Transcript Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY --?For state Rep. Scott Martin, it had nothing to do with politics -- and everything to do with his son.

Last week, Martin -- a Norman Republican completing his first term as a state Representative -- became a central player in a titanic struggle being fought in the Oklahoma House.

On one side are the supporters of a measure known as Nick's Law, a bill which would require insurance companies to cover the diagnosis and treatment of children diagnosed as autistic. Written by state Sen. J. Paul Gumm, D-Durant, the bill includes a $75,000 cap and three-year time limit.

On the other side is the House's Republican leadership, who said the mandate will drive up the cost of health insurance policies and make it unaffordable for many Oklahomans.

Though Nick's Law cleared the Oklahoma State Senate, it stalled in the House, being locked in committee and opposed by the House's GOP leadership. The bill remains locked in limbo with just two days remaining in the legislative session.

With House leadership saying the mandate would increase the cost of state employee health insurance by $6 million a year, Gumm and state Rep. Mike Brown, a Democrat from Tahlequah, hoped to make use of an arcane legislative maneuver to force a vote on the bill.

The pair circulated a discharge petition which, under House rules, requires House leadership to bring Nick's law to a vote before the entire House. Discharge petitions in the House require 68 signatures; so far, Gumm and Brown have 48.

Most of the petition's signatures fell along party lines -- 44 of the 48 belong to Democrats.

But Brown and Gumm did gather four GOP signers -- Rep. Charlie Joyner of Midwest City, Rep. David Dank of Oklahoma City, Rep. Doug Cox of Grove and Martin.

And it's there that Martin moved from being member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives back to being a father. Though Martin downplays his action, many lawmakers said the Norman Republican showed "incredible political courage" in signing the petition.

"I think it took tremendous courage," Gumm said. "I'm very impressed. It's not easy to buck leadership during your first term."

Martin said his signature on the petition wasn't about politics, but, instead, about his infant son.

"To me it's not a partisan issue," he said. "As a new Dad with a 1-year-old at home, I think it's the right thing to do."

He said the process of trying to raise a healthy young boy at home has "suddenly made him more concerned" about the health risks infants face.