Good News About Ethics Reform

Last week marked the end of the period during which the Oklahoma Legislature could act on legislation. During the normal course of business, a bill has to be placed on the agenda for a certain number of hours before it can be acted on, so that legislators and others can review it before a vote. However, in the last two days before the legislative deadline, these rules are waived. This year, due in part to negotiations over a number of issues, a significant amount of legislation was held up until right before the deadline. This meant a large number of bills were considered by the House and Senate without giving legislators much time to read them.

Because of these circumstances, there was opportunity for significant changes in the law to pass through without proper consideration. I enjoy the huge challenge of carefully but quickly plowing through hundreds of pages of legalise in an effort to discover these last minute changes, some of which may need to be opposed (more on that next week).

This time, however, I was happy to discover and support a very appropriate and positive change to this year's ethics reform bill. House Bill 2196, which I wrote about earlier this year, purported to place a ban on any political contributions during the legislative session. The logic followed that a politician should not be receiving donations at the same time he or she is voting on important laws.

However, this law would also apply to the challenger of an incumbent. It would have created an incumbent protection scheme so strong that it would have made it almost impossible for an incumbent to be defeated in the primary election process.

Many of Oklahoma's legislative districts are heavily tilted in favor of one party. This means that the winner of the July primary is almost certain to win in the November general election. Because HB 2196 placed a blackout on the ability of a challenger to raise money from January through June (the legislative session), a challenger who decided to run for office after the blackout began would not be able to raise money until just days prior to the primary election.

This concern was expressed by several legislators. The author of the bill listened to these concerns and proposed a fantastic change to the bill. The latest version of his bill would simply prohibit lobbyists and groups that employ them from being able to give during the legislative session. The law would help restore the balance of power in favor of the people.

I have no doubt that legislative incumbents will adapt to the new law by raising even more money than before from lobbyists who will want to hedge their bets that a law that impacts their interests will be heard in each upcoming session. However, it will be much more difficult for a lobbyist to influence the process by giving well-timed political contributions. The bill was also approved in the Senate and is off to the Governor for his signature.

Coupled with the fact that the legislature failed to take action to reverse a recent decision by the ethics commission to cut lobbyist gift-giving by one-third, I am pleased to state that the people of Oklahoma will have a stronger voice during next year's legislative session, compared to that of powerful special interests.

Knowing when Ethanol is in the Gas you buy

Does it seem like you are getting less miles per gallon than you used to? You may have seen recent media reports concerning fuel efficiency. Car owners who had been tracking their vehicles' fuel economy raised questions when they noticed a significant drop in their gas mileage. The cause of this drop was tracked back to the number of gas stations that are blending ethanol with traditional gasoline products. One media outlet reported that as many as 75% of gas stations were using ethanol blended gas. Research has shown that ethanol does not burn as efficiently as gasoline and can actually damage older model cars.

I have been contacted on this issue by local constituents. People feel that it is unfair to have to guess at which gas stations are using these products. Even though this year's legislative session had already started and no new legislation could be introduced to solve the problem, Representative Phil Richardson authored and modified a bill that required fuel retailers to clearly label any fuel blend containing 1 to 10 percent ethanol. Senate Bill 1451 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives with a 99-2 vote and received final approval in the state Senate with a 44-2 vote, after which Governor Brad Henry signed it into law.

Recently there have been a number of news reports regarding concerns with the federal government's policies of subsidizing the production of corn to be used for ethanol. Attention has been given to the federal government's role in ethanol production due to rising food costs and possible shortages. A recent report from the World Bank states that almost all of the increase in global maize production from 2004 to 2007 (the period when grain prices rose sharply) went for bio fuels production in the United States.

You might also be surprised to know that as an Oklahoma taxpayer, your state tax dollars are being used to fund the ethanol industry.

One reason that retailers may want to sell ethanol blended products is due to the fact that state government incentivizes the distribution of the fuel by allowing a 1.6¢ tax credit for each gallon of ethyl alcohol which is contained in ethanol sold by retail dealers. In other words, the taxpayers are put at risk of paying for this product to be distributed.

Not only do Oklahoma taxpayers foot the bill when ethanol blend gas is sold at the pump; they also pay tax credits to the producers of ethanol.

I feel that when government gets involved in trying to sway the market, too often there are unintended consequences. In this case, government involvement has resulted in increasing food costs and decreasing fuel efficiency. I think state and federal governments have made a mistake in using our tax dollars to tinker with the free market and I believe that eventually the free market will provide true solutions to our energy crises if the government would step back and allow the market to work unhindered.

