Oklahoma State Legislature
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The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the biennial meeting of the legislative branch of the Government of Oklahoma. It is bicameral, comprising the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate, with all members elected directly by the people. The House of Representatives has 101 members, each serving a two-year term. The Senate has 48 members, each serving a four-year term. Members of both houses are elected from single member districts of equal population. Senators serve a staggered term, such that only half of the senate districts have elections in any election year.
The Oklahoma Constitution vests all legislative powers of the state government in the Legislature. The powers of the Legislature are limited to those enumerated in the Oklahoma Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the people, namely initiative and referendum. The Legislature may regulate and define what is an unlawful monopoly in restraint of trade, levy taxes, maintain the Oklahoma State Militia, regulate pensions for the state’s firefighters, and certain other "necessary and proper" powers required for carrying into effect the provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution.
The Senate and House of Representatives are co-equal houses. However, there are some special powers granted to one chamber only. The Senate's advice and consent is required for gubernatorial appointments to high-level executive positions. Bills for raising revenue may only originate in the House of Representatives. All bills approved by the Legislature must by sent to the Governor of Oklahoma for approval.
The Oklahoma Legislature meets in the Oklahoma Capitol in Oklahoma City. The current (2007-2008) legislative session is the 51st Legislature of the State of Oklahoma.
Requirements to hold office
Section 17 of Article V of the Oklahoma Constitution established the requirements a person must meet in order to become an elector in either House. Members of the Senate must be at least twenty-five years of age, and members of the House of Representatives twenty-one years of age at the time of their election. They must be qualified electors in their respective counties or districts and must reside in their respective counties or districts during their term of office. To file as a candidate for the House of Representatives or the Senate in any representative district, a person must have been a registered voter in such district and a resident residing within such district for at least six months immediately preceding the filing period prescribed by law.
Restrictions on office holding
Section 18 of Article V of the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits members of the Legislature from also serving as another officer of the United States or Oklahoma State government. The same Section also provides that no person is eligible to election to the Legislature who has been adjudged guilty of a felony. Also, Section 17A of the same Article implements a twelve-year term limit, restricting legislators to a total of 12 years in the Oklahoma Legislature. Years in Legislative office need not be consecutive and years of service in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are added together and included in determining the total number of legislative years in office. The years served by any member elected or appointed to serve less than a full legislative term to fill a vacancy in office are not included in the 12-year limitation; but no member who has completed 12 years in office is thereafter eligible to serve a partial term.
To prevent the Legislature for engaging in activities or having interests which conflict with the proper discharge of their duties and responsibilities, the Constitution requires the Legislature to enact laws barring such behavior.
In the event of a vacancy in the Legislature, the Governor issues writs of election to fill such vacancies.
Legislative procedure
Term
Under Article 5 section 26 of the Oklahoma Constitution legislative terms begin at noon on the first Monday in February of every odd-numbered year. However, in odd number years (years following an election) the Legislature must meet on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January for the sole purpose of determining the outcome of the state wide-elections. The first session of the Legislature shall not exceed one hundred and sixty days. Also, the first session shall be finally adjourned by no later than five o'clock p.m. on the last Friday in May of each year.
Legislatures are identified by consecutive numbers and correspond with the election of the members of the House of Representatives. The current 2006 session is designated as the Second Session of the 50th Legislature. The 2007 session (following the 2006 elections) will be the First Session of the 51st Legislature, the 2008 session will be the Second Session of the 51st Legislature, and so on.
At the beginning of each new term, the entire House of Representatives and one-half of the Senate (those who were chosen in the previous election) are sworn in. The House of Representatives also elects a Speaker to preside over debates. The President pro tempore of the Senate, by contrast, holds office continuously; normally, a new President pro tempore is only elected if the previous one retires, or if there is a change in the majority party.
