Oklahoma Weather Tracking Licensure Legislation

[Warren Faidley]

What does that mean? Substitute?

 

[gdlewen]

It’s what they call an amended bill submitted to the Commitee for consideration. It replaced HR2426. Not the same as a floor amendment.

This should be what they vote on tomorrow

 

[JamesCaruso]

I see one glimmer of hope in Edgar ONeal's X Post: "Senate Bill Status: The Senate version of the bill has been effectively nullified. Senator Mann's removal of the "License" provision has led to Representative Fetgatter's withdrawal of support". In order for this bill to become a law both the OK House and OK Senate have to eventually pass the same bill (often after conference committee) and the OK Governor either has to sign it or at least not veto it before it becomes law (if Governor vetos it, the legislature can still vote to override the veto).

I think this gives us a clue as to how we can work to defeat this. It looks as if Senator Mann has concerns about increasing government regulations/bureaucracy/costs and that Rep Fetgatter isn't willing to let go of the added regulations/bureaucracy/costs (I will note that allowing media outlets to print their own passes to disobey traffic laws like the current Senate version does is even crazier than giving them a license to do so). I would suspect that this is an issue for a number of elected OK officials besides Senator Mann. The key to defeat this might be to try to get OK citizens to contact their elected officials about stopping the "administrative state" and "adding unnecessary government regulation and costs". This of course is easier said that done, because the average OK citizen likely doesn't think this will impact them and many of them likely drink the Kool-Aid about the media keeping them safe. You still might get some folks, likely Republican groups, to take a stand and given the deep red nature of OK politics, you might actually get some of the OK legislature pull support.

Another angle might be to get folks angry about the fact that both the House and Senate version will required citizens to pull over and yield the right of way to the media. Right now in the US a lot of the public doesn't have a positive view of media and I don't think that having to yield to them would be popular. Now getting folks angry is not going to be easy to do, but if you find some folks with lots of social media followers - especially outside of the storm chasing community - and they post about it, you could see some results. Once again not easy to do. I don't see any player in the OKC Thunder posting on X about this. Once again this might be a place were we can leverage the right-of-center folks. If you got a popular social media person in that group to post about the "unnecessary regulation and costs" and the "absurdity of having to yield the right of way to the media" you might get some traction. It may be time to start poking at those folks to put these ideas in their heads.

Regardless, don't take this House/Senate fraction to let your guard down - this could be a way we are getting played or a compromise could still happen between the bill authors. Politician at the state level still need broadcast media, so don't be surprised if this quid pro quo bill passes.

But isn’t Fettgatter the Republican? Yet he’s the one supporting the additional regulations/bureaucracy in the bill, while Mann no longer does?

 

[Jamie H]

But isn’t Fettgatter the Republican? Yet he’s the one supporting the additional regulations/bureaucracy in the bill, while Mann no longer does?

That confused me too, quite honestly.

 

[Jamie H]

Here is the Committee Substitute to HR2426:

Obvious change(s) I've noticed or things of note:

- TV station meterologists calling a tornado warning cannot trigger a "Significant weather event" but they can for flooding and flash flooding
- submit license holders to background checks
- license holders to undergo emergency driving courses
- they will display flashing green and yellow lights, not red and blues
- Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit or limit the rights of any individual from engaging in recreational or commercial storm chasing who is not in possession of or eligible to receive a license authorized by this act. However, a license received pursuant to this act shall not be used for the purpose of getting a better filming location. The license shall only be used for the purposes of keeping up with a storm or its conditions and traveling through restricted locations, not to restricted locations.
- puts them below all other emergency vehicles in terms of rights and priorities
- they cannot use any form of siren
- The use of the signal equipment described herein shall impose upon drivers of other vehicles the obligation to yield right-of-way and stop for authorized emergency vehicles, as prescribed in Section 11-405 of this title.

I hope that is helpful

Also, does:

6. Disregard regulations governing direction of movement; and
7. Disregard regulations governing turning in specified directions.

Mean they can drive the wrong way down roads?

 

[gdlewen]

But isn’t Fettgatter the Republican? Yet he’s the one supporting the additional regulations/bureaucracy in the bill, while Mann no longer does?

Yes it is mystifying, but until the Obama period Oklahoma was a largely Democrat state: Democrat Governor and Legislature. The Democrat Party lurched so far to the left during that period it literally left Oklahoma Democrats standing in the Republican Party.

It's like looking at a Political Time Capsule: What the Democrat Party was a scant 20 years ago.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Breaking.... Everyone will want to watch the Commerce and Economic Development Oversight Committee hearing today. I'm told there could be some very interesting things occurring. I will leave it at that. 10:30 central time here:

House Audio/Video - Oklahoma House of Representatives

former.okhouse.gov

 

[Randy Jennings]

But isn’t Fettgatter the Republican? Yet he’s the one supporting the additional regulations/bureaucracy in the bill, while Mann no longer does?

