Edmond Sun - 01/17/2018 OPINION
Copy Reduced to 49% from original to fit letter page
A4
No reason a
policy maker
should
be able to duck
out of a vote
BY JASON MURPHEY
STATE REPRESENTATIVE HD-31
H
ere is an antiquated House pro-
cedure that should be corrected:
members of the House of
Representatives vote on key legislation
during a limited two-minute time
frame.
Each year, members of the House cast
votes impacting almost every aspect of
life: from public safety to education to
the expenditure of billions of your tax-
payer dollars. These votes occur in two-
minute segments during which time the
lawmaker must make up his mind.
If the pressure on the lawmaker is too
much, this antiquated system allows
him/her to duck the vote completely by
simply walking out of the chamber and
refusing to vote at all. This deprives the
constituents from holding their legisla-
tor accountable.
There should never be a reason for a
lawmaker not to vote.
I once watched this abuse occur as
the House considered a bill that
removed the salary cap of several
agency directors. Several years ago,
before the state went through the ener-
gy sector downturn, these types of bills
were rather popular in the Legislature.
This was obviously a terrible policy
because it would allow the boards of
various bureaucracies to potentially
grant very large salary increases to
agency directors. These caps serve as an
important check and balance on state
agencies and should always remain on
the books.
As the House vote on one of these
bills was ongoing, several agency offi-
cials who would potentially receive rais-
es watched from the enclosed gallery
above the east wall of the House.
During the vote, I observed one of of
the legislators slowly walk back to the
voting box only to react with apparent
feigned disgust when the vote was
closed before he could register his vote.
Straightaway after missing the vote,
he looked up to the east gallery where
one of the agency heads directly
acknowledged his cowardly act with an
exaggerated and enthusiastic gesture of
appreciation.
Observing moments like this has been
one of the most difficult parts of being a
State Representative because I knew the
legislator had aggressively campaigned
to his constituency as an opponent to
bad policies just like this. I also knew
that not one of that legislator’s con-
stituents will probably ever know what
he did that day.
He was never held to account by
those who put their trust in him to
guard their taxpayer dollars from these
abuses because the official vote simply
shows him as “excused” from having
taken a position on the bill.
Most voters won't have any idea what
the term "excused" means. Was the law-
maker sick that day? Did he have some
other good reason for not making the
vote?
There simply isn't a column to show
voters that their lawmakers "intention-
ally slow played the vote in order to not
offend agency persons who are going to
get a large, taxpayer-funded raise"
because of this bill.
A review of voting tally sheets will
show there are several lawmakers who
are excused on many, if not most, votes.
Sometimes this is for very valid reasons,
but even then, the reality is that con-
stituents are deprived of their represen-
tation.
The Legislature should utilize an
updated system to register lawmakers’
votes, regardless of arbitrary time limits
or location.
With the use of today's technology,
there is almost never a good reason for a
lawmaker to miss a vote. And there is
never a good reason why all of those
votes should not be recorded and pub-
lished for all to see.
Technology has advanced to the point
where policymakers could easily vote
from their computers wherever they are,
those votes could be immediately pub-
lished in an open and transparent man-
ner, and never again would a politician
be able to duck a vote by claiming he
didn’t get to his voting box in time.
© 2018 THE EDMOND SUN
Copyright (c)2018 Edmond Sun, Edition 01/17/2018
January 18, 2018 9:51 am (GMT +6:00)
THE FIRST AMENDMENT: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
THE EDMOND SUN
Page : A04
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018
Oklahoma’s oldest newspa
129th year | 5th issue
18 pages
Lance Moler
General Manager
Ext. 105
lmoler@edmondsun.com
Mark Codner
Editor
Ext. 106
mcodner@edmondsun.co
Todd Short
Production Manager
production@edmondsun.c
Business: (405) 341-21
Fax: (405) 340-7363
Classifieds: (405) 340-7
Fax: (405) 341-6327
Our mailing address
P.O. Box 2470
Edmond, OK 73083-247
Our shipping addres
123 S. Broadway
Edmond, OK 73034
Our website
www.edmondsun.com
The Edmond Sun (ISSN
1522-5828) publishes a p
newspaper Wednesday a
Saturday except for all le
holidays at 123 S. Broadw
Edmond, OK 73034-3899
When a legal holiday fall
on a Tuesday, The Sun w
print on a Thursday. If a
FOR THE CHILDREN legal holiday falls on a
Saturday, the Weekender
edition will print on a
Friday.
Lessons from POSTMASTER: Send cha
of address to: The Edmon
Sun, P.O. Box 2470, Edmo
OK 73083. Periodicals
postage is paid at the U.S
Winston Churchill Post Office in Edmond,
Okla.
Subscription rates
Home Delivery
EZ-Pay only…$5.99 per mo
BY JOE DORMAN men and women to decide to take that first Monthly Rate…………...$
OICA CEO step. Quarterly Rate ………$2
While it might be an election year and some 6-Month Rate ………$3
O
ne of my favorite eras of history to of these acts might not win over some voters Annual Rate …………$6
study is the period of World War II. With or donors, the moral obligation to fix the many Prices included hard copy delivery every Tues/Sat a
electronic access 5-days a week Tue-Sat.
what Great Britain experienced as a wrongs with our state should take a priority.
Single copies
nation, I have become a fan of Winston Long term thinking must also come into play Week day………………...