The Oklahoma Constitution forbids either house adjourning for more than three days, without the consent of the other house. The provision was intended to prevent one house from thwarting legislative business simply by refusing to meet. To avoid obtaining consent during long recesses, the House or Senate may sometimes hold pro forma meetings, sometimes only minutes long, every three days. The Constitution prevents the Legislature from meeting any place outside the Oklahoma Capitol. However, the Governor is empowered to convoke the Legislature at or adjourn it to another place, when, in his opinion, the public safety or welfare, or the safety or health of the members require it. However, such a change or adjournment requires consent by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to each branch.
The Legislature may be called into special session by a written call for such purposes as may be specifically set out in the call, signed by two-third of the members of the Senate and two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives when it is filed with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall issue jointly an order for the convening of the special session. However, the Legislature may not prevent the calling of a special session by the Governor.
In cases of a disagreement between the two houses of the Legislature, at a regular or special session, with respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor may, if the facts be certified to him, by the presiding officer of the house first moving the adjournment, adjourn them to such time as he shall deem proper, not beyond the day of the next stated meeting of the Legislature. The consent of both bodies is required for the Legislature's final adjournment, or sine die, at the end of each legislative session. If the two houses cannot agree on a date, the Constitution permits the Governor to settle the dispute.
Bills and resolutions
A proposal may be introduced in the Legislature as a bill, a joint resolution, a concurrent resolution, or a simple resolution. Most legislative proposals are introduced as bills, but some are introduced as joint resolutions. Joint resolutions are the normal method used to propose a constitutional amendment. On the other hand, concurrent resolutions (passed by both houses) and simple resolutions (passed by only one house) do not have the force of law. Instead, they serve to express the opinion of Congress, or to regulate procedure.
Bills (and other proposals) may be introduced by any member of either house. However, the Oklahoma Constitution provides that: "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." As a result, the Senate does not have the power to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the power to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of state funds. Historically, the Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House. Although it cannot originate revenue and appropriation bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them.
Each bill goes through several stages in each house. The first stage involves consideration by a committee. Most legislation is considered by standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a particular subject matter, such as Agriculture or Appropriations. The House has twenty-six standing committees; the Senate has seventeen. In some cases, bills may be sent to select committees (which tend to have more narrow jurisdictions than standing committees. Each standing and select committee is led by a chairman (who belongs to the majority party) and a ranking member (who belongs to the minority party). Committees are permitted to hold hearings and collect evidence when considering bills. They may also amend the bill, but the full house holds the power to accept or reject committee amendments. After considering and debating a measure, the committee votes on whether it wishes to report the measure to the full house.
A decision not to report a bill amounts to a rejection of the proposal. Both houses provide for procedures under which the committee can be bypassed or overruled, but they are rarely used. If reported by the committee, the bill reaches the floor of the full house. The house may debate and amend the bill; the precise procedures used by the House of Representatives and the Senate differ. A final vote on the bill follows.
Once a bill is approved by one house, it is sent to the other, which may pass, reject, or amend it. In order for the bill to become law, both houses must agree to identical versions of the bill. If the second house amends the bill, then the differences between the two versions must be reconciled in a conference committee, an ad hoc committee that includes both senators and representatives. In many cases, conference committees have introduced substantial changes to bills and added un-requested spending, significantly departing from both the House and Senate versions.
After passage by both houses, a bill is submitted to the Governor who may choose to sign the bill, thereby making it law, or veto it, returning it to the Legislature with his objections. In such a case, the bill only becomes law if each house of the Legislature votes to override the veto with a two-thirds majority. Finally, the Governor may choose to take no action, neither signing nor vetoing the bill. In such a case, the Constitution states that the bill automatically becomes law after five days (excluding Sundays). However, if the Legislature adjourns (ends a legislative session) during the five day period, then the bill does not become law. Thus, the President may veto legislation passed at the end of a congressional session simply by ignoring it; the maneuver is known as a pocket veto, and cannot be overridden by the adjourned Legislature. No bill may become a law after the final adjournment of the Legislature, unless approved by the Governor within fifteen days after such adjournment.
Quorum and voting
The Oklahoma Constitution specifies that a majority of members constitutes a quorum to do business in each house. The rules of each house provide that a quorum is assumed to be present unless a quorum call demonstrates the contrary. Representatives and senators rarely force the presence of a quorum by demanding quorum calls; thus, in most cases, debates continue even if a majority is not present.
