Latest news with #BillColeman
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Committee advances bill nearly doubling rate for transporting youth in Oklahoma custody
The state's Office of Juvenile Affairs in Ada is pictured on Dec. 4. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a measure that would nearly double the reimbursement rate for transporting juvenile defendants. House Bill 1680 increases the reimbursement fee from $17 an hour to $32 an hour. The fee is paid by the Office of Juvenile Affairs to entities who transport their youth to the 11 facilities in the state, said Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, the Senate author. The increased rate is expected to cost the Office of Juvenile Affairs about $124,800 a year, and the agency officials noted they would require an increase to their budget to pay for it, according to a legislative fiscal analysis. Coleman said the last time the rate was increased was in the 1990s. Supporters said the increase is needed because it costs substantially more to transport the youth today than it did nearly three decades ago. The measure passed the Senate appropriation's committee 23-0. It heads to the full Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate looks to give Oklahomans an avenue to recall politicians
State Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, attends special session on Oct. 3, 2023, at the Oklahoma Capitol. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – A state lawmaker wants to create a process to allow voters to recall elected state officials. The Senate on Thursday passed Senate Bill 990, which is expected to be the vehicle to set up the process that Oklahomans can use to remove someone from office independent of the involvement from the Legislature. 'We all got to this room here by the will of the people, and currently, the only way a person can be removed from office is not by the will of the people,' said Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City. 'It's by our friends across the rotunda, and it's on this body to remove somebody from statewide elective office.' In Oklahoma, impeachment proceedings start in the House. If the House votes to impeach, a trial is held in the Senate and requires two-third of the senators, who serve as jurors, to vote to remove a state official from office. Grounds for impeachment include willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude committed while in office. 'What I want to do is change that to where the people, the people that elect somebody, decide whether or not somebody should be recalled,' Coleman said. He said he envisions an initiative petition-like process requiring those seeking a recall election to collect signatures from 25% of the voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election. 'It needs to be a high bar because overturning the will of the people is a big deal,' he said. In order for citizens to qualify an initiative petition for the ballot, they must collect signatures from 8% of voters in the last gubernatorial election. To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot requires signatures from 15%. Coleman said the final bill will have some guardrails so a person can't be removed just because they are unpopular. The current version of the bill only applies to statewide officers. It was not immediately clear if a final version will apply to lawmakers. Coleman said he has had a request to have it include county officers. The current version creates a procedure for the Legislature to start the process, but Coleman wants to alter the measure so it can be done by members of the public. 'This is about a process, a process that the people of Oklahoma are locked out of,' Coleman said. Sen. Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa, voted against the measure. 'This has the potential to be greatly abused,' Prieto said. 'We have a process for it already and that is called elections.' Some Democratic lawmakers have called for the impeachment of state Superintendent Ryan Walters, a Republican. But former House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said the House would not pursue it unless Walters committed a crime. In 2004, the Oklahoma House impeached Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher, a Democrat who had been convicted of embezzlement and perjury. Fisher resigned before the Senate could hear the matter. Senate Bill 990 passed by a vote of 31-15 and is available for consideration in the House. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill would allow third-party delivery of alcohol to Oklahomans
State Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, attends special session on Oct. 3, 2023, at the Oklahoma Capitol. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill moving through the Legislature would allow Uber, DoorDash and other third parties to deliver alcohol to their customers for the first time. It is among a number of bills filed in recent years to modernize the state's liquor laws. Current law allows liquor store employees to deliver alcohol, but that can be cost prohibitive, said Sen. Bill Coleman. 'The margins are very, very small, but if a DoorDash or Uber were to get involved, it would certainly make it more profitable,' he said. Coleman is the author of Senate Bill 1046 that would allow third parties to offer alcohol delivery for a fee. The delivery radius and fees are the two issues being discussed, Coleman said. Oklahoma has hundreds of liquor stores, he said. Each has its own service area, he said. 'Whole Foods is a driver behind this bill, and of course, they would want more than a 25-mile radius,' he said. 'Their point in running this bill is they want to be able to deliver wine with groceries. You've got big versus little, basically.' Some third party delivery services have programs which lower the delivery fees, while liquor stores do not, Coleman said. 