Oklahoma Legislature 'kicking the can down the road' again

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Cliches are expressions that once captured an original thought or described an action or situation so perfectly that they were used over and over again and became overused. For example:
"You can't judge a book by its cover."
"What goes around comes around."
"Time heals all wounds."
There's truth in all of these expressions, but they've been used so often they've lost their punch.
I was trained as a reporter to avoid cliches and try to be more original, which I do. But I'm making an exception because of what our state Legislature and other elected officials are doing this year ― instead of their jobs: They're kicking the can down the road.
Or, to borrow a Chinese expression, 2025 will be known as the "Year of Kicking the Can."
The phrase "kick the can down the road" started to be heard in the U.S. Congress in the mid-1980s. Some lawmakers began using it as a colorful and mildly critical new way of referring to putting off work on an issue for a later date.
Some would argue that's what Congress has been doing ever since.
For sure it's a fair way to describe what Oklahoma lawmakers and other leaders have been doing this year.
Here are some of the cans they've punted into the future:
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters' key achievement was to require teachers to make sure students learn all about President Donald Trump's delusion that election fraud cost him the 2020 election. Walters' Republican club members in the Legislature had nothing to say about that. They also saw no reason for another increase in teacher pay and are considering legislation to allow more uncertified "adjuncts" to teach reading and math. Apparently they all believe that's the best way to thrust Oklahoma to top 10 in education.
More: Ryan Walters uses Education Department to further his own political career | Opinion
Legislators listened in astonishment as the state's Mental Health Commissioner, Allie Friesen, explained she couldn't explain how her department overran its budget by $21 million and might (or might not) have enough money to pay employee salaries. Apparently neither they nor Gov. Kevin Stitt were keeping up on what was going on. Now they have only days to come up with a temporary fix before the 2025 session ends.
Another flat budget year for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections despite grudging admissions from officials that, yes, too many inmates are taking drugs, fighting and dying; yes, they have a shortage of guards and nurses, but can't pay them more, and, yes, bribery and smuggling throughout the system is a big problem, but maybe a new fleet of drones might help.
Legislators scoffed at the notion that state's 1910 abortion law might need updating. They dismissed the concerns expressed by Oklahoma women and the state's medical community that the law allowing abortion "only to save the life of the mother" is vague and confusing. What procedures performed on women are legal? Who decides whether or when action should be taken? Gov. Stitt also vetoed a bill that would have expanded access to diagnostic mammograms to ensure women throughout the state have access to the latest technology. Could negativity toward women be discouraging new employers from moving to Oklahoma? Our state leaders apparently believe low cost of living is enough to attract them.
More: Imagine this ― A Freedom Brigade of young Gen Z women bucking the Legislature | Opinion
The Department of Mental Health Department and Substance Abuse Services wasn't the first state agency to come up with a $20 million shortfall. We still haven't learned how it came to be that the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs approved a new hospital in Sallisaw that didn't meet fire codes and had to be redesigned. Who was responsible? The department is blaming the architect and builder. The Legislature appropriated more money to finish the hospital, but demanded no accountability. Maybe next year.
The Legislature passed a bill attempting to move forward on a problem that has long been kicked down the road ― the disappearance and murder of hundreds of Indigenous women. The measure would have allowed state funding for more robust investigation of the crimes. But the governor vetoed the bill, even though he agreed in 2021 that federal spending on the problem would be OK. Our state ranks second in the nation for the number of Indigenous people who have gone missing, with 86 out of 840 cases reported across the U.S. as of January 2024, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Yes Stitt said investigators shouldn't prioritize cases "based on race." That's a sentiment reminiscent of the Jim Crow-era mentality that allowed our nation to kick down the road for decades laws enforcing racial discrimination and segregation.
More: Oklahoma governor vetoes MMIP bill, saying investigators shouldn't prioritize cases 'based on race'
All these mothballed issues bring to mind a song from the Broadway musical "Annie."
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You're always a day away."
Wertz is deputy opinion editor of The Oklahoman. If you have a comment on what he's written or a suggestion for a future topic or someone he should talk to, his address is [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Legislature kicks its problems down the road | Opinion