Committee rejects bill to reinstall Ten Commandments monument at Capitol; vote 3-5

Senate Bill 380, which sought to reinstall the Ten Commandments on the Capitol grounds and inside the Capitol using private funds, failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 3-5 vote.

Senator Board, the bill’s author, said the statute would permit private funding to place the Ten Commandments monument and cited U.S. Supreme Court decisions he argued supported the constitutionality of such monuments, including Van Orden v. Perry and references to other opinions. The author said the monument would be presented as a historical marker and that similar monuments exist at other state capitols.

Committee debate ran for more than an hour. Opponents raised the Oklahoma constitutional Blaine Amendment history and a pending U.S. Supreme Court case about a state Blaine amendment and religiously affiliated schools; some members said the question of whether the state may put such a monument on public grounds is unsettled and noted an earlier 2015 removal after a court challenge. Supporters argued historical context and Supreme Court guidance allow monuments of historical significance, and several senators cited religious and historical foundations.

When the clerk called the roll, the committee recorded 3 ayes and 5 nays and the chair declared Senate Bill 380 failed.

Why it matters: The debate touched on establishment-clause and free-exercise legal doctrine, the state Blaine amendment’s status, and whether private funds can be used to place religious text on public grounds. Committee members split on constitutional and historical grounds.

What’s next: With the committee vote failing, the bill will not advance from this committee unless refiled or reconsidered.