~ Congressman James Lankford has praise for Kansas Governor Sam Brownback after he signed state bill H.B. 2553, which allows Kansas to join the Health Care Compact. Lankford recently introduced H.J. Res 110 in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide the required congressional approval for Member states to enter into the Health Care Compact.
~ Language is needed to clarify the intent of the right to bear arms in the Oklahoma Constitution, according to the author of a constitutional amendment approved in the Senate. House Joint Resolution 1026, by Rep. Dan Fisher and Sen. Greg Treat, was approved 37-6. Written in 1907, the Oklahoma Constitution, Article II, Section 26, reads: “The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power, when thereunto legally summoned, shall never be prohibited; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the Legislature from regulating the carrying of weapons.”
The legislation would allow voters to change Section 26 to read: “The fundamental right of each individual citizen to keep and to bear (that is, to carry) arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, knives, nonlethal defensive weapons and other arms in common use, as well as ammunition and the components of arms and ammunition, for security, self-defense, lawful hunting and recreation, in aid of the civil power, when thereunto legally lawfully summoned, or for any other legitimate purpose shall never not be prohibited; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the Legislature from regulating the carrying of weapons infringed. Any regulation of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.”
The constitutional amendment would also add two subsections to Section 26: “This section shall not prevent the Legislature from prohibiting the possession of arms by convicted felons, those adjudicated as mentally incompetent, or those who have been involuntarily committed in any mental institution.”
“No law shall impose registration or special taxation upon the keeping of arms, including the acquisition, ownership, possession, or transfer of arms, ammunition, or the components of arms or ammunition.”
The proposal will now appear on the November ballot.
~ The full Senate has approved legislation that will ultimately increase public school funding by $600 million annually. Senators Jim Halligan, R-Stillwater, and John Ford, R-Bartlesville, are Senate authors of House Bill 2642, the Securing Educational Excellence Fund (SEEF). The measure was approved unanimously on Wednesday.
“We recognize the need for additional resources for Oklahoma schools. This plan is a fiscally responsible way to generate an additional $600 million annually that will go directly into the school funding formula,” Halligan said. “This bill is an important step in helping Oklahoma students get the quality education they need to compete and to succeed.”
HB 2642 directs a dedicated appropriation of $30 million in fiscal year 2015, which begins on July 1, 2014. That amount would then increase by $30 million each year through FY ’18. In FY ’19, the ROAD Fund will reach its statutory maximum of $575 million, freeing an additional $60 million which can then be dedicated to SEEF.
In order to address concerns about an additional off-the-top earmark, the plan includes triggers for the specified increases:
- FY ’16 – ’18 funds would only be added if there is growth of at least one percent in General Revenue (GR).
- FY ’19 – GR growth of one percent would trigger $30 million, two percent would trigger the full $60 million.
- If GR funds decline, there will be no additional allocation to SEEF until the previous high in GR is exceeded.
In addition, the measure has safeguards that will prevent SEEF funds from taking the place of additional appropriations—Halligan noted that had occurred with the lottery funds that were supposed to have dramatically increased education funding. HB 2642 requires the State Board of Equalization to find that the funds are not supplanted, meaning they can’t take the place of previous appropriations.
~ The president of Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation (TRUST) commended the state Senate for protecting the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s eight-year highway and bridge construction plan by not including a committee substitute to HB 2642 which would have diverted 50% of funding from the Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and Driver Safety (ROADS) Fund. HB 2642 passed the Senate today. Neal McCaleb said, “On behalf of the members of TRUST, I commend the leadership of the state Senate and its members for their commitment to continue the tremendous progress made over the past few years to rebuild and modernize Oklahoma’s transportation infrastructure. By not diverting monies from the ROADS fund, senate members have made a strong statement for improved public safety and economic development all across Oklahoma.”
