The Oklahoma legislature & governor avoided any hint of dramatics, today, passing the emergency appropriations for human services & health agencies. But the special session has additional designs which will be unveiled in the weeks to come. One plot being hinted is a resolution to ask the voters to give up their seldom-used power to decide on revenue bills. Our current constitutional language mandates a vote of the people to pass any legislation which increases revenue taken in by the state. The only way the legislature can deny the voters of the right to decide on taxes is by securing 75% of the full body of each chamber of the legislature. Sadly, the legislature has opted more for the latter route, not trusting the people to have the maturity to provide a sustaining solution. In a time when the voters are deciding if they are suitably being served by their current elected officials, it seems any support for an initiative to make it easier for the govt. to confiscate more of the limited earnings of the people; will become a litmus test for whether a change is in order, for that legislative district. |
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Sooner Politics
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