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This morning's House vote on Gross Production Tax had a few curious vote flippers. The measure was deemed by the Majority Floor Leader to "not be a revenue increase bill" (even though it clearly was written for just that reason). At any rate, the Republican caucus members were told that a simple majority vote would send the measure to the Senate, and then the Governor.
The bill had 54 supporters, but with about 30 seconds before the close of the roll, Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R-Okmulgee) switched from supportive to opposing. Then, with less than 10 seconds left, Fetgatter switched back to supportive. Fetgatter wasn't the only one with fingers on the buttons in the last seconds. Dale Derby (R-Owasso) switched from supportive to opposing. So did Lewis Moore (R-OKC). Moore is in his 5th term, but the other two are freshmen. Constituents can ask these Representatives for an explanation of their vote-switching.
Members of OKPAC may likely include floor votes like this to compile a Conservative Index rating. The Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper has published this index for well over 30 years. |
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The figure on the left shows the final votes on the House floor.
The image below shows what the vote looked like, prior to the final seconds. This is not a case where the representatives had rushed in the room and accidentally pressed a wrong button, then immediately correct themselves. 
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from Sooner Politics.org - Editorial http://www.soonerpolitics.org/editorial/last-second-vote-switching-at-the-capitol
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