'Nobody is going to drive drunk to the liquor store if they can get it delivered right to them,' he said. While the measure increases access to alcohol, it has safeguards, such as requiring the driver's license of the purchaser to be scanned, he said. Robert Jernigan is president of the Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma and owns Bacchus Wine and Spirits in Edmond. He said after passage of State Question 792 in 2016, a significant number of liquor stores went out of business. The measure allowed grocery stores to sell wine and strong beer. He said the current language in the measure is acceptable to the association. It has previously opposed similar third-party delivery bills because the liability stayed with the liquor stores once the product was delivered, but the current bill changes that, Jernigan said. DoorDash, a service which delivers food from restaurants and fast food establishments, supports the measure. 'In more than 30 states across the country, we have seen that safe and responsible alcohol delivery is a key driver of economic growth for small businesses and higher earnings for Dashers, all while providing new levels of safety and convenience for customers,' said Parker Dorrough, a DoorDash spokesman. The bill passed Thursday out of the Senate Business and Insurance Committee on a 10-0 vote. Coleman, R-Ponca City, is chairman. It is eligible to be heard on the Senate floor. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oklahoma panel advances three sports betting bills amid concerns about tribal exclusivity rights
Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, left, talks with senators Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, and Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, on the Senate floor during special session on Oct. 3, 2023. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – Bills that would legalize sports betting, including one that would allow the Oklahoma City Thunder to obtain a gaming license, advanced Thursday from a Senate committee despite concerns that at least one measure could violate existing compacts with the state's tribes. The three measures will likely look very different following negotiations between tribes and other interested players, but show the state is very serious about adding sports betting, said Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, Senate Business and Insurance Committee chairman. 'They are tools that we are using for negotiations that are going on between a professional sports franchise here in Oklahoma and the tribes,' Coleman said. Senate Bill 125, by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, would allow tribes with Oklahoma gaming compacts to offer sports pools. Sports pools are any wagers, including mobile betting, on the outcome of sports or other events, except horse and animal races. It would require the tribes to execute supplements to their existing compacts. Exclusivity fees would be 5% to 7%. It passed by a vote of 9-2 and heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Through the compacts, the state receives exclusivity fees in exchange for giving tribes the sole right to conduct certain types of Class III gaming, including slots, roulette and craps. In fiscal year 2024, tribes paid the state $210 million in exclusivity fees, a nearly 4% increase over the prior year, according to the Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Unit Annual Report for fiscal year 2024. Over three dozen states have already legalized sports betting, but prior efforts to allow it in Oklahoma have failed to garner enough legislative support. 'We're way behind the curve on sport betting as compared to some of our fellow regional states and that's always concerning to us in a competitive market,' said Matthew Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. He said the association has not talked with the authors of the bills, but is willing to have discussions. But Morgan said any legislation on the subject cannot violate the existing compacts, must utilize the gaming supplemental process set forth in the compacts and has to make economic sense. Buy-in from Gov. Kevin Stitt will also be important because he plays a role in the process, Morgan said. 'At the end of the day, you know, the tribes are the ones that have negotiated this substantial exclusivity under the gaming compacts,' Morgan said. 'We are the ones that take the financial risk on any gaming extensions.' Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said he fears Senate Bill 164, which narrowly advanced out of committee Thursday, violates the exclusivity provisions of the compacts. As a result, the state would lose money because it would have breached the terms, he said. SB 164 would authorize the Oklahoma Lottery Commission to regulate sports betting. It would create an annual license fee of $100,000, an initial license fee of $500,000 and require 15% of the adjusted gross revenue each year in sports pools to be paid to the Lottery Commission. The bill would repeal the prohibition on other Class III Gaming and the exception for the tribes, opening the door for other games and entities to be involved. Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, the author, said the measure would help in the negotiations process with the tribes. The bill is a 'work in progress,' he said, adding that there will be many changes to it. The measure passed by a vote of 6-5 and heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senate Bill 585 would allow the Oklahoma City Thunder to receive a gaming license for sports betting in the state, said Coleman, the author 'Today, this is the best bet I have seen,' he said. The bill would allow the tribes to take in-person bets at casinos and mobile sports betting on tribal land, Coleman said. The Thunder would be in charge of mobile sports betting on non-tribal land, he said. The state would receive 10% of the net sportsbook revenues, which is estimated to be $20 million annually, he said. The income generated will help the team, Coleman said. The starting salary cap for the team was $55 million when the team came to the city, he said. It is now $140 million, Coleman said. He said the measure will further solidify the team staying in Oklahoma City. But the tribes and the Thunder would need an agreement before the bill moves forward, Coleman said. The Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association and the Oklahoma City Thunder have a meeting next week, he said. 'So, we have accomplished getting them to the table,' Coleman said. Senate Bill 585 passed by a vote of 8-2 and heads to the Senate floor. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