Both houses use voice voting to decide most matters; members shout out "aye" or "no," and the presiding officer announces the result. The Oklahoma Constitution, however, requires a recorded vote on the demand of one-fifth of the members present. If the result of the voice vote is unclear, or if the matter is controversial, a recorded vote usually ensues. The Senate uses roll call votes; a clerk calls out the names of all the senators, each senator stating "aye" or "no" when his name is announced. The House reserves roll call votes for the most formal matters; normally, members vote by electronic device. In the case of a tie, the motion in question fails. In the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor may (if present) cast the tiebreaking vote.
Privileges
Under the Oklahoma Constitution, members of both houses enjoy the privilege of being free from arrest in all cases, except for treason]], felony, and breach of the peace. This immunity applies to members "during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same." The term "arrest" has been interpreted broadly, and includes any detention or delay in the course of law enforcement, including court summons and subpoenas. The rules of the House very strictly guard this privilege; a member may not waive the privilege on his own, but must seek the permission of the whole house to do so. Senate rules, on the other hand, are less strict, and permit individual senators to waive the privilege as they see fit.
Aside from benefits directly facilitating their legislative work, members enjoy a number of other perks. As of 2006 rank and file Legislators received a salary of $38,400. The President Pro Tempore of the State Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are paid an additional $17,932 annually. The appropriations committee chairmen, majority floor leaders and the minority floor leaders of each house are paid an additional $12,364 per year.
Board of Legislative Compensation
In order to regulate compensation paid to the Legislature, the Oklahoma Constitution creates the Board on Legislative Compensation. The board shall be composed of five members appointed by the Governor, two members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The members appointed by the Governor must be from religious organizations, communications media, nonstate-supported educational institutions, labor organizations, and retail business. The members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall be from agricultural and civic organizations and the members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be from manufacturing and from professional fields not otherwise specified.
No member of the Legislature may be appointed to or serve on the Board. In addition to the members above provided for, the Chairman of the Tax Commission and the Director of State Finance shall serve as ex officio nonvoting members of said Board. The Chairman of said Board shall be designated by the Governor. Members of the Legislature shall receive such compensation as determined by the Board on Legislative Compensation. The Board on Legislative shall each two years review the compensation paid to the members of the Legislature and shall be empowered to change such compensation. Such a change is to become effective on the fifteenth day following the succeeding general election. The members of the Board shall serve without compensation, but shall be entitled to receive necessary travel and subsistence expense as provided by law for other state.
Senate
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the Oklahoma State Legislature. The total number of Senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.
Historic Tie
In the November 7, 2006 elections, the Republican party gained two seats in the Oklahoma State Senate resulting in an unprecedented and historic 24-24 tie. With neither party currently holding a majority, Democratic and Republican leaders are currently in negotiations to share power in the 2007 legislative session. Instead of electing one leader, the Senate unanimously elected Co-Presidents Pro Tempore to serve as equal leaders of the Senate. Neither can make a decision or appointment without the other's assent. However, there cannot be two presidents of the Senate at the same time and so they have agreed to divide the time between them. Since the Democrats have the tie breaking vote of Lt. Governor Jari Askins, they hold the position of President Pro Tempore for eleven months of the year (August through June), while the Republicans hold it in the month of July.
It is noteworthy that Oklahoma voters actually elected Republicans to 25 of the Senate's 48 districts - a majority of seats - but Republican Senator Nancy Riley's switch to the Democratic Party in the summer of 2006 reduced the number of Republican-held seats by one.
If Republicans gain at least one Senate seat in 2008, they will hold the chamber for the first time in state history.
House of Representatives
The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house and larger body of the two houses of the Oklahoma Legislature, the other being the Oklahoma Senate. Originally, each county in Oklahoma was represented in the House proportional to its population, but after a court case in the early 1960s, the state has been divided into 101 House districts of equal population. Representatives serve two-year terms and each House member represents approximately 35,000 constituents. The presiding officer of the House is known as the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The current make-up of the house is 57 Republicans, 44 Democrats.
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