The closing fund that would allow a quick withdrawal of state money to seal projects that would bring jobs to Oklahoma is unconstitutional, Oklahoma City lawyer Jerry Fent claims.
NewsOK
BY MICHAEL MCNUTT mmcnutt@opubco.com
Published: August 19, 2011
A legal challenge was filed Thursday to a governor-supported bill that makes changes to a closing fund that would allow withdrawal of state money quickly to seal projects that would bring more jobs to Oklahoma.
Jerry Fent, an Oklahoma City lawyer, said House Bill 1953 is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers set out in the state constitution. He also is concerned it's a move by the state toward socialism because the government is using state funds to help create private jobs.
“The government has no money, the government only has the taxpayers' money to spend,” he wrote in his legal brief. “For every dollar a socialist government spends on a private corporation, the government took that same dollar from another private party. Some call this a ‘transfer of private wealth' by the government under a theory of ‘jobs and economic development.'”
Fent filed a challenge asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to take up the issue. A hearing before a referee is set for Sept. 14.
HB 1953, which takes effect late this month, changes the name of the Oklahoma Opportunity Fund, created in 2006, to the Oklahoma Quick Action Closing Fund.
It authorizes the governor to make the final decision on a project, subject to consultation with the Speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tem... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Fri, August 19, 2011
by John Cox