Majority Floor Leader, Jon Echols, decided to call attention to the monumental event, and 'dog-whistle' to his leadership team, that it's okay to send in the wolves & initiate not only Rep. Moore, but also by proxy, the entire freshman class.
They were in the preliminary questions of floor consideration when a litany of irrelevant questions, badgering about properly using the microphone, and other nonsense; |
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Rep. Anthony Moore
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when sophomore Democrat Denise Brewer of Tulsa (who had quickly developed a terrible reputation for asking dumb questions in floor proceedings) asked a very uncharacteristic enlightened questions (to the marvel of many of her non-fans).
Echols and others then impugned the motivation of Moore, suggesting he's trying to convert our society over to the full use of the Roman numeral system. Rep. Marcus McIntire even suggested that since Moore is a lawyer, no one should blindly trust his actions. ("So you're saying that we should just trust you?") The Democrats took advantage of the hazing to rally to Moore's aid, and suggest that "if the bill is so good, why haven't the leaders of the Republican-controlled legislature already fixed the code?" Fortunately for Moore, the entire chamber declined to exercise their privilege of debate, so the floor vote was called for. |
That's when nearly all the 101 member legislative body (or at least those present on this cold & icy day) voted 'NO' on his bill. Well, at least they started out with a 'No' vote, until the presiding officer of the day (Rep. Ryan Martinez) signaled that the roll is about to close. Within a few seconds, all 59 'No' votes of the 86 present & voting lawmakers switched their electronic switches to 'Yes', and the bill passed.
The entire body roared to laughter and even a standing applause. The presiding officer added that an important phone call is awaiting Moore, at the Majority Floor Leader's office (across the side hall).
But Rep. Kyle Hilbert had one last procedural prank, and he announced to the chair that "I serve notice that at some future date I may wish to reconsider the vote whereby HB2228 passed.".
That final dig brought even more cheers and laughter.
Rep. Mark Lepak observed that this is an old tradition which has not been practiced in the current leadership. For whatever reasons, Echols did a masterful job of picking the best bill & author to pull this hazing prank upon. Rep. Moore showed great poise and confidence, and scored a few witty comebacks of his own.
The process was not without some very positive purposes. The members have had a difficult couple of weeks, and travel stress just adds to that exhaustion. It was a great way to boost morale and share a good-natured laugh.
But it was also a teaching moment, especially when leaders exhibited what kind of questions and conduct are in poor taste. Echols and others did teach the younger lawmakers about what kind of questions are inappropriate and unproductive.
The entire body roared to laughter and even a standing applause. The presiding officer added that an important phone call is awaiting Moore, at the Majority Floor Leader's office (across the side hall).
But Rep. Kyle Hilbert had one last procedural prank, and he announced to the chair that "I serve notice that at some future date I may wish to reconsider the vote whereby HB2228 passed.".
That final dig brought even more cheers and laughter.
Rep. Mark Lepak observed that this is an old tradition which has not been practiced in the current leadership. For whatever reasons, Echols did a masterful job of picking the best bill & author to pull this hazing prank upon. Rep. Moore showed great poise and confidence, and scored a few witty comebacks of his own.
The process was not without some very positive purposes. The members have had a difficult couple of weeks, and travel stress just adds to that exhaustion. It was a great way to boost morale and share a good-natured laugh.
But it was also a teaching moment, especially when leaders exhibited what kind of questions and conduct are in poor taste. Echols and others did teach the younger lawmakers about what kind of questions are inappropriate and unproductive.
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Here's some of Rep. Moore's social media collection of pix & sentiments..
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The votes looked dire for Freshman Anthony Moore's first floor bill.
But a few seconds later, the presiding officer signaled a warning that the roll is about to close. that's when all members, from both parties, unanimously passed the bill.
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