“Somebody needs to explain to them the definition of the word ‘local,’” White said during a recent city council meeting.
White was referring specifically to a new state law that overrides the city’s recently passed ordinance concerning rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.
The city debated the new policies for nearly a year before adopting them in 2014.
However, the state recently stepped in with its own law.
The state has made a habit of stepping in and imposing its own laws on municipalities, including bans on cities setting a minimum wage, restricting drilling or creating abandoned property registries.
“They think that they’re smarter than we are about how to run our city,” White added.
The irony is the same lawmakers restricting cities like Oklahoma City are often criticizing federal agencies and the president for imposing regulations on Oklahoma.
State lawmakers often advocate for more “local control,” but maybe they should drop the “local” part of that request and just be honest with themselves.
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2015.