Angry House Democrats Stage Walkout

Angry House Democrats today walked out of the chamber to protest the refusal of Republican committee chairmen to allow those with whom they disagree to speak.

Rep. Chuck Hoskin, head of the House Democratic caucus, said it was bad enough that members of the public were not allowed to speak, but elected representatives also are being denied the right to ask questions in committee and on the floor.

Thursday morning, Rep. James Covey, D-Custer City, asked to be recognized on the House floor because he wanted to speak with House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, about how committee meetings are being conducted. But he was not recognized.

"That was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Rep. Eric Proctor, D-Tulsa.

House Minority Leader Danny Morgan, D-Prague, huddled with Benge and others in the speaker's office. Morgan said Benge agreed to review committee rules and will have an answer on Monday.

Morgan (pictured) said his members also are angry over the the refusal by Rep. Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, to let supporters of a measure that would require insurance companies to cover costs associated with autism speak before his committee.

About 30 supporters showed up the past two weeks to speak to Peterson's committee, but Peterson killed the measure and denied supporters a chance to speak.

Last week Chad Smith, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, was not allowed to speak before a House committee that took up a bill that would make English the official language of the state. The chairman of that committee, Rep. Guy Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City, restricted comments to House members. The measure passed out of committee and is awaiting action on the House floor. House Speaker Chris Benge later apologized to Smith and said he should have been allowed to speak.

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Benge Apologizes To Cherokee Chief, Says Liebmann Action 'Unfortunate'

From The Capitol Bureau, Tulsa World ~ The speaker of the House said Thursday that he has apologized to the chief of the Cherokee Nation after he was prohibited from speaking against a bill to make English the state's official language.

Speaker Chris Benge (pictured), himself a member of the Cherokee tribe, said it was unfortunate that Chief Chad Smith did not get a chance to speak before the bill was approved Wednesday by the House General Government and Transportation Committee.

"I did express to him it was unfortunate he was not able to express his opinion," Benge said.

Committee Chairman Guy Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City, declared Wednesday that the gathering was not a public meeting and denied requests from two Democratic lawmakers that Smith be allowed to speak.

At one point, Liebmann said to the chief: "If you don't be quiet, I'm going to have to call somebody to put you out. I'm sorry."

The chief (at right) said he wanted to tell the committee that Cherokees strongly oppose assimilation because the tribe is clearly a separate nation.

Benge said that Liebmann did have the discretion of prohibiting public comment, but "I'd err on the side of making (committee meetings) as public as possible."

The committee approved the bill calling for a vote of the people on a constitutional amendment requiring that all official state government business be conducted in English. It now moves to consideration in the full House.

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Road Repair Cap Repeal Bill Approved In House

The State House voted today to repeal a controversial cap on the growth of road funding at a time the state's highways are in desperate need of repair.

House Bill 2551, by Rep. Guy Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City, would lock in annual increases of $50 million per year for state roads over the next few years.

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Liebmann: Democrats Exhibit 'Political Hypocrisy'

House Democrats are playing in the big leagues of political hypocrisy, Rep. Guy Liebmann (pictured) said today as he called on Democrats to apply the same standards to themselves that they claim to want applied to Republicans.

Liebmann cited reports showing that former Governor David Walters is hosting a political fundraiser for Democrats Tuesday. An invitation has been sent to Capitol lobbyists asking them to attend and donate, Liebmann said.

He added that in 1993, Walters became the first governor in the state to be indicted when he was accused of eight felonies, including conspiracy and perjury. Walters pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor for violating state campaign law in a plea agreement.

"Now, Democrats are using him to host a fundraiser for themselves," Liebmann said in a news release. "Last week, House Minority Leader Danny Morgan criticized Republicans for simply attending a fundraiser at the home of an individual who has never even been charged, much less convicted, of election law violations. Furthermore, the fundraiser was for a presidential candidate and not themselves.

“Clearly their finger-pointing was only a diversionary tactic to avoid drawing attention to their own fundraiser,” said Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City. “Last week, Morgan said he was “floored” to hear of House Republicans attending a presidential fundraiser. Sadly, we are not surprised by this Democratic behavior and hypocrisy.

"It’s becoming clear that whenever Democrats like Morgan call for ethics reform, Oklahomans can be sure that while they claim to be concerned about everyone else’s ethics, they have little regard for their own," he added.

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More Legislators Refuse Copies Of The Quran

From The Tulsa World's Capitol Bureau ~ Six lawmakers in the 101-member House of Representatives have joined Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, in refusing a copy of the Quran.

The holy book of the Muslim religion was offered as a centennial gift by the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council.

Duncan refused a copy saying that "Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology."

Allison Moore of Tulsa, who converted to the Muslim faith more than a decade ago, said Tuesday that the lawmaker is taking out of context what the Quran says: "We do not condone suicide bombers any more than the Christians."

According to the governor's council, other Republican representatives declining a copy of the Quran are David Derby of Owasso, Guy Liebmann of Oklahoma City, Scott Martin of Norman, Mark McCullough of Sapulpa, Mike Reynolds of Oklahoma City, and Susan Winchester of Chickasha.

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Liebmann Wants Road Funds Boost

State Rep. Guy Liebmann, chairman of the House General Government & Transportation Committee, is filing legislation to ensure road funding is increased by at least $50 million each year, the Oklahoma City Republican announced today.

"Maintenance of roads and bridges is a core function of government and there's no reason to place an artificial limit on how much we can spend in that area," Liebmann said. "Oklahoma's roads have been neglected for decades and it's going to take a serious effort to rehabilitate them."

Legislation approved in 2006 provided for annual increases of up to $50 million per year for Oklahoma roads until $200 million in new funding was achieved. However, the law contained a "trigger" that limited the annual increase to just $17.5 million if total state tax collections grew less than 3 percent in a year. This year, early revenue estimates indicated growth was below the 3-percent target and only $17.5 million in new money was approved for road-and-bridge maintenance. But revised estimates later showed state tax collections grew more than 3 percent.

"We had the opportunity to provide a significant boost to the road budget this session but the 'trigger' law thwarted those efforts,"Liebmann said. "I want to ensure that doesn't happen again."

Liebmann's bill would eliminate the 3-percent trigger and require that at least $50 million in new funding be provided for roads each year until the full $200 million goal is achieved.

Prior to 2005, road funding in Oklahoma was just $200 million per year, essentially unchanged from 20 years prior. When inflation was taken into account, road-maintenance funding had actually declined by 45 percent over those two decades.

Making a bad situation worse, previous Legislatures had approved new road construction funded through bond debt, and repayment of that debt was coming straight out of maintenance funds for roads, essentially reducing road funding by another one-third.

The new Republican majority made road funding a priority in 2005 and has steadily increased the road budget every year since they gained control of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

"In light of the tragedy in Minnesota and the sad state of many Oklahoma bridges, I believe my legislation will be embraced by most lawmakers and signed into law," Liebmann said. "We can't afford to ignore this issue."

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