Oklahoma Bill to Reinstate DADT Rule Derailed

The Speaker of the House for Oklahoma state has reportedly derailed a bill that would have reinstated the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for the state’s National Guard.

The Associated Press reports that shortly before the bill came up for a hearing on Monday in the House Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Speaker Kris Steele reassigned the bill to the Rules Committee.

Steele has expressed concerns that returning the state’s National Guard to the DADT rule might effect the Guard’s federal funding.

The chairman of the Rules Committee, Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, is thought unlikely to advance the legislation.

Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Mike Reynolds, the author of the bill, has groused over the reassignment, accusing Steele of “dictatorial rule.”

More on this via News OK:

Rep. Mike Reynolds, the measure’s author, said his bill faces an uphill struggle. He showed up at the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and attempted to get the language of his bill inserted in another measure.

Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, the committee chairman, ruled Reynolds out of order and refused to allow him to proceed.

“That bill is the property of the speaker,” Wesselhoft, R-Moore, told Reynolds. “It is no longer my property.”

[...]

“The speaker did what the speaker can do so well — made a complete mincemeat of the rules,” said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City.

“That is the type of dictatorial rule that is going on in this House of Representatives, and it’s got to come to an end,” Reynolds said. “Exposing it will be the start.”

This will likely escalate what appears to be a long-running feud between the pair, but it would seem that, barring an extraordinary intervention, the legislation is dead for this year.

Rep. Mike Reynolds has said House Bill 2195 is a response to requests from members of the Guard.

The legislation would prohibit anyone who was ineligible to serve in the U.S. armed forces under federal regulations that were in effect on Jan. 1, 2009, from serving in the Guard, effectively rolling back the clock in Oklahoma to before President Obama signed the legislative repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Read more on that here.

Celebrate the Repeal of DADT Today (VIDEO)

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Image used under the Creative Commons Attribution License with thanks to the US Army Photostream.

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Allan Y.

2:59PM PST on Feb 22, 2012

Clearly, this speaker does not speak for the population.

send a green star

Fred K.

2:09PM PST on Feb 22, 2012

Good riddance, this has been bad 'law' ever since that scumbag traitor Komrad Klinton signed it off!

Linda T.

12:37PM PST on Feb 22, 2012

Another Quack-a-doodle hit the legislative floor. Good job Speaker of the House for keeping the quacks at bay.

Marianne C.

12:28PM PST on Feb 22, 2012

Aw. Poor Mike Reynolds is grousing about being bullied? Well, the poor widdle bigot. Got ums feelings hurted, did ums?

That's kind of one of those "too bad, so sad" things for me. Reynolds can just suck it up, like it or not. The people he wants to hurt and bully have had to suck it up for a long, long, LONG time thanks to bigots like him. It's damned well him TURN.

Karen and Ed O.

11:49AM PST on Feb 22, 2012

"The speaker....made a complete mincemeat of the rules,” said Reynolds,..." Well, I'll tell you, Reynolds, that's exactly what this bill deserved.

John M.

10:27AM PST on Feb 22, 2012

Thank you for the article...

Christopher F.

9:41AM PST on Feb 22, 2012

The flaw in the idea that each state may mandate a DADT policy would be a violation of federal law.
The National Guard is a RESERVE COMPONENT of the military, be it Army or Air Force, Navy and Marines have reserves, not NG.
Because of that, the NGB must comply with DOD regulations. If you look at the uniform on any NG soldier, it says either "US Air Force" or "US Army", not "Army of (insert state here)" or "(insert state here) Air Force".

Any attempt to reinstate such a policy at the NG level would run afoul of DOD regulations.

Karen M.

7:13AM PST on Feb 22, 2012

HAHA, take that all you haters in Okla. I left that craphole years ago & have never looked back. Religious, intolerant bible-tards.

Craig G.

6:43AM PST on Feb 22, 2012

This kind of legislation is typical of the evangelical Christians. Wake up America before it's too late. They readily admit they wish to turn the nation into an evangelical Christian theocracy. Freedom lovers must resist.

Cathryn C.

5:14AM PST on Feb 22, 2012

A State cannot make laws that override the Federal laws. Federal law would be enforced. Example the laws regarding Medical Marijuana in CA, OR and WA. People can get it by state law under certain circumstances, but Federal law allows them to go in and disrupt supply lines and bust the pharmacies because Federally Grass is illegal. Who the Guard is under is in it's name..The National Guard and they can be called to respond in ANY State, not just the one they live in, such as with the disaster of Katrina. Units from many states not affected were sent in to help.

The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National Guard and hold a civilian job as well. The National Guard of the United States is a joint reserve component of the United States Army and the United States Air Force and maintains two subcomponents: the Army National Guard of the United States for the Army and the Air Force's Air National Guard of the United States.