I think the old phrase "politics makes strange bedfellows" is at work here. The "concerns" from Senator Mann, a Democrat, might not be about the philosophy of government regulation and more about concerns in getting the bill passed in a Senate that has 40 Republicans and 8 Democrats, or even out of committee. The Oklahoma House has 81 Republican and 20 Democrats, but the larger body of a legislature often has very different dynamics than the smaller body for things that have nothing to do with party. For example, for many years the Texas Senate has passed school vouchers and the Texas House has voted it down because many Republicans that represent rural areas joined with Democrats to oppose them because they had few to no private schools in their districts that would benefit from the vouchers and the public school districts they represented lobbied hard against them. I'm not from Oklahoma, and I don't know much about the politics of their state government, but this is likely an area someone more knowledge about Oklahoma should look into, as their might be ways to use other strategies to defeat this.

 

[Randy Zipser]

Excellent information, ST posters! Please keep the reports coming about the latest-breaking legislative actions for us out-of-staters! FWIW, to keep matters in perspective, at least the legislative process playing out in OKC related HB2426 to is far less dysfunctional than what is coming out of Washington, DC, right now...

 

[Dave C]

Obvious change(s) I've noticed or things of note:

- TV station meterologists calling a tornado warning cannot trigger a "Significant weather event" but they can for flooding and flash flooding
- submit license holders to background checks
- license holders to undergo emergency driving courses
- they will display flashing green and yellow lights, not red and blues
- Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit or limit the rights of any individual from engaging in recreational or commercial storm chasing who is not in possession of or eligible to receive a license authorized by this act. However, a license received pursuant to this act shall not be used for the purpose of getting a better filming location. The license shall only be used for the purposes of keeping up with a storm or its conditions and traveling through restricted locations, not to restricted locations.
- puts them below all other emergency vehicles in terms of rights and priorities
- they cannot use any form of siren
- The use of the signal equipment described herein shall impose upon drivers of other vehicles the obligation to yield right-of-way and stop for authorized emergency vehicles, as prescribed in Section 11-405 of this title.

I hope that is helpful

Also, does:

6. Disregard regulations governing direction of movement; and
7. Disregard regulations governing turning in specified directions.

Mean they can drive the wrong way down roads?

Item 6/7: that is exactly what it means - giving people with the goal of gathering footage or data (but only big money OK interests, not necessarily the best or closest media or research resource) the right to drive dangerously.

[rant]
The entire bill still reads as fairly insane to me. To give any group aside from real first responders (whose goal is protecting immediate and known threat to life when code 3) for any reason the power to ignore rules of the road and priority over the general public is so dangerous. Legacy media will try to say their TV coverage saves lives, but we all know radar warnings to phones and other report types will continue to be well ahead or simultaneous with what these imbeciles will produce with their Mad Max license driving down the wrong side of the road and through stop signs. My take is that if the bill was about the residents of Oklahoma, it would be framed differently or at least be honest that it is about media effectiveness. Media has always done fine around the world working with real first responders and dealing with the public during events since the dawn of mass media- why is this bill suddenly urgently needed to give special powers? Could it be that legacy media can't compete and is irrelevant? Could it be that money and favors are changing hands?

I don't see how anyone can read this bill and its scope, and not think it is either horribly conceived and missing its goal, or the real goal is all about scooping up money and TV ratings. Removing emotion as best as I can and considering its details, I cannot logically come up with any major benefit it provides to Oklahomans unless you believe legacy media and big money academics needs this power to be effective and getting their footage is a true emergency worth this added risk/burden on the roads. After reading the bill changes, I personally think it could be safely retitled "Oklahoma Severe Weather Big Money Interests Act". All around the world, corrupt legislators are always making laws and orders as quietly as possible to get away with crap like this. Notice the bill has been backed unwaveringly despite the theater and minor rephrasing. Just a backroom good 'ol boys deal between corrupt business/academia and politicians, politics as usual. If it was about safety and the residents of OK, the research and media would not be limited to big money Oklahoma only, and local media would have told citizens about the bill to give them time to get involved. There would be a clear mission statement that media reports and data are critical to Oklahoma and need to be improved. The silence is deafening and the feel of the bill is disengenuous. Like so much legislation nowadays, the title and declared purpose are looking like a smoke screen for the real goal.

A lot of questions come to mind:

1. Is there a next step in the agenda from those lobbying for this?
2. When will other states or provinces follow (if not already dreaming up similar as prompted by networks and lobbyists) and will their bills be worse? This and item 1 are the only reasons I really care about this bill. I firmly believe in staying out of politics of places I don't live unless I believe it is the beginning of a really bad trend that will spread.
3. I wonder if OK media can violate tribal boundaries or private property with this power like normal first responders can in emergencies?
4. Who thinks there is any possible way to enforce the 'can't use this to get better filming location'? That is all it will be used for, that is the true purpose of the bill (that and to get advantage or limit others' chasing).
5. Who saw Twister and thought... let's add Jonas x100 on every severe weather situation in our communities. At least they can eat their own TV towers when this passes.
6. All the deaths of chasers/spotters except a small percent have been media or researchers taking insane chances with their already inflated egos and misguided self inflicted pressures to get footage or data. What in the bill avoids promoting more of the same now that it licenses such people with special power? They could not handle the power they have already. The background check or driving training hardly seem like they will help in that regard to me.
7. The chaser circus and public panics have always already been caused by media hype. We have seen media induced panic for snow storms or tornadoes result in all kinds of chaos, and the media hype cause a lot of the attention that pulls in recreational chasers. What in the bill avoids promoting more of the same?

