A majority of Oklahoma legislators celebrated Oklahoma's newest law that criminalizes abortion and makes the medical procedure virtually impossible to obtain. Arguably, it's the strictest such law in the nation, but additional anti-abortion legislation is also moving closer to passage.
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Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider, your weekly look inside Oklahoma politics, policy and government. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. Shawn, Thursday was deadline day for bills to be heard in a committee of the opposite chamber. Even after Governor Stitt signed SB 612 that criminalizes abortion in Oklahoma, more anti-abortion bills advanced. Why are proponents of those bills seeing them as necessary and what are the opponents saying?
Shawn Ashley: House Democratic Minority Leader Emily Virgin was wondering Tuesday during the House Rules Committee why they were considering more abortion bills after Governor Stitt signed Senate Bill 612. House Majority Floor Leader John Echols pointed to the Mississippi case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. He said the court could adjust the viability standard - the point at which abortions are no longer allowed - that, he said, is the reason behind Senate Bill 1553, which prohibits abortions 30 days after a woman's last menstrual cycle and Senate Bill 1503 that prohibits abortions after an unborn child's heartbeat is detected. Both bills have passed House committees and are awaiting floor consideration.
The court also could reject previous precedent and say abortion is not protected under the U.S. Constitution, Echols said. That is the reason behind bills like House Bill 4357 that prohibits abortions upon conception, Senate Bill 1555, which authorizes the enforcement of an existing statute criminalizing abortion - both bills which are awaiting floor consideration - and Senate Bill 612 that the governor signed. Echols also offered a caveat: The court might do neither of those and let the current precedent stand or perhaps even set a new one.
Dick Pryor: A handful of bills would have died, but for the Speaker of the House waiving that deadline, another example of legislative rules being somewhat advisory, not etched in stone.
Shawn Ashley: Yeah, that's right. Committee deadlines are set by the House speaker and the Senate president pro tem. That means they're subject to change, and they have broad authority to exempt bills from the deadline if they think it's necessary, which is what Speaker Charles McCall did Thursday for five bills. Now that's different from floor deadlines, when bills have to be heard by the full Senate and the full House. Those are set by legislation, and it takes a vote of each chamber to change them. That's what we saw back in February, when they pushed back the Chamber of Origin floor deadline from March 17th to March 24th.
Dick Pryor: One of those bills was not heard Tuesday by the House Judiciary Civil Committee. There actually were several bills that did not receive a hearing in that committee. That's unusual. Why did that happen?
Shawn Ashley: House Judiciary Civil Committee Chair Chris Kannady abruptly laid over the eleven bills on the committee's agenda Tuesday after he and Representative Josh West complained that two of their measures were not being heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee. One of those bills, House Bill 2969, creates the Oklahoma Computer Data Privacy Act of 2020, an issue West has been working on for a couple of years. The other – House Bill 3899 - would make mental health injuries or illnesses such as PTSD suffered by first responders, a compensable injury under the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Code. Currently, it is not.
Kannady and West have been working on that issue for close to six years. West said the Senate, particularly its Judiciary Committee that did not hear the bills, needed to work with the House on these issues. “But I say in the meantime,” he said, “we burn this sucker down, stand up and burn it down.” Kannady responded, “Your point is well taken,” and then he laid over the committee's entire agenda.
Dick Pryor: You don't often hear that.
Shawn Ashley: No, you don't.
Dick Pryor: On Thursday, the House Transportation Committee approved a bill that would slow down the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's plan to expand the Kickapoo Turnpike in Cleveland County. What does this bill do?
Shawn Ashley: Senate Bill 1610 requires the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority submit a report to the governor and the Legislature concerning the extension’s impact, particularly on businesses, citizens, and public and private property. Now it requires that report be submitted at least 180 days - six months - prior to issuing bonds for the construction of the South Extension, and it allows the Legislature to modify the authorization for construction of the extension or even the location of the turnpike. In other words, the Legislature could potentially redraw the rule.
Dick Pryor: All right, and we're watching that closely. Thanks, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: We would like to hear from you. Email your questions to news@kgou.org or contact us on Twitter @kgounews and @QuorumCallShawn. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
