TRANSCRIPT
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Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher, Shawn Ashley. Shawn, Thursday was deadline day in the legislature when bills that made it out of committee had to be heard in their chambers of origin. During the first several weeks of the session, lawmakers quickly culled bills. The session began with more than 3,000 bills filed. How many remain?
Shawn Ashley: There are around 760 bills and one joint resolution that remain alive for consideration. Those measures will now be assigned to opposite chamber committees for consideration, House bills to Senate committees and Senate bills to House committees.
Dick Pryor: Of the remaining bills, many are similar, if not identical. So, what happens to those bills?
Shawn Ashley: At some point, the authors need to come to an agreement on which bill they are going to move forward and the language for that. A good example of that are the sports betting proposals. A bill in the House, House Bill 1047, would allow Native American tribes to offer sports betting at their casinos and electronically statewide under the state tribal gaming compacts. A Senate bill, Senate Bill 585, would allow that and for a professional sports team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to contract with a provider to offer in-person and electronic sports wagering. Those bills are very similar but also very different.
Dick Pryor: Governor Stitt has already announced where he stands on this issue. Stitt said Wednesday he will not sign legislation that gives tribal nations exclusivity in sports betting. “I'm not going to do it,” Stitt told reporters. Instead, the governor prefers a plan he outlined in November of 2023. It would allow sports bets to be placed in person at tribal gaming facilities and would allow Oklahomans to place bets on their mobile devices on commercial sports books licensed by the state. There is a third bill in the legislature, House Bill 1101, that would bypass the governor and send the sports betting issue to a vote of the people as a legislative referendum. Representative Ken Luttrell, the bill's author, said the last time that was done was in 2003 and resulted in the vote that created the state lottery.
Dick Pryor: A bill that would have required local school districts to spend at least 50% of their budgets on classroom instruction failed in the House. Why did the author propose the bill, and what was the winning argument against it?
Shawn Ashley: Representative Chad Caldwell said, “proponents for more common education spending say better outcomes will just take more money. This measure just asked those in charge of our schools to do the right thing and put the money where their mouth is and invest in prioritizing students and teachers,” Caldwell said. Opponents of the bill often harken back to one central issue, local control. They argued that school boards and the superintendents they hire know best how to spend the money in their districts, and that they should be allowed to make those decisions and not be limited by a state law.
Dick Pryor: Meantime, the Senate passed a bill that prohibits higher education institutions from spending any money on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and mandating participation in DEI activities. While local control is sacrosanct in K-12 education, lawmakers have little problem telling colleges and universities how to spend their money. So, what do they see as the difference?
Shawn Ashley: Governance. Colleges and universities are overseen by boards of regents who are appointed and not elected and seem to be viewed as an extension of those boards, just like a division within any other state agencies. Public schools, of course, are overseen by local school boards who are elected. Several House members pointed that out Thursday - that those boards were closest to the people that could be the most responsive to local community needs and desires. Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh, the author of the anti-DEI bill, stressed in a press release that the legislation provides clarity and consistency in higher education policy.
Dick Pryor: With just a couple of months left in the session where do budget negotiations stand?
Shawn Ashley: The House has outlined its starting point for negotiations with the Senate and Governor Stitt, and is calling for a $107.1 million reduction in total spending. We'll have to see now how the Senate and the Governor react to that.
Dick Pryor: How much longer do you expect the session to last?
Shawn Ashley: They could go until May 30th, so about two more months.
Dick Pryor: All right, thank you, Shawn. You're very welcome. For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find audio and transcripts at kgou.org and look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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