Last week the governor of Oklahoma vetoed the house bill sent to his desk titled Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act.
Attempts to caucus the Senate to override the veto were unsucessfull. Despite both chambers apassing the bill with greater than 2/3’s vote, the Senate has not gathered enough support to push it forward past the governor.
Recently the Durbin Law firm posted an update to what is taking place. That there is a push for people in Oklahoma to contact their senators and request that they vote yes to override the veto.
The response by some to attempt getting this pushed forward, hasn’t been so positive from some.
Durbin states in the post as a response, “If you think 3228 should/could have done more, so do I. The difference is you think we should throw out any progress because it’s not everything we want, and that is idiotic. It’s your right fight for what you believe in though, so why don’t you go fight for perfection while the grown-ups use common sense by operating in a world where change doesn’t happen all at once. Change, absent a crisis, is incremental. “
The bill isn’t going to change at this point to get anything passed, as it is no longer about pleasing the governor into signing it. As well, changing the bill would practically nullify the veto override procedure and start the bill back at scratch with its return to the governor. The legislatures have until Friday, May 29, 2020 NLT 5:00 pm to override the vetoed legislation.
The Oklahoma legislative deadline webpage state. “Please note that only House Bills and House Joint Resolutions fall under these request and filing deadline dates. House Concurrent Resolutions and House Resolutions may be requested and filed at any time until Sine Die Adjournment of the Regular Session. Note: “Measure(s)” refers to bills and joint resolutions. Upon a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership of both houses, a measure can be exempt from all cutoff dates in both houses.“
So while there is no official cutoff date due to the measure reaching 2/3/ vote in each chamber, it will not pass if the legislature is no longer convened to override the veto.
The comments on the post by Durbin on Facebook are mainly in support with people posting the contact information of senators. Some posters from dispensaries and sales shops are offering patrons cheap and discounted products if they make the calls from within the store front.
The upcoming Friday will determine if Oklahomans get more liberty along with out of state patients while visiting, or if the old guard will continue with their stances.