OKC Curfew Enforcement, Stephanie Bice's Senate Seat, Stopped Trains & More [10:03-15:07]

democrats can be competitive there's going to be a very I think spirited primary in the Republican side and I think there's even a libertarian out there I don't know if they've announced yet or not but there's a libertarian that's thinking of running so this is as Niva said a Republican favored seat but in a special election maybe not all bets are off but most bets are off right it depends on who turns out to actually vote a state law to keep trains from stopping at cross streets for longer than 10 minutes gets declared unconstitutional a federal judge permanently halted enforcement saying it interfered with US law on commerce Ryan did you think this might happen yeah and you know and this isn't just because I watch planes hit trains and automobiles last night with my son you know for nearly two centuries since the time that they started acquiring land and laying tracks railroad operators have been some of the most powerful political and legal operators in the United States I mean Abraham Lincoln Daniel Webster these you know before before enduring an after and in some cases they're they're storied political careers they represented railroads and sometimes in all the way up to the United States Supreme Court some of the most famous Supreme Court decisions have to do with railroads and so you know while they may not have as much power in a state legislature to stop a bill like this I don't think that there is ever any question that there would be some challenge at some point once the state began issuing citations for these delays and that they would appeal to federal law you know if you're if you're a resident in any of these communities that have railroad crossings I mean you recognize both the inconvenience and as the attorney general my country said the danger that's posed by some of these very long delays of railroad crossings if you have paramedics that can't cross from one side of the town to the other for you know in some of these instances over an hour then you're putting people's lives at risk and so the judge in this case said they didn't they weren't saying that the state had zero ability to regulate railroads but in this instance they didn't and you know the way you change that would be federal law and I would just I would be surprised if every member of Oklahoma's congressional delegation or ever and or including a congresswoman elected vice hasn't been proactively contacted by the railroad industry trying to you know keep them from taking this state issue to congress so that congress would give states like Oklahoma the ability to regulate delays at railroad crossings I mean this is this is going to be I think a proactive lobbying effort on their part now in congress Niva well I think it's interesting the 18 page opinion I mean clearly gives some very helpful guidance if lawmakers want to look at introducing legislation in the next session and I think we can expect that that could could be likely because what what was said is that a state or local government can address grade level railroad crossing issues like we're talking about and and the key is they have to do it in a manner that doesn't run a foul of federal law so as long as they don't you know hit that wall with running you know running up against the interstate commerce act then there is the potential for still some legislative remedies to to be looked at and I think that there will be folks that certainly will take that into account and that's where they give and take even you know with the railroads and the other folks can come into play and try try to address some of these issues that are that are significant particularly when you're talking in communities where it does pose a real health and safety risk you know with long weights on on the tracks with these trains and no way to no way to quickly to bird around so it's an issue that there's been obviously many things said and as as Brian alluded to I mean the fact that when you start talking about what oftentimes we're we're called the railroad bearers of centuries going by I mean we have in Oklahoma we have 900 you know 900 plus miles of railroad tracks throughout the state so it is something that is important it's something that all parties certainly are sensitive to and I think we'll we'll watch with interest to see what possible legislation may be put on the table in this upcoming session I'm trying to find it in the Oklahoma article but I did Ryan is there any way to appeal this I don't know if Mike Hunter's planning on appealing it at all if there is a place to even appeal it once it's gone through federal debt yeah no you you could appeal to to the 10th circuit you could appeal to the United States Supreme Court I mean the the the gear there's no guarantee that those appeals will will be taken up or that you have any success there but you know as Niva said I you know we