House Bill 1482 and State Question 780 - Public School Issue

   I rarely comment on non-public education related legislation, but a couple of House members have chosen to make House Bill 1482 a school related issue - presumably to assist in getting it passed. State Question 780 was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November, 2016, as part of the incarceration reform package forwarded by Kris Steele, the former republican Speaker of the House. Many Oklahoma legislators, citizens, and mental health experts know that our state incarcerates too many nonviolent, low-level offenders, which costs taxpayers, destroys families and yields little to no positive results in crime reduction, according to Mr. Steele. State Question 780 made non-violent drug possession and low-level property offenses misdemeanors instead of felonies, triggering cost savings from decreased corrections spending. It is similar to laws in both Louisiana and Texas which have saved $ millions for those two states.
   House Bill 1482, authored by Representative Scott Biggs and Tim Downing, "would gut the voters' work, claiming it fixes a problem SQ 780 did not create and does not exist" according to Steele. HB 1482 changes what would be a misdemeanor, to a felony - by making anyone possessing drugs for personal use (such as "medical marijuana") a felon if within 1,000 feet (one third of a mile) of a college, university, church, school, fairgrounds, or recreational area. Many streets, roads, and high-ways pass within 1000 feet of all the aforementioned areas, so if anyone is caught with only a small amount of any illicit drug - they could be branded as a felon for life. Lawmakers like Downing and Biggs evidently wish the "prison conveyor belt" to continue, and want no part of corrections reform. These two representatives also want to pull our public schools into the frey, as they've duped school superintendents into saying how angry they are  that voters approved SQ 780. The fact of the matter is that dealing drugs within 1000 feet of a school zone is still a felony.Certainly no one wants drug dealers near our schools, but to roll back the voters will assumes that voters were just plain stupid when they approved it. Many people believe that HB 1482 is being authored to simply to make more money for attorneys (Biggs and Downing's profession), since prosecuting and defending citizens on felonies is much more lucrative than misdemeanors. These "attorneys" by trade have stated that "drug-free" school zones will disappear and our schools will allow drug dealers to run rampant if "corrections reform" bills are allowed to stand. Read my lips - it's still a felony for drug dealing or drug dealers to be within 1000 feet of a school. House Bill 1482 must be allowed to die, so our lawmakers can focus on more important issues, such as the state budget and teacher pay raises.