New Bill Seeks to Stop Political Parties from Abusing Taxpayer Dollars
Ponca City Now - December 12, 2024 6:04 am
OKLAHOMA CITY – Political parties will be required to honor the will of their electorate or bear the cost when House Bill 1010, filed this week by Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, becomes law.
Jenkins filed HB1010 in response to actions by a small group of elite Democrat Party power brokers after they removed the candidate chosen in the March Oklahoma Democrat presidential preferential primary from the ballot.
Jenkins’ proposal would require political parties to honor the will of their voters or reimburse taxpayers for the cost of the election.
“A political party ‘s access to the taxpayer-funded presidential preferential primary is a privilege, not a right,” Jenkins explained. “A political party does not have the right to use publicly administered presidential preferential primaries as a facade, misleading its voters with the appearance of a democratic process while party elites secretly make the actual decisions behind the scenes.”
The presidential preferential primary is part of how a political party selects the presidential candidate it wants to represent the party in the general election. Oklahoma’s presidential preferential primary was held March 5 this year. Democrat voters selected Joe Biden to represent them by 72.98% of the vote. Kamala Harris appeared on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
Jenkins, a newly elected representative, said she will be advocating for this and numerous other similar cost-cutting measures in the upcoming sessions.
“It’s far past time for all of us to take on the role of the Oklahoma Department of Government Efficiency (ODOGE),” Jenkins said. “Taxpayers do not have the luxury of these types of wasteful spending practices that are just a part of the big, pointless, costly game played by the political class. It’s time for us to do right by the taxpayers, to cut wasteful public spending and to do so immediately. It’s imperative for the newly elected generation of Oklahoma legislators to show that we are up to the task.”
Molly Jenkins serves District 33 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Her district includes parts of Logan and Payne counties.
