By Lornna Bates
Staff Writer
In the upcoming Nov. 2 General Election for Oklahoma, voters will be asked to either approve or deny 11 State Questions being proposed on the ballot.
To help inform voters, Oklahoma Rep. John Carey (D) of the second Congressional District offered some insight into the actual workings of some of these questions.
Incidentally, Carey noted that there are over 1,900 words on the State Question portion of the ballot. This is four times longer than the entire Bill of Rights.
State Question No. 744 requires that Oklahoma spend the same amount annually on each student as the neighboring states do. SQ No. 744 allows three years for the state to reach its spending per student capacity of $42. The proposal does not provide a means for which this funding will be obtained. However, it does stipulate that taxes will not be raised.
When asked how it will be funded, Carey said that the Legislature will have to find a way to get revenue. If a way is not found, then theoretically the revenue will be taken from other state agencies or possibly by cutting tax breaks, said Carey.
This proposal is sponsored by the Department of Education and makes its appearance on the ballot through the petition process, Carey said.
State Question No. 746 requires each person who casts a vote to provide current government-issued photo identification when voting. Documents also accepted would be voter identification cards or a signed sworn statement.
The current law does not require a voter to present any form of picture identification after the initial application is completed to register to vote.
State Question No. 747 would limit the amount of years that elected officials will be able to hold office, regardless of whether the terms are consecutive. This would apply to all statewide elected officers, such as governor, lieutenant governor and treasurer, and would limit the years able to hold these offices to eight year spans, or two full four-year terms. The only exception is the corporation commissioner office, which would be limited to 12 years, or two full six-year terms.
This measure would complement SQ No. 632, which passed overwhelmingly in 1990 and placed limits of terms for the legislative House of Representatives and the Senate of Oklahoma, said Carey.
State Question No. 748 would change how the districts are divided throughout Oklahoma after each 10 year federal census. This apportionment would be done by three Democrats and three Republicans who would be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the governor. A seventh member, the lieutenant governor, would serve as a chair to the Commission and would not have a vote in the orders of apportioning.
When asked if the previous method used was creating unevenly distributed districts in favor of one party or another, Carey said, “Yes, unfortunately.” There was animosity about who made the decisions when apportioning the districts, said Carey. The new proposal would ideally create a more bi-partisan and objective approach to apportionment. Carey said, “I would vote yes.”
State Question No. 750 would change the requirement for number of signatures needed for initiative and referendum petitions. The percentages required would be based on the voter turnout numbers for General Elections involving the governor, rather than presidential elections. Thus, fewer signatures would be required to petition the government, as the governor election voter turnout numbers are typically lower than in presidential elections.
State Question No. 751 proposes that the official language of Oklahoma state actions be English, provided federal law does not require other languages be represented. It also stipulates that no lawsuits can be brought against any state agency or political subdivision on the premise that they have failed to use a language other than English.
State Question No. 752 would add two at-large members to the Judicial Nominating Commission, one each appointed by the Senate president pro tempore and the speaker of the House of Representatives. These appointees cannot be lawyers or have a lawyer in the family. They would join the six lawyers appointed by the Oklahoma Bar Association, one from each congressional district, and the six non-at-large members, who also cannot be lawyers, appointed by the governor on the Commission.
State Question No. 754 would limit the Oklahoma Constitution’s ability to control state spending. The Legislature would not be required to fund state functions based on formulas determined in the Constitution, other states’ expenditures or how much an entity spends. If this measure is adopted, a clause embedded within the proposal deems it unable to be amended effectively and without repeal.
Here is where this question gets interesting. Carey pointed out that this State Question shows just how fearful the Legislature is of SQ No. 744 passing.
Effectively, this proposal, if approved, would allow the Legislature to overrule SQ No. 744, if also approved, completely nullifying SQ No. 744.
State Question No. 755 would require Oklahoma courts to decide cases based on federal and state law only. It strictly forbids courts from relying on international law, the law of nations or Sharia Law (Islamic law).
In an ABC News report in June, Joel Siegel wrote that Oklahoma would be the very first state to initiate a ban on Sharia Law and international law. Although Oklahoma does not have a high number of Muslims in its population, only 30,000 out of 3.7 million residents, wrote Siegel, the question proposes a pre-emptive strike against what might be considered a future threat to other states in the country.
State Question No. 756 would provide freedom of health care, stating individuals do not have to have health care nor will an employer be forced to provide healthcare to its employees. Individuals would be allowed to pay for treatment directly. Health care providers would not be required to provide treatment, and they would also be allowed to take payment for treatment directly from a patient. Both the purchase and sale of health insurance are allowed in private health care systems.
This may soon be overlapped by federal law stating the opposite, which would rule supreme.
When asked why this is necessary, since it could soon be pre-empted by federal law, Carey confirmed that this will definitely be fought in court because it can be overridden, and some people might choose to abide by the state law versus the federal law.
Carey said that many people are horrified at what has been termed “Obama Care,” and many of the members of the legislative body are up for re-election. This proposal has the capability of winning the favor of many of these horrified voters, and Carey noted that the election will be finished by the time this measure would be nullified by federal law.
State Question No. 757 proposes that 15 percent of surplus revenue would be deposited into the Constitutional Reserve Fund, an increase of 5 percent over the previous funding amount.
“It’s a good thing,” said Carey. “More money will go into a rainy day fund.”
The “rainy day fund” is money set aside in case of emergencies. Carey noted that it might be “tough to swallow at first,” having to set aside 5 percent more per year than before, which roughly equals out to about $300 million more each year. That figure is based upon last year’s figure of $6.7 billion in appropriation, said Carey.
However, when an emergency arises, such as tornadoes, storms or even an earthquake, which have devastated parts of Oklahoma in the past few years, voters will be thankful for the approval of this State Question and the money that will be available for aid, Carey said.
Consequently, the agencies, or people, that receive this money each year will most likely be opposed to the approval of this question, Carey noted.