THE ISSUE: The Next Speaker of the House
OUR STANCE: State Rep. Kris Steele will serve us and the state welld
Barring any unforeseen hiccups, or the Republicans losing control of the House of Representatives, it appears State Rep. Kris Steele will be the next House Speaker.
Republicans have scheduled a caucus meeting for Oct. 19, at which time Steele is expected to be chosen Speaker Designate.
Although he was the leading candidate to succeed current House Speaker Chris Benge, his election was not assured until this past week when Rep. Ken Miller threw his support behind Steele.
Steele served as Speaker Pro Tempore this past session, but Miller, a Republican from Edmond, was challenging Steele for the Speaker’s post.
Miller is chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and has experience in writing the state budget.
With Miller throwing his support behind the Shawnee representative, it’s a major step toward sealing the election for Steele.
Steele, whose district encompasses primarily all of Shawnee and areas immediately adjacent to the city, is in the middle of his fifth term. Benge, from the Tulsa area, is in the midst of his final term in the House and will give up the seat and the Speaker’s post officially following the November 2010 elections.
We are proud of Steele and his ascent to leadership positions which apparently will carry him to the top as Speaker. Although he is basically assured of getting the nod of his GOP colleagues who control the House today, he still must stand for re-election to his House seat in 2010.
As he has mentioned previously, it’s not a 100 percent done deal until he gets by the Oct. 19 caucus vote and next year’s election.
Steele obviously has the overwhelming support of his own party, and he has worked well with the other side of the aisle during his tenure in the House. He’s gotten along well with our hometown Gov. Brad Henry, and State Sen. Charlie Laster.
We can only imagine what it would be like if Democrats were in control of the Senate with Laster in the top post there, and Steele about to become Speaker.
Unfortunately, Laster isn’t, and about the time Steele takes the top House post the governor will be leaving office.
Steele has been a strong proponent for improving health care in our state, the need to overhaul and revamp the Department of Human Services because of the mind-boggling bureaucracy and all the problems with that massive agency and for cutting taxes to provide a more conducive climate for business.
He will be sensible in his approach to less government, not more, will continue to work well with Democrats and help forge alliances on both sides of the aisle.
He’ll work well with the Senate leadership, the governor’s office, and just as important, continue to work for and serve as a voice for his local constituency.
