Capitol Spotlight for Tuesday, April 22, of thereafter

AG finds term limits bill retroactive
By Jim Campbell
OPA Capitol News Bureau 
Attorney General Drew Edmondson sees himself leaving office in two years 
alongside 
State School Superintendent Sandy Garrett and Corporation Commissioner Bob 
Anthony 
should a term limits proposal be approved by voters in November.
The House last Thursday passed the measure as an amendment to Senate Bill 1987.  
If 
the Senate agrees with House amendments it would go to the ballot without 
possibility of 
a veto by the governor.
Edmondson pointed to a section stating: "Any person serving in such position at 
the time 
of passage of this amendment shall be eligible to complete the term for which he 
or she 
had been elected notwithstanding the provisions of this amendment."
"It is clear from that sentence that the 12-year term limits established by the 
bill are 
retroactive," Edmondson said. "Anyone now serving in statewide office will be 
affected 
and any office holder who has completed 12 or more years in office will be 
precluded 
from seeking re-election in 2010."
However, the act is not retroactive, said Rep. Trebor Worthen, R-Oklahoma City, 
the 
bill's author. He said it applies only to officials elected in 2010 or 
thereafter.
"Virtually every 'bad apple' we have had in statewide office has been defeated 
or 
impeached in their first or second term," Edmondson said. "These term limits 
would not 
have caught any of them."
But he said they would have cut George Nigh's tenure as lieutenant governor as 
well as 
Clifton Scott's service as Auditor and Inspector and "they would have ended my 
term as 
attorney general in the middle of the poultry lawsuit."
Insurance commissioner, state treasurer and labor commissioner also would be 
affected.
"The people of Oklahoma have shown they support term limits as a way to bring 
fresh 
ideas to the legislative process," said Worthen. 
*** 
Official English, an idea incubating in the Legislature hopper since the early 
1990s, could 
re-ignite the furor of its committee birth in a full floor hearing in the House 
this week.
"This has been a long time coming," said author Randy Terrill, R-Moore, "at 
least a 
decade and a half."
Terrill said the proposed constitutional amendment requiring a vote of the 
people would 
come up for a floor vote Wednesday, after House members have an opportunity to 
attach 
amendments.
Senate Bill 163 has drawn opposition from big business interests, chambers of 
commerce, 
religious leaders, Hispanic groups and health care officials.
Although it grants exceptions for native languages and Braille, Cherokee 
Principal Chief 
Chad Smith was denied a chance to speak before it passed committee and said 
later the 
measure smacked of "intolerance and ignorance."
It would bar delivery of state services in a language other than English, with 
specific 
exemptions. Among prohibitions, it would put a stop to "Press 1 for English" 
voice mail 
instructions on state telephones, driver license tests in Spanish and bi-lingual 
instruction 
in schools.
***

Higher costs march on, unmet critical needs languish and the budget stands 
still.
The $7 billion standstill budget accord accepted in face of slumping revenue 
upset school 
officials, higher education leaders, teachers, state employees, road repair 
advocates and 
others who had campaigned for relief.
Soaring fuel prices that helped buffer the national economic downturn in 
Oklahoma also 
increased costs for highway patrol vehicles, school buses and agency travel, 
without help 
from the budget.  
The budget agreement also rules out further tax cuts. Republicans who led 
previous 
campaigns for hundreds of millions in tax cuts said those reductions should not 
be 
blamed for the predicament.  
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