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, one of Governor Kevin Stitt's major goals has been to create new courts in Oklahoma - business courts that exclusively handle business disputes. A bill passed this last session establishes those courts, but that bill has been challenged and the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a stay to delay implementation of the new law. This is a complicated legal matter. What were the arguments for and against the law?
Shawn Ashley: Attorneys James Waddell and Joe White are challenging the law, which they say is unconstitutional. Waddell argued the bill's process for selecting judges violates the Oklahoma Constitution. Under the bill, business court judges are nominated by the House speaker, appointed by the governor, and subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. No other judges are selected that way. And Waddell noted that judges never stand for retention elections like other judges and justices.
Attorney Bob Burke, who represents Waddell and White, said the bill violated the constitutional provisions about how the courts are organized and governed, which largely falls under the authority of the Supreme Court. And in an exchange with Justice Noma Gurich, Burke noted lawmakers passed a bill in 2004 permitting the court to establish a business docket, but they never funded that, so it never moved forward. Ben Lepak, Stitt's general counsel, argued the legislature has the constitutional power to create through statutes entities that, quote, “exercise adjudicative authority or render decisions in individual cases. That's exactly what we have here,” he said.
Dick Pryor: Yeah, and this law appears to have generated, as you're saying, a unique constitutional separation of powers debate.
Shawn Ashley: Lepak made note of that during his arguments Thursday. Lepak said, “this is a test case of the court's fidelity to constitutional restraint and the separation of powers and to the principle that it is the elected branch's job to make public policy and the court’s job to say what the law is. But there's more to it than that. The bill directly affects all three branches of government. The house nominates and the Senate approves the judges, the governor appoints the judges. And the court itself, specifically the Supreme Court, is responsible for finding locations for the business courts, providing administrative support, and promulgating certain rules for their operation, among a number of other things.”
Dick Pryor: Shawn, we already have courts in Oklahoma that handle business disputes. In reality, it's a lot of what our current courts do. So, what's the argument for creating business courts at all, and what's the position of those who say they are not needed?
Shawn Ashley: Opponents argue the expertise of the judges and the limited jurisdiction of the courts would result in better and more expeditious decisions, which they say are important to businesses. Opponents argued the same results could be achieved by better funding of the courts, which would allow the more experienced and knowledgeable judges to handle complex business cases more quickly.
Dick Pryor: An advisory office created by the legislature is recommending a new system for agencies to provide information to lawmakers. What is the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency, LOFT, suggesting?
Shawn Ashley: According to LOFT, state law requires agencies, boards, and commissions to file more than 400 reports annually. But LOFT reported it was unable to quantify the degree of compliance or non-compliance with those statutes due to the lack of an effective centralized filing system for reports submitted to the legislature. So that's exactly what LOFT suggested - that the legislature consider creating a centralized system for statutorily required reports that would be publicly accessible and would include a variety of functions such as a list of the required reports and their due dates as well as searchability among other things. LOFT also suggested the legislature designate an agency or office to ensure compliance by the various agencies.
Dick Pryor: What kinds of reports are lawmakers wanting that they are not getting?
Shawn Ashley: They're really quite varied. They include things like annual reports from the state pension systems, various participation in demographic information for state programs, information on contracts with outside legal counsel. And as you might have guessed by the sheer number, many, many other things.
Dick Pryor: Of course. Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU YouTube channel. Audio and transcripts are 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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