Rep. Scott objects, forces full reading of the first bill the House considers…
It seems all is not well in the House, where yesterday Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, issued a statement apologizing to every member of the House for her earlier disparaging comments about other female House members, but today she objected to a standard motion to waive full reading of a bill, forcing the clerk of the House to read HB 1 in full before it could be taken up.
Scott told the Associated Press that her objection was part of her efforts to bring more transparency to government, and pointed to a new statement she’s posted on her Facebook page. Here’s the statement:
It is obvious to me that my apology will never be good enough for the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. His statements to the media define exactly how HE defines an apology. Is this a personal issue against me? Does he want to keep the headlines going?
I have received thousands of emails, messages and voice mails of support. GOP central committees around the state are starting to pass resolutions to support my return to committees. The voice of the people will be ignored. Are there bills slipping through that I will not be able to question the agencies on? You can view over 100 agency bills already proposed by state agencies and lobbyists at www.growingfreedomidaho.com
The statement makes no reference to objecting to waiving full reading of bills, a tactic generally used only as a form of protest designed to gum up the works of the Legislature and prevent it from functioning – typically late in the session by the minority party, when its members are expressing frustration with the majority. Some bills can stretch for as many as 100 pages or more.
HB 1 was only two pages long, so it didn’t take more than a few minutes to read. “I just wanted to hear it,” Scott told Eye on Boise. Asked if she’ll be objecting to waiving the full reading of other bills, Scott said, “Just ones that I really want to hear, but I don’t have any plans. … I just wanted to hear the actual language of that bill. It’s a very important bill, a constitutional change.”
Asked if she was trying to gum up the works of the Legislature, Scott said, “No, that is not my intent at all. Transparency is my intent.”
