Rift between legislative leaders intensifies
House, Senate leaders butt heads over bill
Leaders of the Oklahoma Legislature are in the midst of a political showdown that has one conservative activist calling for the head of the state Senate to be removed from his leadership position.
Republican leaders of the Oklahoma House and Senate are deeply divided on legislation that would allow the state legislature to nullify presidential executive orders, congressional actions and federal agency rules.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat’s decision not to hear House Bill 1236 in its original form has the president of the powerful Oklahoma Second Amendment Association calling for Treat to be removed as Oklahoma’s top senator.
Part of HB 1236 that would allow Oklahoma’s attorney general or a majority of the legislature to nullify federal actions by declaring them unconstitutional was a violation of the government’s separation of powers, Treat said.
Grassroots opposition
On the Senate floor Tuesday, Treat defended his decision to amend the bill to create a unit within the attorney general’s office to evaluate federal actions and defend the state’s rights.
“You do not push back on the federal government by willfully violating the very Constitution that we’re sworn to uphold,” he said. “You do not protect the Constitution by willfully violating it.”
Supporters of HB 1236, by House Speaker Charles McCall, said the Senate-approved version of the bill doesn’t measure up.
Oklahoma Second Amendment Association President Don Spencer called Treat’s proposal “garbage,” and said he stands by his call for Treat to be removed from his leadership post. Spencer organized a “Rally for Liberty” at the Capitol on Tuesday to decry the “federal government’s assault on our rights.”
A few of the more than 200 rallygoers in the Capitol Rotunda carried signs that said, “Don’t Treat on Me.”
Citing the roughly 100 GOP legislators who backed HB 1236, Spencer said it’s clear there’s widespread support for state government leaders to act as a check on the federal government, and prevent federal overreach.
“It’s a very strong message that we want our rights protected, and we want our attorney general and our state legislature to do it,” Spencer said.
Treat chided Spencer, noting the Second Amendment Association doesn’t even list HB 1236 among its top priorities on the group’s website.
Much of the discussion surrounding HB 1236 has been focused on the next election cycle rather than on enacting sound policy, Treat said.
He said he’d heard a common theme that GOP legislators could tout HB 1236, and by extension, challenging the Biden administration, on the campaign trail.
But Treat, who is serving in his final, four-year term in the Senate, said lawmakers shouldn’t vote based on what might help them in their next election.
“That’s not why we’re here,” he said. “We’re here to govern and govern responsibly and govern in a constitutional manner.”
Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, called Treat’s proposal a stunt that would cost the state $10 million annually for a unit within the attorney general’s office that’s being created just so Republicans can earn political points.
House Republicans clap back
House Republicans responded to Treat’s changes to HB 1236 by sending the Senate a new bill with language nearly identical to what the Senate leader cut out of the original bill.
Through a convoluted process involving special rules, House Republicans fast-tracked House Bill 1237 through the House with the intent of sending a message to the Senate.
“I’m proud the House again stepped up to pass another strong measure after the Senate leader amended HB 1236 into a toothless paperweight,” said Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore.
McBride, an author of HB 1236, said he thinks the two chambers can agree to the language in HB 1237.
HB 1237 doesn’t allocate any state funds, and it still allows the legislature and attorney general to review presidential executive orders. HB 1237 would still allow the legislature to declare a federal action unconstitutional, but would also have to seek for a court to declare the action unconstitutional.
House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, called the actions of the GOP majority a waste of taxpayer resources in order to score political points against the Biden administration.
“Today, the House showed that winning an argument with the Senate is worth sacrificing transparency and House precedence that has most likely existed since statehood,” she said. “The most disheartening thing about this bad governance is that it isn’t for anything that will actually help Oklahomans.”