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House Approves Plan for Oklahoma Communities to Form "Prosperity Districts"

Oklahoma took a step this week toward joining an initiative supporters call a "reset button" on laws and regulations holding back economic growth.

House Bill 2132 says Oklahoma agrees to the Prosperity States Compact. It allows communities to band together and form "prosperity districts," where many state and local regulations are automatically repealed and governing boards replace any local forms of government.

The governing boards would not have the powers of eminent domain or civil forfeiture, nor would they be able to levy taxes. Services they provide would be contracted through competitive bidding.

Rep. Lewis Moore said it will help areas the Oklahoma Department of Commerce does not.

"They spend taxpayer dollars to attract or give to people to come to Oklahoma in the areas in which they want them to come into Oklahoma, which are not all areas of Oklahoma, not all 77 counties," Moore said. "It's a little bit of protectionism and cronyism."

Moore said Oklahoma suffers from too many layers of regulations.

"Between the city and the county and the state and the federal, with EPA and all kinds of different things with [the Department of Environmental Quality] that are affecting our ability to attract and to do business and affecting business freedom," Moore said.

Rep. Meloyde Blancett said businesses don’t want Oklahoma to slash regulations; they want it to guarantee an educated workforce.

"We are not doing that, by virtue of the systematic defunding of our public education, by not paying our teachers what they deserve to be paid," Blancett said.

Backed by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, Compact for America is also pushing the Prosperity States Compact in Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and North Dakota.

The Oklahoma House passed HB2132 60–26.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.