UPDATE: Senate Bill 675 was unanimously rejected by the Oklahoma House Committee on Public Safety Wednesday morning. It is effectively dead.
Multiple tribal representatives in Oklahoma are raising concerns over a new bill, arguing that it infringes on tribal and data sovereignty.
Senate Bill 675 would allow the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to access the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications Systems network— or OLETS, a program of the Department of Public Safety— to help ensure the OTA receives its toll money.
Representatives from tribal nations and organizations, including the Oklahoma Policy Institute, Oklahoma Intertribal Tax Association, Together OK and United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, have opposed the bill, noting it "seeks to circumvent Tribal sovereign control over data."
Sharon Scott, president of the Oklahoma Intertribal Tax Association and a member of the Seminole Nation, expressed worry during a Native American caucus meeting. She said if the bill becomes law, tribes still trying to make agreements with OTA will lose out on bargaining power.
"I feel like if this passes and comes into law, the OTA can automatically access their information [and] those talks are going to shut down because what's the point?" Scott said.
A handful of tribes have already made deals with the OTA, including the Shawnee Tribe. The tribe's chief, Ben Barnes, said they are footing the bill for tribal citizens' outstanding tolls— an option not all tribal nations have.
"I'm really proud that Shawnee Tribe entered into an agreement with Joe Echelle and the folks at OTA so that we not only will be getting our data voluntarily over to OTA, but also we will be indemnifying our citizens," Barnes said. "[We will be] picking up the backlog of those tags so we're not penalizing our people."
Despite recently making a deal, Barnes still pointed to the harm in passing SB 675, calling it a "wholesale data grab" of personal information.
"Whenever we work together, that's when we work best," Barnes said.
In an Oklahoma Voice article, the bill's author, Sen. Darcy Jech, said the measure allows "tolls to be collected from those who are traveling on the state turnpike system but are not a part of the PikePass system and are not able to be invoiced, which is the case with many tribal vehicle registrations." That includes tribal citizens.
Senate Bill 675 has passed through the Senate. The Oklahoma House Committee on Public Safety will consider the bill on Wednesday.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
