Speaker Jeff Hickman
House Speaker Jeff Hickman says the eviction of Auditor & Inspector Gary Jones from the Capitol is appropriate and Jones’ criticism is wrong.
“Since the inception of the Capitol restoration project and the creation of the oversight committee, the House of Representatives has been focused on helping create a master plan for our Capitol Building which will enhance the experience for public visitors, school children and the everyday users of this magnificent building,” Hickman said.
“This past session, the House and Senate developed SB 1583 which defines legislative office and meeting space within the Capitol. Governor Fallin signed the bill into law. All remaining space in the building, including office space currently occupied by a small portion of the State Auditor’s staff, was placed under the control of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. The current space occupied by the State Auditor is not defined in SB 1583 as legislative space and any reference to the contrary is misleading and inaccurate.
I had a much higher opinion of Speaker Hickman until this episode occurred.
Speaker Hickman did not announce this grand plan during debate, so the use of “sleight of hand” legislative trickery is obvious. The media needs to start reading the bills and discerning what is in the legislation, rather than publishing press releases. There was no debate on this issue, these tactics smack of iron curtain dealings in a totalitarian state. WHERE IS DEMOCRACY and free debate, Mr. Speaker?