Bloggers Asked 'Spy Cam' Questions Months Ago

It was with very little fanfare, and only an occasional news story, that Governor Henry's budget proposed a new revenue stream from a controversial source: Highway traffic, or "spy," cameras designed to catch vehicle insurance scofflaws, or those without the mandated insurance.

No attention was drawn to the $50 million-in-new-revenue plan until The McCarville Report Online began a series of articles about it last Friday.

No attention in a major way, that is. But months ago, Norman blogger Kaye Beach was asking pointed questions about the plan. She, along with fellow blogger Andrew Griffin, delivered a letter to Governor Henry's office asking that "sunlight" be allowed to shine on the plan. She never got a response.

In retrospect, Henry might today wish he had addressed the subject then because today, the lack of public discussion about the plan figures in the theory by some that Henry and others wanted the plan to "fly under the radar" and they hoped few outside state government would notice it.

Even some in state government didn't have a clue about the program until TMRO reported on it. Said one House member: "I had never heard of this until I saw your first story."

Beach's December 19th letter to Henry, which got no response:

Governor Henry,

I am writing you to express my concern about the proposed automobile license plate scanning cameras to be placed in fixed locations around Oklahoma. This is allegedly a way for the state to automatically verify the insurance status of our vehicles as they pass.

We all agree that the damage caused by uninsured motorists is a big problem, but now, on top of the risk of uncompensated personal loss or damaged property caused by an irresponsible driver we learn that we will also be subjected to unwarranted monitoring by the state of Oklahoma.

My question to you, Gov. Henry, is will you refrain from using the executive powers of the state to decide the matter and allow the people and their representatives an open examination of this issue so that they can properly weigh its merits and cast their votes accordingly?

This is a decision that should not be made without ample sunlight.

I appreciate your consideration.

Sincerely,
Kaye Beach
Norman, Oklahoma

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