The Sad thing is that REPUBLICAN KILL
Official English, and the
Cap to annual property tax increases at
the lesser of 3 percent or the rate of inflation
OKLAHOMA lawmakers have produced few noteworthy bills this session and haven't been inclined to give voters much of a say on issues, either.
An English-only measure pushed by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, was shipped to a conference committee last week after being diluted considerably in the Senate. Its chances of emerging before session's end are slim. Even if it had been sent to the people as originally crafted, the bill wouldn't have stopped the state from offering driver's tests in Spanish — one of the main things Terrill wants to see abolished.
A conference committee also is where a term-limits bill for statewide office holders now sits. The attorney general fought the bill, which would have limited time in office to 12 years for his job and others such as state superintendent and corporation commission. Deep-sixed this session was a resolution that sought to let voters choose if they wanted to cap annual property tax increases at the lesser of 3 percent or the rate of inflation.
One of the few survivors (though probably not for long) would let voters decide if judicial appointments made by the governor should get Senate approval. An original stab at this failed. A second attempt has passed the House and is headed to the Senate. The resolution pertains to those named to the state's Supreme Court, criminal and civil appeals courts, the Workers' Compensation Court and the occasional appointments to district court posts.
At present, the governor chooses from candidates who have been recommended by the Judicial Nominating Commission. Senate approval would provide one more filter. As we've said previously, how sensible is it that senators must OK appointments to such agencies as the Polygraph Examiners Board and the Oklahoma Mining Commission, but not those in line for these most influential positions?
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