number of votes cast in the most recent general election for the Office of Governor.
Senate Joint Resolution 7 introduced by Sen. Roland Pederson, R-Burlington, and SJR 8 by Sen. Mark Allen, R-Spiro, would require any initiative petition proposing a legislative measure to be signed by 8% of the legal voters in every one of Oklahoma’s five congressional districts, based on the total number of votes cast for Governor in the last general election. A petition seeking a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment would have to be signed by 15% of the legal voters in all five congressional districts.
Senate Joint Resolution 4 filed by Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, and SJR 5 by Sen. Zack Taylor, R-Seminole, would require any initiative or referendum measure to be approved by at least 60% of the votes cast on the proposal. Under current law an initiative or referendum can be approved by a simple majority of the votes cast in the election. A supermajority of 60% is required only on school bond elections.
The Ledger left a message with Taylor’s legislative assistant Tuesday but he never returned the call.
House Joint Resolution 1027, a measure similar to SJRs 4 and 5, was considered in the Legislature last year. HJR 1027, by Rep. John Pfeiffer, R-Orlando, and Sen. Kim David, R-Porter, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 66-30 but died in the Senate Rules Committee, which is often a legislation graveyard.
The changes proposed in each of the four Senate resolutions would require an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution.
Ironically, if SJR 4 or 5 as written is approved by the Legislature and placed on the ballot for a statewide vote of the people, the Constitution could be amended by a simple majority of the votes cast in the election – not the supermajority of 60% proposed in those two resolutions.
It is widely believed that Republicans want to make it harder to get initiatives placed on the ballot because the GOP is miffed about Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana – both of which bypassed the Legislature and were submitted to the voters by initiative petition campaigns despite Republican resistance.