Republicans gained control of both houses in November for the first time since Oklahoma became a state, giving party lawmakers an opportunity to advance their agendas this legislative session.
More than a month into the session, political science professor Keith Gaddie said Republicans already are having success in getting more conservative issues heard on the Senate floor. Republicans and Democrats had been tied in the Senate during the previous two years. There are currently 26 Republicans and 22 Democrats in the Senate, and 61 Republicans and 40 Democrats in the House.
“[Republican lawmakers] are moving their agenda and they are moving it quickly,” Gaddie said.
One issue getting a serious look that might not have received a second glance in the past is the discussion of tort reform, the reforming of the Oklahoma civil justice system. Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, said this issue represents a large part of the Republican agenda.
Lamb said Democratic Gov. Brad Henry requested tort reform in 2004, but vetoed a bill that addressed the issue two years ago. He said Henry will have another tort reform bill on his desk this year, but even if he vetoes it, a referendum might be sent to the people of Oklahoma for a vote.
Rep. Bill Nations, D-Norman, said Henry may see more bills he disagrees with this session than he has in the past.
“I would guess there will be a lot more vetoes out of his office,” Nations said.
He compared the current composition of the state political scene with the situation former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating faced in the late ’90s.
Keating was a Republican governor when both houses were controlled by Democrats. Nations said Keating had high veto numbers compared with Henry because of the legislative make up during Keating’s term, but that could change now that Republicans control both houses.
“Gov. Henry has not had to face this until now,” Nations said.
Lamb also said he was frustrated because some Democratic senators debated against Republican Sen. Mike Mazzei’s grocery tax elimination legislation last week. Mazzei is a senator from Tulsa.
He said tax cuts benefiting middle-class Oklahomans were supported by the Democrats’ own agenda, and he does not understand why some Democrats opposed the bill, which passed the Senate last week by a 38-8 vote.
“I found that ironic, for lack of a better word,” Lamb said. “I was confused by it.”
Gaddie said Lamb may not understand the Democrats’ logic because he has never been in their shoes.
“He’s never been through the experience of having another guy in the majority,” Gaddie said.
Minority floor leader Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, said the Democrats who debated against the grocery tax legislation were doing so because they thought the bill represented Republican politicking.
Laster said the bill was read with the title off, so it can’t become law. Both Sens. Mike Johnson and David Myers voted against the bill.
Johnson, R-Kingfisher, is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Myers, R-Ponca City, is vice chairman of the same committee.
Laster said the fact that neither voted for the bill to eliminate the tax on groceries shows they knew it would never become law.
Nations said the House went through similar growing pains when the majority shifted four years ago, and now both parties in the Senate are having to adjust to their new identities in order to accomplish their agendas.
“There is a learning curve when the majority changes,” Nations said.
Despite the bickering, Gaddie said Republicans definitely are benefiting from their majority. Republican bills that might not have passed when the Senate was tied have a better chance of passing now, and bills that would have been killed early are at least getting heard in committee.
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RogerG 3 years, 2 months ago
This is great. We can declare Darwin to be a fraud; we can ban non-christians from speaking anywhere in Oklahoma in public institutions. We and legislate that multiple divorce and teen pregnancies are family values whil banning gays. We can declare the earth is flat again too. We can really go forward and protect ourselves from the far left liberal socialist communist agenda. We can send back the money we get from the Federal Govt. We get more per capita than we pay in to the Federal Tax pool. We can reject federal aid in case of tornadoes and wildfires and show those communist heathens how we really do stuff here. WE should burn sedititious books too. We can allow businesses to use illegal immigrants to rake in profits but we must never allow illegal immigrants any healthcare. For example, we must allow them to be exploited to rebuild roofs in Norman destroyed by the Hail Storm but we should never allow one of those illegals who may fall down from the roof and health care. That is the only real christian way to do things. We must also ban all words outside the Bible ever been used in schools.