Anderson Bill Looks To Shake Up Legislature
Oklahoma senator has plan for one-chamber Legislature
BY GRAHAM LEE BREWER
A state senator wants to eliminate 101 elected positions across the state, and he’s asking for help from Oklahoma voters.
Senate Joint Resolution 43, filed by Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, would allow voters to create a constitutional amendment creating a unicameral legislature consisting of 48 legislators, effectively dissolving the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
“That may be a tall order, but I think as a legislative body we’re always looking to state agencies, asking them to become more efficient, asking them to save taxpayer dollars, and I think if we really look at what we do as a legislative body switching to a unicameral legislature would be a great step forward for the taxpayers of Oklahoma,” Anderson said.
If the bill were to pass, it would make Oklahoma the second state to have a unicameral, or single house, legislature. Nebraska has had a unicameral system since 1937.