News from the Plains. All this Red can make you Blue
Oklahoma. Could Happen
by Barry Friedman
The Oklahoma Legislature ended it session on May 31, during which it considered 2557 bills (passed 411, including 20 joint resolutions; the governor vetoed 16 others) and an undetermined number of amendments to the state constitution over this four-month session.
Among them …
State Question 1776 (Barring Unemployed From Voting)
This measure amends the State Constitution:
“ A ‘Human Being’ in Oklahoma as referred to in Article 2, section 2 of this constitution shall be defined as any human being gainfully employed by private or public institution, as such, the inherent voting rights and power of such persons shall not be diluted by the votes of those unemployed; therefore, those receiving state or federal government assistance shall be forbidden from casting ballots in city, county, and statewide elections.
State Question 18 (Kosher Law Ban)
This measure amends the State Constitution:
To forbid public school districts from using, exclusively, Kashrut in food preparation. Kashrut (Kosher) is Jewish law that eschews pork and pork-based products, vital to Oklahoma's economy. Kashrut is based on two principal sources, the Old Testament (Jewish Bible) and the teaching of Moses.
State Question 76 (Koran/Hijab Ban)
This measure amends the State Constitution:
To forbid the reading of the Koran (sometimes spelled with a Q and a U) and the wearing of Hijabs (headscarves) in all public spaces within 500 feet of a school, airport, sporting event, or church. This measure expressly exempts the yarmulke from the ban due to Oklahoma's many friends of the Jewish persuasion.
HB 19: Repeal of state healthcare agencies
The incarceration of federal officials seeking to enhance ACA (aka Obamacare) and the authorization of vouchers to those formerly enrolled in state healthcare programs in the sum of $995 per annum for those between the ages of 1-65; $1145 annum for those over 65. Those suffering from pre-existing conditions will receive 75% of the above outlays.
SB 6969 Crimes against Nature II
An addition to the Anti-Sodomy (Crimes Against Nature) Law O.S. 21-886 which presently states …"any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime against nature," will now include … any sexual activity (digital, oral, vaginal, anal, virtual, verbal, implied) between two unmarried persons, whether they be male/female, male/male, female/female, transgender/male, transgender/female, or transgender/transgender ... or alone .
HB 286 Anita Bryant Museum
Appropriates $1.6 million for a feasibility study on the construction of an Anita Bryant museum, hotel, 300' foot bronze statue of the former star, and theme park in her hometown of Barnsdall.
SB 1907 Oklahoma History
A change to Chapter 1 Oklahoma School Code, Chapter 1, Article X Curriculum prohibits the teaching of white-on-Native American hostility, any derogatory mention of the word Redskin, as well as instruction on the supposed benefits of federal programs that were forced upon the state, including but not limited to the Morrill Land-Grant Act, Homestead Act, Pacific Railroad Act, Social Security Act and GI Bill. Additionally, due to their incendiary messages of class distinctions, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Woody Guthrie’s The Land is Your Land will no longer be a part of the state secondary school curricula. It is also advised that all mention of the KKK and various like-minded citizens groups will be treated fairly and with balance.
HB 22/44/357 Mandatory Gun Proximity.
Requires Oklahoma teachers in public schools, all grades, to have access to firearms, either on their person or within range in the classroom, be that a closet, desk, cubby, or tote.
SB 10001 A bill stating life begins at fertilization
SB 10002 A bill stating life begins at ejaculation
SCR 7 A resolution designating April 14, 2014, Good Friday, as Hobby Lobby Day in Oklahoma
HB 10002 Overturning the ban on whale hunting in the state (O.S. §29-2-135)
HB 21: a resolution to remove the U.S. from United Nations, NATO, World Bank, International Court of Justice and FIFA
HB 22 a resolution to remove Oklahoma from the United States
Other measures being considered: adopting the Red Poll Heifer as the state animal; funding of the Jim Inhofe Advanced Science Center at the University of Oklahoma; minting a Gene Stipe commemorative state coin; adding an exclamation point to the state motto Oklahoma–In God We Trust!; and a resolution denying President Obama any entry to Oklahoma (not related to an event that could result in federal fund) unless he first submits two forms of identification (one must be his Long Form Birth Certificate) with the Secretary of State’s office thirty days prior to his arrival.
P.S. None of this happened.
Be honest, though. You weren't entirely sure of that until just now.
Oklahoma Legislature