Commentary: Speaker facing easier task in organizing House

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 20, 2006 by William O. Pitts

Organizing the Oklahoma House of Representatives where Republicans have a 56-45 majority is a lot simpler for House Speaker Elect Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, than in the state Senate. Previous president pro tempore Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, and Republican leader Sen. Glenn Coffee, Oklahoma City, are faced with a 24-24 split of Democrats and Republicans.

The House Republican majority - regardless of the outcome of a recount in one district where the Democrat won by two votes - still is impressive. Republicans essentially hung on to most of their gains from two years ago when they won control with a 57-45 margin in a presidential election year.

Cargill has begun organizing the House majority leadership structure while the two Senate leaders are trying to find a common ground.

One problem Cargill will not face this time that confronted Todd Hiett, Kellyville, when he was speaker of the House is the wholesale overhaul of House staff, which occurred two years ago when Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 80 years. Hiett replaced most of the staff that had been in place for years under Democrat leadership in spite of the Democrats' whining and media criticism.

Besides Cargill, there will be an entirely new leadership team in the House. The new Republican caucus sworn in last week has chosen Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Goodwell, to be the speaker pro tempore, replacing Rep. Susan Winchester, R-Chickasha, who was an unsuccessful candidate to be the first woman speaker.

Rep. John Wright, R-Broken Arrow, was chosen to be the caucus chairman. He will replace Rep. Thad Balkman, R-Norman, who was narrowly defeated for re-election by former Rep. Wallace Collins, D- Norman.

Cargill also named new people for other leadership posts. He chose Rep. Gregg Piatt, R-Ardmore, as his majority floor leader and Rep. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, for the majority whip position. Geographically the new team covers a broad spectrum of the state, and according to the new speaker is designed to take a more bipartisan approach.

He kept Rep. Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, as chairman of the powerful Appropriations and Budget Committee, which is responsible for writing the state budget in conjunction a similar Senate committee.

A fiscal conservative, Benge did an excellent job as chairman the past two years and gained a lot of valuable experience.

For any new speaker there always is the question of selecting committee chairs. Their choice sometimes leads to hard feelings. As of last Thursday all of these posts are vacant and are coveted by many members for several reasons. They help them raise campaign funds from those whose interests are affected by the particular committee.

Committee chairs have a large say in deciding the flow of the legislation assigned to them. Holding a committee chair or even vice- chair usually is impressive to the voters in the legislator's district.

In the previous two sessions under Hiett, out of 25 standing committees, 23 were chaired by Republicans. Democrats chaired two and were vice chairs on seven.

On several major committees, new chairs will have to be named because the previous holders are no longer available. These include the Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for handling legal legislation including lawsuit reform.

In the same category are the committees on banks and banking, common education, and revenue and taxation. Rep. Ken Miller, R- Edmond, an economics professor, is reported to want to head this tax committee.

Certainly there will be changes in some committees, but others may continue with the previous chair holders.

How the House majority leadership structure is fleshed out will be important. Unless Senate Democrat and Republican leaders can work out the even split between the two parties, the House may play a bigger role next year than it has in the two previous years.

There is talk of bipartisanship by Cargill and Democrat minority leader Danny Morgan, Prague, but that is easier said in November than done between February and May.

William O. Pitts, the former president and chief executive of Oklahoma Business News, was the president and chief lobbyist for the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association's Oklahoma Division. You may reach him by phone at(405) 278-2880 or by e-mail, bill.pitts@journalrecord.com.