[/rant]

 

[Jamie H]

Breaking.... Everyone will want to watch the Commerce and Economic Development Oversight Committee hearing today. I'm told there could be some very interesting things occurring. I will leave it at that. 10:30 central time here:

House Audio/Video - Oklahoma House of Representatives

former.okhouse.gov

Hasn't been discussed yet but they are moving pretty quickly through things, if anyone is interested.

11:09 - now happening

 

[gdlewen]

The title had been struck—it can’t become law until the title is restored. That could happen on the floor, though. Same with the Senate version—title was struck last month.

Fetgatter is very angry. Way angrier than you’d think unless he has a personal interest.

 

[gdlewen]

David Payne has been invited to speak.

Now it comes out: he is complaining about chaser convergence and how it affects his chasers.

 

[Jamie H]

I made notes, this is what people said, not my views!



There are only a handful of people who would qualify for this
Keeps saying it is simple
His door is always open
Says state agencies have come to only one meeting and haven’t helped him on the bill
He says LFOs have concerns
Fire fighters say they trust him and are neutral
Sheriffs’ association will go neutral
OACP chiefs are neutral on the bill and may support it


Is asked about press credentials, and this bill opens the door to licensing members of the press for what they do

Answer not every member of the press can go everywhere, and their job is to write law, not interpret or enforce it. He does not believe there is a 1st amendment issue, but if there is someone will file a lawsuit and the courts will determine, which he says is their job


Another question comes from someone who says their police and fire chiefs are not for it, as it will be the wild west.

Answer he will keep working on the bill and to the chiefs he says it is already the wild west because the police are concerned about chaser vehicles. People are already breaking the law, and it isn’t being enforced. They’re running whatever lights they want. This law doesn’t stop a person from chasing. Bring your constituents to my office for a conversation.


Question what does striking tiles mean.

The bill cannot become a law until the title is restored. It will not become law until the parties agree on it

Follow up has he ever seen a tornado

Answer he is an armchair storm chaser (mentions he has David Payne there with him) but has never seen one


Question OU has a storm research vehicle owned by the federal government, operated by students, would they need a license to use it?

Answer no person, company, or institution is ever required to get the license. It is voluntary

Follow up what are the considerations for other research institutions?

Answer there’s no mandate and nothing changes about storm chasing in OK. If you want the license you will need to take training and be insured properly.


Question person received a lot of phone calls from chasers and told them to call Fett not him

Answer he has spent hours over the weekends and answered any question anyone has. Says he’s taken suggestions as far away from Australia


Question medical cannabis was the wild west, and he has always been willing to be open to talk. Has he had new information form capital entities?

A text message went out from ??? this is a conversation to be had. He’s had a card from ODot opposed to the bill, but he’s never spoken to them about it. Has never felt bureaucracy has been out of control in the building, but today feels he knows how bureaucracy is killing residents’ freedoms, because they come in late to kill the legislation but don’t talk to him. He kept asking them to come back to chat, they didn’t



Question could they have David Payne come and speak on the bill?

Answer asks with leniency to allow this

Permitted

Payne says there were 152 tornadoes last year in OK, tornado alley is not shifting, spring has started with a bang
When he started chasing in the 80s there was no one on the highways
Early 90s were quiet, there were no storm chasers
Twister comes out and it ramps up in OK as it is the tornado mecca
Over the last three decades streaming has happened and is great and they support it and encourage it
What has happened is the roads are so filled with chasers from all over the world which is great for tourism, and no one has a problem
The roads are so crowded that to do their job is very hard, and he says his job to get the latest information to people immediately and where they will be
The bill, if passed, would give FCC media the ability to have some access to get through and around blocked roads or long lines of traffic
His people need to be on the storm mile by mile. They are an extension of him and the studio, so if they can’t get through, there are problems, as they are the number 1 outlet for this. Says they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars when they cover severe weather for prolonged periods.
If his staff are stuck behind a chaser tourist, he has a problem
When the bill came out, he saw all this insanity
He just wants to stay ahead of chasers to provide information to residents
There won’t be many people using it
If you care about OK this bill is important
This is another way to keep Oklahomans safe

Fett says he knows he’s been hard on people today but that comes from frustration and respect. He respects people who work for the state and wants them to know he cares


Final statement from the chair whose police chief and deputy and residents who have great concerns. He appreciates striking tile to make it a working draft.



Just two votse against, from Gann and Menz

 

[Sean Ramsey]

This was everything we thought it was (source, intent, etc). It has a long ways to go, but it's not dead by any means.