Dorman Miffed At AG’s Ballot Rewrite
Oklahoma legislator criticizes AG’s ballot rewrite By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The attorney general’s rewrite of the ballot language for a plan to issue $500 million in bonds to help school districts pay for safe-room shelters is biased against the proposal and may be challenged in court, a state legislator said Monday.
Rep. Joe Dorman, a Democrat who is spearheading the effort to get enough voter signatures to put the proposal on the ballot, said Republican Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s rewrite of the ballot title focuses mostly on the business franchise tax that would be used to fund the proposal, rather than placing safe rooms or storm shelters in schools.
“I’m greatly disappointed,” said Dorman, D-Rush Springs. “It is clearly slanted to focus on the funding mechanism, rather than the shelter program that we’re trying to create.”
Pruitt notified the Secretary of State’s Office on Friday that his office had rewritten the ballot title because the original proposal language “did not comply with applicable laws.” The attorney general previously indicated the original proposal did not adequately explain, in basic words, how the proposal would be funded.