House Democrats Oppose State-Funded Religious Schools

An Oklahoma bill aimed at eliminating discrimination based on religion is headed to the governor's desk. Representatives debated the bill for over two hours on the House floor Tuesday.

The author, Representative Jon Echols, says it’s a very straight forward bill, but democrats argue this could come with a number of unwanted consequences.

Senate bill 404 calls it a “substantial burden” to exclude any person or entity from receiving government funds, benefits or programs based solely on their religion.

The author of the bill and many republicans argued on the floor that this bill's purpose is just to ensure there is no religious discrimination in the state.

"Replace the word religion with gender in the bill, replace the word religion with the word sex in the bill, and it would be unthinkable to have a two hours debate over; but when we talk about religion somehow that's acceptable,” said Rep. Jon Echols (R-OKC).

"This is just a bill about making things available to nonprofits that may be religious but that you can't deny help just because they're religious,” said Rep. Danny Williams (R-Seminole).

Democrats argue our taxpayer dollars shouldn’t subsidize religious institutions, and that the government shouldn’t be involved with churches.

"This bill will end up costing taxpayer dollars and frivolous lawsuits,” said Rep. Mickey Dollens (D-OKC).

"The bill literally puts a substantial burden on the state for why they might refuse funding to a religious entity,” said Rep. John Deck (D-Norman).

“It will have secondary effects and unintended consequences we do not want,” said Rep. John Waldron (D-Tulsa).

Democrats also argue that the bill would allow religious schools to seek funding in the same way public schools receive funding.

The bill passed off the House floor with a vote of 64 to 27 and is now headed to the governor's desk.