State Senate takes deep breath after week of turmoil

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Democrat-controlled Oklahoma Senate is taking a deep breath after several days of turmoil that led to an emotional change of leadership. <br/><br/>Veteran Sen. Cal Hobson, D-Lexington,

Saturday, March 26th 2005, 4:01 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Democrat-controlled Oklahoma Senate is taking a deep breath after several days of turmoil that led to an emotional change of leadership.

Veteran Sen. Cal Hobson, D-Lexington, resigned Wednesday as president pro tem and Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, was installed as the No. 1 Senate leader.

The whole process took less than 30 minutes, then the Senate adjourned for a long Easter weekend.

Although it was a quick changeover, it could be weeks before the impact of the switch can be fully determined.

As far as Republicans are concerned, the change means little to their chances of passing such key issues as workers compensation and lawsuit reform

Morgan, an attorney, says he will work on those issues, but does not list them as his top priorities. Instead, he said he would concentrate first on writing a budget.

Democrats in the Senate hold a 26-22 majority over Republicans, who have long accused Democratic leaders of sidetracking ``meaningful'' workers compensation and lawsuit reform.

Nothing has really changed with the switch in leadership, says Senate Minority Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Todd Hiett, R-Kellyville, who leads the first House GOP majority in eight decades.

``While Sen. Morgan has not been an advocate for strong workers' compensation and lawsuit reform, it's my hope that he recognizes the importance of these issues in creating more job opportunities and higher wages for Oklahomans,'' said Hiett, who has made work comp reform his No. 1 priority.

Morgan said work comp and lawsuit reform are ``political issues'' that will be difficult to enact.

``So many people interested in those issues have agendas that have nothing to do with the welfare of Oklahoma. It has to do with political advantage,'' said Morgan, in an interview after being chosen to replace Hobson.

Hobson stepped down after having what he characterized as a frank discussion with his colleagues over his alcohol addiction.

In listing the budget as his top priority, Morgan said:

``It is really a reflection of our values. That's why I think it is so important that we fund education first and completely; that we take care of any health care problems we have and that we provide opportunity for economic development, for jobs.

``These other political footballs are certainly important and we're going to try to deal with them. But as long as the primary motivation is political, it's going to be hard for us to come together.''

The 50-year-old Morgan also said he does not expect the Senate, as it operates as an institution, to change significantly. He also denies the Senate's work has been impeded by the internal leadership struggle.

Events leading up to the change may have been distracting, but they did not hamper the flow of legislation through the process, he said.

``You never want to have a situation, an ordeal like we've just gone through, but if you're going to have one, the timing on it probably couldn't have been better,'' Morgan said.

He said the Senate met its deadline of passing Senate bills on to the House and the change in leaders took place during a lull in committee activity.

``It was reported that the governor's tort reform bill was not brought to the floor because of some problem in leadership. That simply was not the case,'' he said.

Morgan said all Republicans opposed the plan drafted by Democratic Gov. Brad Henry, as did some Democratic senators.

``As you know, that's not an issue that's a high priority for a lot of (Senate) Democrats,'' he added.

Other than tort reform, Morgan said hundreds of measures were kept on track in the Senate, including the governor's work comp bill.

He gave Senate Majority Leader Ted Fisher the credit for that, saying the Sapulpa Democrat ``is better in a crisis than anyone I know.''