It's an ugly business
Testimony in the corruption trial for the former head of the Oklahoma Senate shed some light on the way business gets done at the Capitol. Simply put: It can be smarmy. Lobbyist Dave Herbert testified that he agreed to look the other way during the 2007 session when then-Sen. Mike Morgan placed into a bill language that Herbert otherwise would have opposed on behalf of his clients. “The discussion we had was: ‘When are you going to run it? And where are you going to hide it?’” Herbert said. The answers: in the closing days of the session, tucked into a bill. Herbert’s reference to “hiding” the language, and Morgan’s alleged interest in taking advantage of the hectic final days, should come as no surprise — this has long been standard operating procedure at NE 23 and Lincoln. Thank goodness efforts have been made in recent years to curb the practice. The less of those last-minute shenanigans, the better.
