“It is nearly impossible for someone with a felony conviction to obtain employment, to obtain housing — most people today won’t rent to someone with a felony conviction — and to get on with their lives,” Steele said.

“We say to these people: ‘We want you to go out and be a contributing member of your community,’ but we don’t allow them to work or have a place to live.”

The state questions are backed by a coalition that includes the Oklahoma City and Tulsa chambers of commerce, conservative and liberal advocacy organizations, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, former Gov. Brad Henry, Oklahoma City energy executives Larry Nichols and Tom Ward, and Oklahoma City Thunder principal owner Clay Bennett.

But not everyone is on board. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler and his predecessor, Tim Harris, both oppose SQ 780; Attorney General Scott Pruitt, apparently responding to prosecutors’ concerns, objected to both questions’ ballot titles. Pruitt’s rewrites were ruled out as misleading by the state Supreme Court.

Speaking to the panel Thursday night, Harris said SQ 780 reclassifies too many drug offenses and weakens prosecutors’ leverage against potential witnesses in more serious crimes such as murder and drug trafficking.