Oklahoma’s Own In Focus: Lawmakers Clash Over Senate Bill 1027 and New Rules for Petition Signature Collections

Lawmakers are debating Senate Bill 1027 as it makes its way through the state Capitol.

News On 6's Sam Carrico spoke to state senators on both sides of the argument.

Q: What does 1027 do?

The bill requires that each petition would have to indicate whether passing the measure would require state funding and where that money could come from.

It would also ban anyone who doesn't live or work in Oklahoma from paying for signature collections. Anyone who collects signatures would have to be a registered Oklahoma voter and have a sign saying if anyone was paying them to collect signatures, and who it was.

The bill would also establish a cap on how many signatures could come from any one county. Only 10 percent of total signatures could come from counties with more than 400,000 people, which includes Tulsa and Oklahoma County. And, no more than four percent of signatures could come from any other one county with less than 400,000 people.

Q: What do lawmakers in favor say?

Senator David Bullard said his rural background is a big part of why he authored Senate Bill 1027.

"Why is it that we would be okay with a system that says you only have to go talk to 2.5% of the state in order to make the entire state, 100% of the state live under that law or under that constitutional provision?" he said.

Bullard said under the current law, the majority of the signatures often come from just two counties: Tulsa and Oklahoma.

"Right now, they can go and gather signatures out of two counties and completely ignore the rest of Oklahoma," he said.

Q: Why are some lawmakers opposed?

Senator Julia Kirt is against the bill and says people in counties where fewer people live already have a say in the process.

"There was nothing presented that proved that this is led only by urban voters," she said. "And always those state questions when they go on the ballot are voted on. They have to be passed by the majority of Oklahomans. They have to."

Senator Kirt said this bill would take power away from Oklahoma voters and make it harder for future initiatives to pass.

"I hope people understand the implications of it because they've already made it harder over the last few years, and this is going to make it almost impossible to bring forward ideas," she said.

Q: What's next?

The bill passed in the state Senate and now goes to the House, where Speaker Kyle Hilbert from Bristow is a co-author.