OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A proposed constitutional amendment that asks voters to return a Ten Commandments monument to the Oklahoma Capitol grounds has been approved by the Oklahoma Senate.
Without debate, the Senate voted 39-5 Wednesday for the House-passed measure. It's similar to a measure already approved by the Senate.
The resolution calls for a statewide referendum on whether to abolish an article of the Oklahoma Constitution that prohibits the use of state funds to support a religion. The state Supreme Court relied on that constitutional requirement in June when it ordered a Ten Commandments monument removed from the Capitol grounds.
The 6-foot-tall granite monument was authorized by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2009 and was erected in 2012. Its placement led other groups to seek their own statues.