The Heartland Voices, a community choir from the Midwest City-Del City area, performs in the rotunda during a special Saturday session of the House of Representatives.
National Conference on State Legislatures Calls Session First in Nation
Last week's Saturday session held by the Oklahoma House of Representatives has attracted national attention, and has been billed as likely the first of its kind.
The National Conference of State Legislatures has noted on its blog, "The Thicket at State Legislatures," that the Saturday session is likely the first in the nation, and could serve as a model for similar events around the country.
"We'll add this to our list of ideas for what legislators can do to improve public understanding of their work," writes NCSL program director of state services Jan Goehring. "At NCSL we're not aware of any other legislatures that have scheduled a Saturday session for the convenience of the public."
Goehring noted that most Saturday session for other legislatures across the country come at the end when the clock is ticking and lawmakers haven't finished their work.
By contrast, the Oklahoma House event was held as a way to reach out to working families and improve civic education among children.
"We felt this event was a great opportunity for families to have the opportunity to come to the State Capitol to see the House in session outside regularly scheduled meeting times," said Speaker Cargill (R-Harrah). "Often families don't have the chance to come to the State Capitol during the work week."
98 year old Leora Henderson and her daughter Joan Woolley attend a Saturday session of the House of Representatives.
The Saturday session on April 21 attracted a crowd of about 150 people - with the day highlighted by a singing choir, a brief power outage and a visit from a citizen only six months younger than the state. Lawmakers considered a dozen substantive pieces of legislation.
The session continued despite a brief half-hour power outage at an OG&E substation that left the entire state Capitol without electricity. Lawmakers were left without microphones during the power outage, and votes were taken by a voice roll call.
Speaker Cargill said the power outage was a great reminder of the state's Centennial - an example of how far the state had come since the horse-and-buggy era.
"If lawmakers 100 years ago could conduct the legislative session without laptops, microphones and electronic voting machines we certainly can too," said Cargill. "It was a nice reminder of the progress we've made as a state."
Labels: OK House, Spkr. Cargill
Posted at 4/25/2007 03:16:00 PM
The Heartland Voices, a community choir from the Midwest City-Del City area, performs in the rotunda during a special Saturday session of the House of Representatives.
National Conference on State Legislatures Calls Session First in Nation
Last week's Saturday session held by the Oklahoma House of Representatives has attracted national attention, and has been billed as likely the first of its kind.
The National Conference of State Legislatures has noted on its blog, "The Thicket at State Legislatures," that the Saturday session is likely the first in the nation, and could serve as a model for similar events around the country.
"We'll add this to our list of ideas for what legislators can do to improve public understanding of their work," writes NCSL program director of state services Jan Goehring. "At NCSL we're not aware of any other legislatures that have scheduled a Saturday session for the convenience of the public."
Goehring noted that most Saturday session for other legislatures across the country come at the end when the clock is ticking and lawmakers haven't finished their work.
By contrast, the Oklahoma House event was held as a way to reach out to working families and improve civic education among children.
"We felt this event was a great opportunity for families to have the opportunity to come to the State Capitol to see the House in session outside regularly scheduled meeting times," said Speaker Cargill (R-Harrah). "Often families don't have the chance to come to the State Capitol during the work week."
98 year old Leora Henderson and her daughter Joan Woolley attend a Saturday session of the House of Representatives.
The Saturday session on April 21 attracted a crowd of about 150 people - with the day highlighted by a singing choir, a brief power outage and a visit from a citizen only six months younger than the state. Lawmakers considered a dozen substantive pieces of legislation.
The session continued despite a brief half-hour power outage at an OG&E substation that left the entire state Capitol without electricity. Lawmakers were left without microphones during the power outage, and votes were taken by a voice roll call.
Speaker Cargill said the power outage was a great reminder of the state's Centennial - an example of how far the state had come since the horse-and-buggy era.
"If lawmakers 100 years ago could conduct the legislative session without laptops, microphones and electronic voting machines we certainly can too," said Cargill. "It was a nice reminder of the progress we've made as a state."
