Latest news with #Dollens
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Debate continues over declaring 'Christ is King' in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The debate continues over the 'Christ is King' resolution passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. On Wednesday, those against the resolution held a news conference saying they believe in religious freedom for all Oklahomans. 'Declaring one's God king over another person's God isn't just exclusionary, it's an attack on one's religious freedom,' said Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. Days before Easter, the House passed a resolution declaring that 'Christ is King' in Oklahoma. 'This has nothing to do with anti-religion. This is about pro-Constitution,' Dollens said. Dollens is one of several voicing concern. He believes it violates the separation of church and state. However Senator Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, is a co-author of the resolution says that's not what it is. 'It's just a very warm, inspirational way to honor Christ and to recognize his role and the foundation of the nation and the important role that he plays in the hearts of Oklahomans all over,' said Jett. He says it's just a proclamation, but others believe it lays the groundwork of a much broader agenda. 'This narrative primes the public to accept future laws that aren't just symbolic, but rather laws that actually take away rights and laws that actually discriminate and do harm to others,' said Dollens. Oklahoma House passes 'Christ is King' resolution Dollens gave some examples during the news conference. 'For example, this building passed the first religious charter school in the United States. We use tax dollars to purchase Trump Bibles for kids classrooms. We have Bible infused grade school curriculum,' said Rep. Dollens. Jett added that he believes there's a misconception with the separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution. 'It is saying the United States is not going to have a church that is ordered by the state, but it doesn't say that you can't exercise religion. In fact, the opposite is true,' said Rep. Jett. Other Republican lawmakers agree. 'To say that God has no place in the American government is foolishness. You need to go back and look at those papers, you need to go back and look at your history, learn your history,' said Representative JJ Humphrey, R-Lane. On Thursday when the resolution was voted on, there was around two hours of debate. Lawmakers from both parties say that was too long. 'Is that something that we should be wasting our government money on? I don't think so and should we see a lot more important items come up for discussion in front of the people, absolutely, I think, but I will tell you that there's no more important item than whether Christ is king,' said Rep. Humphrey. The resolution is now in the Senate. There's been attempts to pass similar resolutions in North Dakota and in Montana, but both have failed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma House passes 'Christ is King' resolution
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Wednesday, lawmakers debated on the House floor for two hours. The debate had nothing to do with education or tax cuts. Instead, it was about a resolution proclaiming 'Christ is King.' Every Republican present on the floor voted for the resolution and every Democrat present voted against. The vote and debate come despite Oklahoma's state constitution highlighting the separation of church and state. It's a resolution that some lawmakers said doesn't need to happen. 'It's just a very warm, inspirational way to honor Christ and to recognize his role and the foundation of the nation and the important role that he plays in the hearts of Oklahomans all over,' said Senator Shane Jett, R-Shawnee. State Senator Shane Jett is a co-author of the resolution and said this isn't a bill or law, just a proclamation 'honoring the role of faith in the history and culture of Oklahoma.' The debate sparked concern among lawmakers. 'Are you aware of the religious schools that were taxpayer funded in the territorial days of Oklahoma and the atrocities that were perpetrated upon Indian children, tribal children in the name of Jesus?,' said Representative Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City. Suspect on A.G.'s 10 Most Wanted List arrested in Mexico 'I wasn't aware of that, I'm not sure how that relates to the resolution though,' said Representative Jim Olsen, R-Roland. Lawmakers in favor of the bill said it's not intended to establish a religion or infringe on the rights of Oklahomans, but celebrate 'voluntary expression of belief that shaped communities across the state'. The House voted with the majority, but some lawmakers don't agree. 'It's saying that you can believe what you want, but it's not valid under the state of Oklahoma and it's a state sanctioned religion is what this has turned into,' said Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. Representative Dollens said the resolution poses a bigger issue across the state. 'The moment they start imposing their specific religious beliefs onto all of Oklahomans is where we have a real crisis. And today we entered that crisis mode. It went down a partisan line,' said Representative Dollens. Dollens believes the resolution elevates one religion above the others. 'We have freedom of speech. And if they are interested in doing a citation or a resolution or concurrent resolution where they want to acknowledge a significant role of a historical figure…They have the opportunity to do that through their house or senate members,' said Senator Jett. It now heads to the Senate floor for a vote, then will be made available online to the public. HCR-1013Download Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spay and Neuter Grant Program bill moves forward at Capitol