Three Important Legislative Reforms Killed in State Senate

One of the important traditions maintained by Representative Frank Davis over the years was his issuance of an annual survey to local residents on the key issues facing the Oklahoma Legislature. This is an important tradition that I wish to continue as your State Representative. During the course of this legislative session, I have issued three surveys which can be accessed by visiting www.HouseDistrict31.com. The results of the first two surveys have revealed that three of the most important issues overwhelmingly supported by Logan and Oklahoma county residents have been as follows: requiring voter id before voting, placing term limits on statewide officials, and making English the official language of Oklahoma.

I have been pleased to support and advocate for these bills which all passed the House earlier this year. Unfortunately, the Senate took action to effectively kill or render these bills ineffective.

Senate Bill 1150 provided for a list of identification options that could be issued prior to voting, including the state-issued voter ID card, a copy of a utility bill or a driver’s license. It also included language that would have allowed Oklahomans to vote without identification if they signed an affidavit attesting to their identity. The constitutionality of the bill was reinforced by a very recent Supreme Court decision which ruled in favor of an Indiana voter ID law that requires photo identification at the polls, citing the need to reduce voter fraud.

While the Senate's decision to kill the bill is discouraging, I believe that a stronger voter ID law can be passed in the future. Hopefully the next law will require photo ID, as voter identification cards are easily forged and there is little to stop people from voting under different names, especially during low turnout elections.

Senate Bill 1987 would have allowed the people to vote on expanding Oklahoma’s term limits to include statewide elected officials. I have been a strong supporter of this bill. I believe that as a result of the legislative term limits law, the Legislature is very different from just a few years ago. Gone are many of the old guard power bosses who tightly maintained the status quo. These politicians could have stayed in office almost indefinitely but they have been replaced by a group of energetic professionals, many of whom wish to enact pro-growth policies to change Oklahoma for the better. I think this important reform should be applied to all state-elected offices.

Without a doubt, the most egregious action taken by the Senate was the demolition of the effectiveness of the official English bill. This bill proposed to let voters decide on putting language in the Oklahoma Constitution to prevent the taxpayers from having to pay for services such as driver’s license tests in other languages.

The death of these bills will drastically reduce the chance for this legislative session to be seen as productive. However, I cannot help but think that most Oklahoma voters will share the same overwhelming sentiment of support for these bills that my constituents do. Since this is an election year, the voters will have a chance to let their voices be heard and hopefully next year's Legislature will be more reform minded.

Will the Legislature Spend Us into Deeper Debt?

One of the biggest remaining issues yet to be settled by Oklahoma legislators concerns whether or not they will issue millions of dollars of new debt.

I have always been an outspoken opponent of new debt spending. One of my favorite quotes is from President Calvin Coolidge, who said, "Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It does not appear to belong to anybody."

This is aptly illustrated when it comes time for lawmakers to spend the money of our children and grandchildren. It is irresponsible for politicians to saddle citizens with millions of dollars of debt and allow the bill to come due when they are no longer in office. This places debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren, and makes reducing the size of government difficult. Government will be forced to keep taxes high to pay off the debt, plus the interest that goes along with it.


It is also important to remember that the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits state government from going into debt without a vote of the people. However, years of creative interpretation by the judiciary has made it possible for those who advocate public debt to open up a Pandora’s Box of spending. This allows politicians to load up debt proposals with legislative pork that they will get immediate credit for, while the bill for their spending will continue to come due years into the future.

If a proposal to create more debt is indeed placed before the Legislature, this will be the second year in a row that state leaders have attempted to incur new debt. One year ago, the governor asked the Legislature to expand the size of government by proposing to commit the taxpayers to more than $666 million of new bond debt. Fortunately, most of this plan was not implemented.

One of the leaders in the fight against debt has been state Senator Patrick Anderson. Anderson wrote to the members of the Legislature this week, encouraging them to avoid new debt.

It was an honor to be asked by Senator Anderson to be the House author of Senate Bill 1398, a bill he sponsored in the Senate. Anderson became concerned after learning that the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education had issued more than $250 million of long-term debt over the past few years. The debt was issued without legislative oversight or a vote of the people. No doubt the repayment of this debt will be reflected in the high cost of tuition. Anderson worked with officials from Higher Education, the Attorney General's office and the State Bond Council to draft a proposal that would set a cap on the ability of Higher Ed to issue personal property debt. The proposal would also require Higher Ed to allow legislative oversight of other real property bonded indebtedness. That proposal was placed into Senate Bill 1398.

Anderson won approval of the Oklahoma State Senate for Senate Bill 1398, and I was able to achieve approval of the House of Representatives for the bill, which is currently in conference committee.

As your Representative, I remain committed to the avoidance of new debt and to the placement of limits on the ongoing practice of inappropriate debt issuance.