Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association and David S. Sikes v. Michael O. Thompson, Mary Lynn Peacher, and Ray H. Potts

Summary

The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that Initiative Petition No. 416, State Question No. 795, was legally sufficient for submission to Oklahoma voters. The court upheld the application of the germaneness test for determining compliance with the Oklahoma Constitution's one-general-subject requirement and rejected the challenge to the proposed article establishing an oil and gas gross production tax and education funding provisions.

Holdings

1. The germaneness test articulated in In re Initiative Petition No. 403 remains good law. When a proposed constitutional amendment is by a new article, the test is whether the proposed changes are all germane to a singular common subject and purpose or are essentially unrelated to one another.
2. Initiative Petition No. 416 does not violate the single-subject requirement because its proposed provisions are germane to a singular common subject and purpose and are not essentially unrelated.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Oklahoma Supreme Court should overrule In re Initiative Petition No. 403 and replace the germaneness test with a stricter one-general-subject standard for constitutional amendments proposed by a new article.
2. Whether Initiative Petition No. 416 violates Okla. Const. art. 24, § 1 by combining an oil-and-gas gross production tax, public-education funding and compensation provisions, and provisions concerning the Board of Equalization.
3. Whether Initiative Petition No. 416 is legally sufficient for submission to the voters of Oklahoma.

Disposition

other