Churchill. I am fascinated with the role of his to avoid short-term ideas that sound good, but Saturday………………...$1
leadership during that time and by some of his could cause long-term harm.
inspirational quotes. Many of them apply to “Personally I’m always ready to learn, The Sun publishes a pai
daily digital edition
what we see today in Oklahoma. although I do not always like being taught.” Wednesday and Saturda
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and We need everyday citizens as advocates who To subscribe, go to
speak. It’s also what it takes to sit down and are willing to step up and speak out on behalf www.edmondsun.com a
listen.” of those who do not have a voice. OICA has click on E-edition subscr
Our state legislators have two options: take stepped up to fill a void for providing two ways tion.
the opportunity to present ideas which could for citizens to engage through two upcoming Entire contents copyright
move our state forward, or choose to let avenues. Reproduction without pe
Oklahoma continue down the path of dismal Our first initiative will provide information mission is prohibited.
rankings. We have had many Oklahomans to educators through our “Chalk the Vote” net- Archives, photo reprints a
back issues available.
speak up with suggestions for fixing our prob- work. We are seeking someone working in
lems. I hope lawmakers will take time to listen each school building across the state to serve Member
to these and other suggestions and move as a “block captain” to receive information Oklahoma Press Association
Oklahoma forward with solutions to improve and share with colleagues. Educators should Southern Newspaper Publishers A
our state. sign up at http://oica.org/events/chalk-up- National Newspaper Associatio
U.S. Suburban Press Inc.
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” the-vote/ to receive updates.
The fact that many of our elected officials OICA also is partnering with several organi- We welcome letters to
have admitted some measures passed into law zations to provide an advocacy training. This the editor. Please limit
have not worked speaks volumes to the need will occur on Monday, Feb. 5, at a cost of $20. submissions to 350 words
Letters to the Editor are
to pass new initiatives which will correct and We will teach tips on how to effectively contact accepted at the The
undo these mistakes. Finger-pointing and par- and interact with lawmakers. We also will Edmond Sun virtually any
tisan bickering must stop if we are to experi- watch a broadcast of Gov. Fallin’s final State of subjectl however, certain
ence better opportunities. Elected officials the State address, followed by a panel discus- rules apply. The Sun will
have an obligation by their oath of office to sion regarding what to expect from it. Sign up accept letters either for o
against a political candid
find responsible solutions and restore public at http://oica.org/events/women-and-chil- or issue up to the last sev
trust, but it is also our responsibility as voters dren-first-advocacy-training/ to reserve your days before an election.
to hold them accountable. spot! Letter wrters are asked to
“To build may have to be the slow and labo- Just like Churchill, we will persevere. I leave discuss issues and not ma
personal attacks. Letters
rious task of years. To destroy can be the you with this final quote. must be signed and a ph
thoughtless act of a single day.” “Never give in, never give in, never, never, number provided for
These answers will take time and will not be never, never — in nothing, great or small, large verifiaction purposes, and
popular with many. It will not be an immedi- or petty — never give in except to convictions the Sun retains the rights
ate process, but it must take enough of these of honor and good sense.” edit letters for carity, and
refuse letters which may
considered libelous.
Columnists’ opinion
are their own and do n
OKC Women’s March reflect the views of Th
Edmond Sun.
Correction policy
planned for Saturday As a matter of policy, The
Edmond Sun will publish
corrections or clarificatio
of errors in fact that have
been printed in the
newspaper. The correctio
will be made as soon as
possible after the error h
been brought to the
The year was 2017, Jan. 20. Nearly 12,000 women and their allies stood in the January wind attention of the
on the plaza of the Oklahoma State Capitol to raise their voices in resistance to the misogyny, newspaper’s news editor.
racism, bigotry, anti-science, anti-environment, anti-people statements and actions that had
permeated the presidential election. Members of The Edmo
Sun’s Editorial Board a
A year later those women are still concerned, still angry, still searching for an alternative to Sun General Manager La
the anti-democratic, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, anti-people of color, anti- Moler, Sun Editor Mark
working- and middle-class American rhetoric that constitutes the current body politic. They do Codner and community
not understand the tolerance for attacks on our democracy by a hostile foreign power. And members Keith Weber, Ly
they will show up at the Oklahoma State Capitol again, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 20, to Lee and Mark Nash.
tell the world as much.
“We are not coming to the Capitol in opposition to a person or a political party,” T. Sheri
Dickerson, march organizer, stated. “We are coming to the capitol to say no to the horrific,
harmful, anti-democratic filth that spews around us every day. We are women in a state that
prides itself on decency and community.
“We want to bring back that community, that decency, that Oklahoma Standard. We do not
understand why our so-called leaders have bankrupted our education system, destroyed our
public safety net, attempted to marginalize our sisters and brothers, laid waste to our environ-
ment. And we’re ready to do something about it — with our voices. With our ballots. With every TODAY’S VERS
fiber of our being.” A SELECTION
A list of speakers that includes Dickerson and representatives of community organizations
ranging from educators to health care providers to civil and human rights organizations, ‘In this is love: no
artists, and ordinary people from across central Oklahoma will take the stage to offer partici-
pants multiple opportunities to take action. that we loved God, b
“We’re asking our fellow Oklahomans to come to the Capitol on Jan. 20. It’s the Women’s
March but people of other genders are very welcome and encouraged,” Dickerson said. “Our that He loved us an
theme is ‘WE ROAR, WE SOAR: #RSVP.’ R is for Resist; S is for Show Up; V is for Vote; and P is
for Persist.” sent His Son to be th
The event starts at 11 a.m. The march steps off at 11:20 a.m. It will proceed south in the west
lanes of Lincoln Blvd. to NE 17th Street, then loop around and return to the Capitol Plaza via propitiation for our si
the east lanes of Lincoln. Speakers and entertainers will take the stage on the south Capitol
steps. 1 John 4:10
Powered by TECNAVIA