OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC) released the following statement in response to the passage of House Joint Resolution 1027:
“This resolution is specifically meant to take power away from voters by making the petition process more stringent. In recent years, the legislature’s inaction on issues such as criminal justice reform, healthcare, and medical marijuana, have led people to take action through the petition process. This resolution is an attack on those movements and more specifically, the people’s ability to act when the legislature won’t.
Additionally, by lashing out against these movements, this resolution shows that the inaction by the legislature over the last decade isn’t by accident but by design, and if this HJR becomes law, it will be harder for Oklahomans to combat this inaction.
This resolution isn’t about protecting rural Oklahomans from abusive policies. Petitions can’t force policy. They can only force votes. This HJR is about what the author of the resolution said it was about: ‘power.’”