Stitt, Walters pressure lawmakers to pass contested agency rules

Pressure is mounting on lawmakers after Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a formal opinion this week that says the State Board of Education doesn’t have the authority to craft new agency rules without the Legislature’s permission.

At Walters’ urging, the board unanimously approved new agency rules related to school library books and parents’ rights related to sex education materials. This week, Drummond issued a binding opinion that says the board, led by Walters, has limited rulemaking authority.

Although Drummond’s office did not outright take issue with the two newly approved rules, the opinion says the board cannot adopt new rules without direction from the Legislature. Any rules pursued by the board unilaterally are void and unenforceable, the opinion states.

The Legislature has not directed Walters or the board to create any new state agency rules.

Walters on Thursday said Drummond’s opinion doesn’t apply to the two new rules passed by his agency’s governing board. He also accused the media of distorting Drummond’s opinion.

“The press is seeking to stir controversy between myself and the Attorney General regarding rules, but I do not believe there is any controversy between us,” Walters wrote in a letter to legislative leaders. The rules are now available for consideration and adoption by the Legislature, he added.

The opinion followed a request from Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, who questioned whether Walters had any authority to make new state agency rules.

A spokesman for Drummond did not directly respond to a question about whether the opinion applies to the newly approved rules.

One proposed rule would allow the State Board of Education to downgrade the accreditation status of schools whose libraries are found to contain “pornographic materials” or “sexualized content.” The other would allow parents to review and object to sex education materials and require school employees to notify parents if their child is considering changing his or her gender identity, such as the pronouns the student uses at school.

“The formal opinion is a matter of law that answered a broad question about rulemaking authority, but determining whether a specific rule exceeds that authority is ultimately something the courts will decide,” said Drummond spokesman Phil Bacharach. If the rules are adopted, the state could face a lawsuit.

In a press release, Stitt said he fully supports Walters’ efforts to implement new rules that would apply to Oklahoma’s public schools. Stitt, who will get a say on the agency rules after the Legislature acts on them, did not address Drummond’s opinion.

“This is common sense,” he said in the release. “Parents don’t want their tax dollars paying for pornographic material to be available to their kids in school. I urge my colleagues in the Legislature to swiftly approve this rule and keep inappropriate, pornographic material out of our public schools.”

Several GOP lawmakers have applauded the proposed education rules.

Asked to present proof of his repeated claims that explicit and obscene books are being made available to students in schools, Walters told lawmakers this week that he had found four “pornographic” books in Oklahoma districts.

He didn’t specify which schools had two of the books. In most cases, the Tulsa-area districts accused of having the other books said the titles are not available in their schools.

Walters also flagged 194 additional books that he said don’t belong in schools, but he didn’t say whether any of those titles are currently available to students.

The Legislature will review all state agency rules before the legislative session ends in late May.