Published: May 11, 2008 12:03 am            

State legislators of both parties seek to capitalize at ballot box on a few hot-button issues

Staff and wire reports



With little money to spend, Republicans and Democrats in the Oklahoma Legislature have fought mostly this year over official English, ethics, insurance mandates and other hot-button issues.

Now each side hopes to capitalize at the ballot box by stressing their support for programs shot down in the Legislature by their political opponents.

Sen. Owen Laughlin, R-Woodward, says Republicans have a winning issue on a bill to make English the official language in Oklahoma. Laughlin said polls he has seen show at least 70 percent of Oklahomans support the idea.

“It wouldn’t be a driving issue” if Democrats had not sidetracked it through parliamentary maneuvering and allowed it to go to a vote of the people, he said.

He referred to the bill sent to a joint conference committee last week with a mandate to adopt the measure in a less restrictive form. Both sides predicted the issue likely is dead for the session.

“It is very highly unlikely the Senate will allow English to become a official language,” said Rep. Mike Jackson, R-Enid.

Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, said Democrats will benefit politically from the session-long health care debate.

“I think the biggest issue of the election will be health insurance,” said Wilson, who sponsored a measure to require insurance companies to pay for medical procedures deemed to be necessary by a doctor or other health professional.

The bill was opposed by most Republicans and never made it to a floor vote in the House, where a number of insurance mandate measures died, including bills to improve veterans’ health care and require coverage for autism.

Republicans generally said the bills would burden insurance companies financially and lead to Oklahoma having more uninsured citizens. More than 650,000 Oklahomans already have no health insurance, the sixth highest rate among the 50 states.

Democrats said GOP lawmakers are protecting the profits of insurance companies.

“I just can’t believe there is any subset of the population out there who thinks it is more proper to have profitable insurance companies than it is to have adequate health care,” Wilson said.

Rep. John Enns, R-Enid, said socialized medicine, such as programs being proposed by presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, do not work. He said the costs of those systems are passed onto taxpayers.

He said the Veterans Administra-tion was an example of failed socialized medicine.

“Nobody out there will tell you how good the V.A. is and that’s socialized medicine,” Enns said. “It’s deplorable.”

The stakes are high in legislative races this year. Republicans believe they have the upper hand and will take over the 48-member state Senate this year for the first time ever.

The Senate now is tied 24-24 and Republicans and Democrats have been sharing power under an agreement signed in 2007. It is the only tied legislative body in the country.

Democrats believe they are likely to make up ground on Republicans in the 101-member House, where the GOP holds a 57-44 advantage.

Jackson said he sees his Republican party taking a majority because of other elections being led by Republicans, such as the presidency and a Senate seat.

“In a lot of these cases, the top of the ticket trends to trickle down,” Jackson said. “For the most part, I think the Republicans will pick up two seats.

“I think Republicans will take over for the first time in the state of Oklahoma.”

Ivan Holmes, state Democratic chairman, said ethics will be a top issue, along with health insurance.

“The fact that they (Republicans) would not let the Ethics Commission be properly funded is one issue that we’ll be going door to door on,” Holmes said.

The Ethics Commission got an extra $150,000 in a tight budget year, but commissioners say $50,000 of that was designated for an incompatible software program used by the Federal Election Commission. The ethics panel was denied their annual bid for more personnel, including more investigators.

Holmes said Democrats also would stress GOP opposition to Wilson’s bill and to expanding health care for veterans.

Another election-year issue could be GOP stewardship of the state’s finances. Education groups think Republicans-inspired tax cuts between 2005 and 2007 went too far, leaving the state vulnerable to huge budget cuts if the economy slips.

More than $2 billion in GOP-inspired tax reductions were approved during that three-year period.

Some legislative Democrats have criticized the scope of the tax cuts, although they were signed off on in omnibus budget agreements by Democratic Gov. Brad Henry and other Democratic leaders.

Enns said tax revenues have been consistent as far as state income tax and sales taxes.

“Where we’ve lost money in general revenue is in corporate tax,” he said.

Laughlin said Democratic opposition to a voter ID bill also will be an election year topic in Senate contests.

He said he feels most Oklahomans would agree some sort of identification should be shown at polling places to uphold the sanctity of the ballot.

Senate Democrats rebelled against the bill after the House rejected a Democratic amendment to permit same-day registration and voting. They also worried the voter ID plan could penalize some elderly residents who may forget to bring identification to their precinct.

Gary Jones, state Republican chairman, agreed with Laughlin’s assessment of public support for the voter ID bill.

“I think most people believe that it is just kind of common sense that we ought to know who is voting,” Jones said.

Jackson said protecting the vote was an issue important to his constituency.

“When I talk to a lot of my constituents it is an issue that comes up very frequently,” he said.

He said legislation to change voting protocols should ensure those who are voting are doing so once and correctly and that every voice is heard.

“One of the things we have to do is make sure the integrity of Democracy remains viable.”



Staff writer Cass Rains and the Associated Press contributed to this report.