Oklahoma
Quote:
Originally Posted by LirvA
First reply (very very quick) is from Roger L. Jackson. Favorable response.
Another interesting note: Roger L. Jackson supports medical marijuana.
from his campaign website
He seems very libertarian and I'm likin it.
Thanks for posting this information as you receive it.
Unfortunately, it would take an upset of monumental proportions for Mary Fallin to not receive the Republican nomination for Governor, as it would be extremely surprising to not see either Edmondson or Askins name on the Democrats side of the ticket. Tuesdays primary results will be interesting.
After doing a little research, imho I see the following scenarios if HR 2267 passes based on the following possible requirements:
Opt-out
- Governors signature (Most likely Opt-out path, could be influenced by states huge budget deficit. However, Fallin is the most likely candidate at this time and she is very high on the "family values" theme)
50-50
- State Legislature (Could be influenced by states huge budget deficit)
As luxv mentioned, the best recourse if either of these methods are required to Opt-out would be that the Governor or State Legislature put it on the back-burner in hopes it doesn't become and issue and they can quietly collect the much needed revenue (state is reportedly sitting on a 1 billion dollar deficit atm).
Opt-in
- Placed on a ballot, leaving the decision up to voters.
Yes, we are in the bible belt, yes it's a highly conservative state (though registered Republicans are in the minority!), but the lottery (State Question 705) passed overwhelmingly (64.7% - 35.3%) as did the State-Tribal Gaming Act (State Question 712, which among other things, allowed card games within tribal casinos) (59.5% - 40.5%).
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I still believe that whether Oklahoma falls into the Opt-in or Opt-out category is going to be highly dependent on the stance that the state tribes end up taking. Though they don't wield the influence that the states oil & gas industry does, they do reside in one of the very few sectors that have actually grown in the past few years, providing revenue that's sorely needed.
In 2008 Oklahoma supplanted Connecticut in second place, and was behind only California in gaming revenue. It remains to be seen whether the tribes will embrace this "new" technology similar to the Mohegans, or take the route tribes in California have (protectionism).
Cliff notes: After doing a little research and putting some thought into it, I've changed my prediction from uncertain/leaning toward opt-out to
Oklahoma - Opts-in
Last edited by ASoonerFan; 07-23-2010 at 06:05 PM.
Reason: Grammar