House Ethics Committee formed

OKLAHOMA CITY – House Speaker Kris Steele on Tuesday formed a standing House Ethics Committee that will develop ethics standards for House members and evaluate questions of ethics in legislative business.

Speaker Kris Steele

“Forming this committee is a clear signal that the House of Representatives is serious about maintaining its obligation to preserving public confidence in government,” said Steele, R-Shawnee. “Thoughtful discussion and action on ethics issues is always worthwhile for those of us in government. This committee allows us to have those discussions in a consistent manner under established procedures that are fair to all.”

Formation of the House Ethics Committee was recommended in September by the House Special Investigative Committee. Upon the conclusion of its work, the House Special Investigative Committee stated in its final report that creating a permanent House Ethics Committee would “instill confidence that the House of Representatives will deal with ethics complaints in an expeditious, fair and consistent manner,” as is done in many other state legislative chambers.

Both chambers of Congress and 39 states have some form of a legislative ethics committee that deals with questions of ethics and oversees conduct of members in a particular legislative chamber. These committees differ from entities such as the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, which is comprised of appointed commissioners and professional staff who formulate and oversee compliance of ethics rules for campaigns, lobbying and elected officials. Like its counterparts in other states, the House Ethics Committee will be comprised of House members and will focus solely on ethical issues pertaining to legislative business conducted in the House.

“Many other states and Congress have committees just like this. If other states can do this well, so can Oklahoma,” Steele said. “Given the House’s constitutional obligation to oversee the conduct of its members, this committee is a way to further show our commitment to upholding our state constitution and to ethical behavior.”

Rep. Gary Banz
R-Midwest City

Steele named Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, as chairman of the House Ethics Committee. Banz also served on the House Special Investigative Committee.

“Expressing differences of opinion on public policy questions is the norm in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. However, it cannot be the norm when it comes to ethics questions concerning a House member,” Banz said. “Voters have every right to expect their public servants to be honest and display the highest level of integrity. When the ethical behavior of any member is called into question, the House must move decisively to address the issue. Creating a standard by which to judge potential breaches of the public trust simply carries out the mandates of the Oklahoma Constitution and House Rules. I support the task and mission that has been given to the new Ethics Committee and pledge to ensure our work is done in an effective and timely manner.”

Rep. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, was named vice-chairman of the House Ethics Committee.

“House members already hold ethics in the highest regard and practice it on a daily basis in the course of our duties. Unethical behavior is extremely rare, but should questions of ethics arise in the future, we will be fully prepared to address them through established procedures that will evaluate the facts fairly and evenly so appropriate responses can be determined,” Shumate said. “I applaud the formation of this bipartisan committee and will do everything in my power to see that it lives up to its expectations.”

Also supporting the formation of the House Ethics Committee are Reps. Fred Jordan and Ben Sherrer, the chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the House Special Investigative Committee.

“The investigative committee found during its work that the House has a need for a higher level of procedural certainty when evaluating ethical questions pertaining to its members. We recommended a standing ethics committee as a way to do that and I am pleased our speaker has followed that recommendation,” said Jordan, R-Jenks.

“I applaud Speaker Steele for following through on the recommendation to form this committee. It’s the right thing to do – plain and simple. I’m pleased it will be bipartisan and expect its existence will be a very positive addition to the public service we perform in the House of Representatives,” said Sherrer, D-Chouteau.

The House Ethics Committee will be an eight-member, bipartisan committee comprised of four Republicans and four Democrats. Committee members are:

Speaker Steele Names Investigatory Committee Members

Speaker Kris Steele

House Speaker Kris Steele today announced the eight members of the special bipartisan committee that will investigate the allegations that led to state Rep. Randy Terrill being charged with felony bribery.

“The lawmakers who have agreed to serve on the committee are well-respected members of this body with the ability to undertake a task of this significance,” said Steele, R-Shawnee. “I am confident they will conduct a thorough review that complies with the rule of law, respects the rights of the accused, and fulfills our duty to the public, and then reach an appropriate conclusion based only on the facts of the case.”

The committee’s makeup is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

State Rep. Fred Jordan, R-Jenks, will chair the committee. Jordan is a former Marine Corps Judge Advocate and attorney who chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

State Rep. Ben Sherrer, D-Pryor and an attorney, will serve as vice-chair.

The other six members of the committee are:

• State Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City
• State Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove
• State Rep. Steve Kouplen, D-Beggs
• State Rep. Jeannie McDaniel, D-Tulsa
• State Rep. Harold Wright, R-Weatherford
•State Rep. Purcy Walker, D-Elk City

The committee met briefly Monday morning to adopt the rules that will govern the investigatory process. The group is charged with gathering evidence and ultimately making a recommendation to the full House if the Committee finds sufficient evidence exists that the legislator in question “has engaged in conduct which impairs the ability of the member to perform the duties of his or her office, or substantially impairs public confidence in the Legislature.”

Under the rules adopted, the committee members cannot discuss the investigation while it is ongoing to protect the member under investigation and all witnesses, as well as to protect the integrity of the process.

However, all the group’s findings and recommendation will be released to the public.

The rules adopted call for a multi-part process.

In the first phase, the committee or its counsel will conduct an investigation and gather evidence. Upon completion of the gathering process, all information will be provided to members of the committee.

At that point, committee members will determine if the evidence is sufficient to warrant additional proceedings. If so, a written report outlining the evidence will then be provided to the member under investigation, who will then have 14 days to respond in writing and to request an opportunity to present additional evidence.

At the conclusion of that process, the committee will vote on whether or not to recommend disciplinary action to the full body of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Throughout the process, the committee will have subpoena power to compel witness testimony and production of documentary evidence.

“The committee process has been designed to maintain decorum and gather information in a forthright and orderly fashion,” Jordan said. “While this committee is not conducting a criminal investigation, the decisions reached could still have lifelong implications for one of our colleagues, and this task will be treated with the seriousness a decision of that magnitude deserves.”

Upon completion of its work, the committee will submit a report of its findings to the House, which will be filed in the chief clerk’s office. The report will be made available to the public.

“The public has a right to know how a decision was reached and why, and the report will provide those answers at the appropriate time,” Jordan said.

The final decision would then be left up to the full membership of the Oklahoma House of Representatives during a floor session.

Rep. Nelson named by Speaker-elect Steele to Working Group to Reform House Rules

Reform of conference committee process to increase transparency

OKLAHOMA CITY – House Speaker-elect Kris Steele today announced the creation of a working group to consider procedural reforms that will make the legislative process more transparent.

“While we have made tremendous strides towards increased transparency in recent years, I believe we can build on those successes and give citizens greater access to the legislative process,” said Steele, R-Shawnee. “I believe increased public scrutiny and oversight is vital to a healthy democracy, and technological advances now allow us to be more user-friendly than ever. I am serious about bold reform and am confident the members of the working group will develop proposals that significantly change the way things are done at the Oklahoma Capitol.”

Among other things, the working group will consider rule changes that open the conference committee process to allow actual meetings and public votes on conference committee reports. In addition, the group will consider reforms that could end the practice of voting on “shell” appropriation bills that contain no actual budget numbers.

The members of the working group are as follows:

State Rep. Jeff Hickman, R-Dacoma

State Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City

State Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City

State Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City

State Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa

The committee will also consider putting in place a hard 24-hour rule that requires a House conference committee report to be filed and posted online for a full day before it can be considered on the House floor. Currently, there is no 24-hour rule during the final two days of session.

As part of that proposal, conference committee reports would also be posted online for member and public review with a link to previous versions of the bill available so changes can be more easily spotted.