Cockroft: No Floor Vote On Fourkiller Or Kirby Expected

  In a conversation with chairman Josh Cockroft, yesterday; we learned that the substantive recommendations were received by Speaker McCall. With the Ierrevocable resignation of Dan Kirby, there remains no further requirement of a vote of the chamber in order for the Speaker to impliment the recommendations. 

  There was no sign of Dan Kirby. He may have completely vacated the building. If that remains the status for the next 19 days, then we may never hear his name spoken on the house floor. There are already at least two Republicans in HD 75 who may be declaring their candidacy within days. Nothing prevents the governor from calling for a new special election to fill the vacated seat.

  Rep. Cockroft was confident that his special committee's work had sufficiently answered the public's questions and reflected the deliberative body's concerns for upholding honorable standards. We talked with Democrat Rep. David Perryman later in the morning and he did not add any further comment on the investigation.  The halls of the "construction zone" capitol were filled with talk on various session initiatives, especially the massive tax expansion proposals of the governor.

  In reflection, it seems quite wise that the Cockroft Committee completed their work prior to the first day of regular session. With all the predictable budget drama, and the hallways packed with various interest groups, lobby groups, school tours, pages, and standing committees; holding sensitive and closed-door hearings during the quiet days of January were well chosen.
  The leadership team of McCall's is younger and more energetic than most. The personalities in leadership are vastly more engaging and determined to find consensus, as opposed to many past decades. Democrats generally hold out hope that McCall will seek solutions that garner vast bipartisan majorities, rather than straight party-line divisions.