Bingman Advances Budget-Only Session, Would Require Voter Support
Oklahoma Senate president pro tem pushes a proposal for change
By Rick Green
Despite opposition, Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman isn’t ready to give up on his attempt to cut back on the thousands of bills considered every year by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Measures concerning everything from giving blood tests to captured feral hogs to ending Advanced Placement history get introduced every year, but the majority end up in the legislative dust bin.
Bingman’s Senate Joint Resolution 30 would let voters decide if the Legislature should take up budgetary matters every year but consider policy issues only in odd-numbered years. The resolution does stipulate that policy could be taken up in even-numbered years with two-thirds legislative approval.
The Legislature’s main job is drawing up a budget for billions of dollars in state spending, and the Sapulpa Republican said more attention could be given to that important task if policy issues came up only every other year.