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – Oklahoma Representative Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, had his first pet protection bill narrowly move forward in a House committee Tuesday. Lawmakers voted to push through the Oklahoma Spay and Neuter Grant Program by a vote of 6-4. It would help animal shelters and pet rescues cover the cost to spay and neuter the overwhelming pet population in the state. 'We would award competitive grants to municipalities and nonprofit organizations to help those in most need out in rural Oklahoma, those with in low-income areas,' said Dollens. 'We would help make that spay and neutering process more affordable.' The bill states that it would start as a pilot program and it would be administered by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Dollens said the initial projected cost would be around $250,000, pulled from the 25-26 budget expenditures.'Every dollar that we invest in spend neutering, we're going to save 3 to $5 on the back end,' said Dollens. The bill did receive some pushback from lawmakers in committee. 'If this does in fact save so much money, it's such a good bang for the buck, why aren't the municipalities and the counties already doing this?' said Rep. Rob Hall, R-Tulsa. Dollens responded by saying there were investments at the municipal level, but it simply was 'not enough funding to address the overpopulation problem that exists' in the state. On top of the pet population crisis, the bill would aim to reduce euthanasia and improve public safety. 'You have animal welfare organizations and small town pet welfare programs that help save these animals. But they are bootstrapped with their budgets,' said Dollens. The average cost to spay a dog or cat is between $250 to $500.'I don't think people realize it just takes two cats to make 100 cats in six months,' said Dalynda Evans, owner of Lupa Legacy Animal Rescue in Noble. KFOR asked Evans how much of her own money she has used to cover spay and neuter costs for animals within her organization.'I'm not going to answer that question because my parents would kill me,' said Evans. She said the euthanasia rate in Oklahoma was staggering and if the bill became law it would 'drastically impact' those numbers. The measure will now move forward to the full House for consideration. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jenkins bill requiring excuses for absentee voting by mail passes committee
A bill that would remove the 'no' from no-excuse absentee voting by mail in Oklahoma has passed through committee. In a 4-3 vote Monday the House Elections and Ethics Committee passed an amended version of House Bill 1515. Currently no excuse is required to vote absentee by mail nor in-person absentee. As it was introduced, the bill authored by freshman Rep. Molly Jenkins (R-Coyle) would require any voter applying for an absentee ballot to provide a statement describing why they cannot vote either in-person absentee or on election day due to work, school or travel. The bill amended and passed by the House committee would create a checklist with the following exceptions or excuses for voting by mail: absent from the jurisdiction, illness or disability, employment-related, education-related, military service, religion, serving as an election official, being 75 or older and jury duty. Jenkins said the goal was to enhance security, transparency and integrity of our voting system. One of the committee members to eventually vote nay, Rep. Mickey Dollens (D-Oklahoma City), asked Jenkins in Monday's meeting what the problem the ballot measure would solve. 'Personal responsibility is the cornerstone of our Democratic Republic and this is just one more measure to strengthen the integrity of voting,' Jenkins said. Chairman Jim Olsen (R-Roland) said he looked at it as just another step for a process that already requires an application process. Dollens asked Jenkins if she could cite an example of voter fraud among Oklahomans in the last president election, while Jenkins said she could not, she said the process is so the situation doesn't arise. 'I can't think of any other fundamental right in the U.S. that requires a citizen to explain why they are exercising it, why should voting be any different,' Dollens said. There also seemed to be some confusion, even among the authors, of how often the excuse portion of the application process would need to be. Voters can currently request an entire calendar year's worth of ballots in December. Committee members could not figure out if that meant the excuse would only be required once, at the same time of the application, or for each election. Jenkins initially said the excuse would be good for the entire year, except for illness. State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said the state law would mean an excuse would be required for every election. Rep. Clay Staires (R-Skiatook) asked if the goal was to discourage absentee ballots. 'The goal of this is to strengthen the integrity of the election,' Jenkins said. 'When a person has to write down a reason for what they're doing, perhaps it will give them pause to think about voting is not necessarily something that should just be a convenience. This is a very serious situation and people need to take it seriously. I believe even our current new president is wanting to have one-day voting. This is something that we need to move towards to strengthen the integrity of elections.' HB 1515 now moves on to the House Government Oversight Committee.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers wants Oklahoma absentee voters to explain their absence
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The House Elections and Ethics Committee heard a bill from freshman Representative Molly Jenkins on Monday that would require Oklahomans to give a reason for requesting an absentee ballot. 'Voting is a right that we have,' said Jenkins, R-Coyle. 'This is simply a measure that will allow us the opportunity to make sure that people are being responsible.' If passed, voters would have to check a box on a list of reasons for asking to vote absentee when requesting an absentee ballot. Those include several reasons such as illness, disability, military service, religion, and age.'What's the purpose here? What are we trying to solve?' said Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. 'We know in the last presidential election there is no cases of absentee voter fraud. So I think the purpose of this is to make it harder for people to vote.' Dollens, who is also in the Election and Ethics committee, voted against the legislation. He said the bill was cumbersome and required an explanation every time an absentee ballot was requested. Changes to Oklahoma teacher bonus legislation moves forward 'No other U.S. fundamental right requires citizens to explain why they want to do something,' said Dollens. 'When you go to buy a gun, you don't have to explain why you want a gun. If you want to go to a church, you don't have to explain why you chose that church.' Other lawmakers questioned if the move would do more harm than good by discouraging absentee ballots. Jenkins disagreed.'This is simply another measure to help strengthen the integrity of our absentee ballot voting instead of just simply having no excuse absentee ballots,' said Jenkins. Lawmakers ended up voting in a 3-3 tie on the legislation. Speaker Pro Tem Anthony Moore, who was not at the meeting for discussions, came in and casted the deciding vote, voting for the bill. It will now move forward. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
