Transparency in the old days, or, what goes around comes around.

In 1960, Oklahoma Goverment, led by newly elected Governor J. Howard Edmondson, decided to take on four major issues, Repeal of Prohibition, the state employee Merit System, Central Purchasing and County Commissioner Reform. At that time, the Governor appointed the Speaker of the House and in the case of the issues listed above, had substantial control of the Floor Leaders and those who would author major legislation.

The Oklahoma Senate, properly tagged "The Old Guard," was no fan of Edmondson nor any of his programs. Nevertheless all of the issues except County Commissioner Reform were enacted into law. That Session dragged on into the middle of July, 1960.

What was significant about those times was the true transparancey of state government - through the use of the committee system, called the Committee of the Whole" meaning a committee of all of the members of the House or Senate.

All of these major issues were considered by the Committee of the Whole. In additon, there were two large conference tables at the front of the Chambers, occupied by members of the press, who could roam freely among the members, asking questions and generally taking the pulse of the lawmakers.

Here is how it worked. When a particular bill was up for hearing that needed input from all the members, the Floor Leader would move that the House "go in" to the Commmittee of the Whole. Upon approval, and without bodily movement, the House was now in a Committee mode, with all the rules appropriate to committee meetings, while the public watched as amendments were debated, passed or killed, but the votes were not recorded. Once the leaders decided that they had a finished product, the Committee actions were approved and the Floor Leader would move that the members "go back to the House," meaning that House Rules then applied for Floor Action.

You can't get much more transparent than that.

Although Edmondson was successfull, he alienated many of the House Democrat leaders and by the next session of the Legislature, J.D. McCarty was elected Speaker and the Rules began to change. The House no longer has it its Rules, provisons for a Committee of the Whole. The Senate however, still does. They retained this in order to prevent the Lieutenant Governor, who by the Constitution is to preside over the Senate, from doing so during deliberations. So now, if the Lieutenant Governor shows up on the Senate Floor with the idea of presiding, the Floor Leader simply moves that the Senate convene as the Committee of the Whole, until the peksy number two leaves the fourth floor