By Constitution Staff

With the governor's office and both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature controlled by Republicans, one would expect that conservative legislation would have a good opportunity for passage. After the GOP took control of the Oklahoma House, conservative measures would pass in the lower chamber, only to be thwarted in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Conservative bills are still being passed in the House, but now are being bottled up in the GOP led Senate.

The upper chamber of the Oklahoma Legislature has historically been the more liberal body. Since the start of the annual Oklahoma Conservative Index rating state legislators 34 years ago, the average score of state senators has nearly always been lower than their counterparts in the House. That pattern has continued even under Republican leadership. In the 2012 Oklahoma Conservative Index, the average score of legislators in the House was 63%, compared to 56% in the Senate. The new Speaker of the House, Rep. T.W. Shannon (R-Lawton), has an cumulative average of 75%, and scored 90% in the 2012 session. Meanwhile, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, Sen. Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa), has a cumulative average of just 61%, scoring 63% in the 2012 session.

April 4 was the deadline for bills approved in the House or the Senate to be passed out of their assigned committees in the other legislative chamber. If the committee votes down the legislation or takes no action, it is dead for this legislative session. This year, many conservative bills passed by wide margins in the House, only to die in Senate committees because the chairman (a Republican) refused to even allow the bills to have a hearing. Some of those bills are reviewed below.

UNITED NATIONS AGENDA 21

Sen. Cliff Branan (R-Oklahoma City), the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, decided not to hear House Bill 1412. Sen. Branan has a cumulative average of 65% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. Branan told the Associated Press that the bill was based on a "fringe conspiracy" belief that the United Nations wants to use its Agenda 21 Sustainable Development action plan to infringe on American's private property rights. The legislation would prohibit any political subdivision of Oklahoma from adopting or implementing the policy recommendations established by the UN initiative. The measure would also prohibit the state or cities from contracting with or exchanging funds with a non-governmental or intergovernmental organization accredited by the United Nations. The bill was approved by a vote of 67-13 in the Oklahoma House on March 14, but died due to the lack of action in Sen. Branan's Senate committee.

"Unfortunately, what we have now is our own U.S. government adopting and promoting the United Nation's radical environmental policies," said Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), the principle author of the bill in the House. Rep. Kern has a cumulative average of 94% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order which established the President's Council on Sustainable Development making the UN Agenda 21 Sustainable Development agenda the policy for all executive branch agencies. Then, in 2011, President Barack Obama created the President's Rural Council by Executive Order pushing Agenda 21 into rural areas. Initially, it was President George H.W. Bush who signed and obligated the U.S. to be a part of the United Nation's Agenda 21 in 1991 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

NULLIFY OBAMACARE

State Rep. Mike Ritze (R-Broken Arrow), a board-certified family practice physician and surgeon, filed House Bill 1021 to nullify the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as "ObamaCare," in Oklahoma. Rep. Ritze has a cumulative average of 91% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. The primary senate author was Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) who was elected last year. Ritze said the measure protects Oklahomans against an unconstitutional federal overreach in power and control over their daily lives. "There is no provision in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution where the states delegated to Congress the authority to make a citizen purchase health care or pay a fine," Ritze said. "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an example of federal overreach and my legislation will authorize the state via the will of the People to ignore it and ban the enforcement of it."

Proponents of "Obamacare" argue that Article VI of the Constitution makes the legislation the "supreme law of the land,"Ritze strongly disagrees with that belief. "They fail to understand how the country is supposed to operate," Ritze said. "As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 33: "It expressly confines this supremacy to laws made pursuant to the Constitution.' Alexander Hamilton got it right. Congress and the Supreme Court got it wrong."

The bill passed the house 72-20 on March 13, but died without a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Clark Jolley (R- Edmond). Sen. Jolly has a cumulative average of 69% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index.

DRIVER LICENSE BIOMETRIC DATA

House Bill 1476 would require the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to modify the application for the issuance of a Class D driver license or identification card to contain a statement of exemption allowing an applicant to opt out from the collection of biometric data by DPS. The measure places restrictions on the use of the high resolution biometric facial images now collected and stored by DPS (a low resolution picture would still be on the license). The legislation was authored by Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) and Sen. Kyle Loveless (R-Mustang). The bill passed the House 78-9 on March 14 and was assigned to the senate Public Safety Committee, chaired by Sen. Don Barrington (R-Lawton) who did not allow the legislation to proceed. Sen. Barrington has a cumulative average of 60% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index.

FIREARMS FREEDOM ACT

House Bill 2021 would create the Firearms Freedom Act which provides that a personal firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition that is manufactured in Oklahoma and remains exclusively within the borders of Oklahoma is not subject to federal law, taxation or regulation, including registration. Firearms manufactured in Oklahoma would have to be clearly stamped "Made in Oklahoma." It is based on Oklahoma's rights under the 2nd, 9th and 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Section 26 of Article II of the Oklahoma Constitution. The legislation was authored by State Rep. Sean Roberts (R-Hominy), cumulative conservative rating 80%. The principle senate author is Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow).

The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, particularly if not expressly preempted by federal law. The United States Congress has not expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining to the manufacture on intrastate basis of firearms, firearms accessories and ammunition. The measure passed the House by a vote of 79-12 on March 12, but the senate Public Safety Committee, chaired by Sen. Don Barrington (R-Lawton) failed to hear the bill.

These are just a few examples of important legislation originating in the more conservative Oklahoma House which was blocked in the Oklahoma Senate. Many legislators complain that one person -- the committee chairman -- should not be able to single handedly kill a bill. They advocate that if legislation passes in one chamber, there should at least be hearing and an up or down vote held in the committee.