By Jason Murphey

Nearly 20 years ago, the Oklahoma State Treasurer commissioned a special report. It uncovered significant inefficiencies in a crucial aspect of Oklahoma policy: how the state manages its spending.

There’s no better barometer for measuring the quality of our elected officials than efficiency or lack thereof of money management policies.

The report uncovered numerous deficiencies within the state’s purchasing system, including the large number of purchases exempt from the purchasing act and the persistent maverick spending by state employees. I believe the report was subsequently buried by the bureaucracy until one day it was finally exposed by a brave whistleblower who brought it to the attention of House leadership.

Our House Speaker acted by commissioning a special investigation called the Government Modernization Study. This report laid the groundwork for an ongoing government modernization movement that would shape the efficiency and reform efforts of the then ascendant first generation of majority Republican legislators as we were set to take control of both chambers of The Legislature for the first time in state history. Our government modernization effort would span the terms of four House Speakers and became a defining characteristic of our chamber and of Mary Fallin’s first term as governor.

Our intent in this regard was pure, unaffected by the monied special interests, and our initiatives frequently succeeded in the legislature despite opposition from the minority party and state bureaucracies. In every way, we were committed to fulfilling the Republican pledge to manage Oklahoma’s government more effectively than our predecessors from the opposing political party.

Thus, as a member of that first generation of Republican leaders, it was with great interest that I took note of a new central purchasing study. It was released last year and declared that once again, just as before, only a fraction of state agency purchases are made within the oversight of the state’s central purchasing program.

But, whereas the first generation of majority Republicans quickly acted on our report, once we pried it from the depths of the bureaucracy, this second generation of Republican leaders had a very different reaction.

State Representative Tammy Townley, the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee, sponsored House Bill 4042. Townley declared that her bill was a response to the report.

Shockingly, Townley’s legislation didn’t eliminate the central purchasing exemptions. Instead, it not only created new exemptions from the central purchasing laws but also added an exemption from the competitive bidding law – a crucial law that requires vendors to compete for government contracts through a transparent bidding process.

Responding to a report that identified numerous exemptions from central purchasing by creating even more exemptions is not unlike putting out a fire by dousing it in gasoline instead of water.

Townley’s bill gave exemptions to the Department of Tourism, arguably the worst state agency to receive new purchasing exemptions given its recent, high-profile contracting controversies and a 2023 report that showed purchasing splits that circumvented bid limit laws. That report showed the agency circumventing purchasing rules when it spent more the $30,000 on food and alcohol while throwing parties for film and music executives.

As a member of the first generation of Republican leaders who helped shape modernization policy because it was the right thing to do on behalf of the people, I watched in complete disbelief as Townley presented her bill on the House floor. What I saw revealed just how deeply the institution’s culture has deteriorated over time. The integrity and purpose that once guided us seem to have been replaced by complacency, laziness, and disregard for even the appearance of a deliberative process.

Townley offered a brief and completely incoherent description of the legislation, never once disclosing the exemptions, referred to a fellow legislator as “dude,” mistakenly used “physical impact” instead of “fiscal impact” – a significant distinction – and, after declaring she wouldn’t take questions from any other legislator, loudly yelled, “booh-yah.”

The observer can be excused for rightly expecting that any self-respecting parliamentary body in the Western tradition would immediately postpone consideration of this, but not this House. When the bill came to the floor, the acting Parliamentarian left his post and joined with the acting House floor leader as they appeared to retreat to the corner office, where the real decision-making occurs; and, while the powerless rank-and-file members obediently waited, presumably sought approval from the powers that truly control the House – authority long ago surrendered to just a handful of leaders. The vote then got the green light, the uniparty coalesced, and every voting legislator, except for two independent-minded ones who don’t accept money from lobbyists and had likely actually read the bill, dutifully rubber-stamped the exemptions, sending them on to the Senate.

Even worse, few in the House seemed at all concerned with the incoherent explanation or that their right to question the author had been removed – they simply didn’t appear to care. The minority leader, who should be holding the majority accountable for such poor behavior and abhorrent policy making practices, was seen wandering the floor aimlessly.

Watching this unfold, I couldn’t help but be struck with a sense of sadness. As an Oklahoman, it’s not comforting to know that these are our leaders and they are not serious people. As a former member of the House, and someone who committed many years towards working for a common cause, a clearly now-abandoned effort by the representatives of my political party to make Oklahoma’s government the absolute best in efficiency and transparency, it’s heartbreaking to see such bad policy being passed so casually and completely sans gravitas or anything that remotely resembles a deliberative process.

A few days later, a thoughtful Senate Chairman, Senator David Bullard, presumably read the bill, realized what was in it, and had the Senate author remove the title, an action designed to slow down the bill until its impact could be ascertained.

Bullard’s concerns appeared to ring the alarm at the state’s Department of Tourism and seemed to result in a media campaign, dutifully picked up by Tulsa’s Fox Channel 23, in which Townley and the Director of Tourism appeared to have gone to work selling the exemptions as, of all things, reforms.

That all came to a screeching halt when state auditor Cyndi Byrd released an in-depth audit of state spending and declared that Oklahoma is becoming at risk of transitioning into a “no-bid” state. This audit, and the publicity it received, finally appears to have forced Tourism’s hand, and they publicly abandoned the bill.

When the first generation of majority Republicans attempted to reform government, there was a widespread sense that we had a job to do. We had shared principles and goals and often worked together to achieve those goals. We knew that our predecessors had long fought for and dreamed of the day when we would displace the corrupt old-guard and bring about reform, and we were determined to deliver on their promises to the voters.

This second generation of Republican majority legislators is far removed from that day. I don’t think they can remember a time of being in the minority. They appear aimless, atrophied, lacking a clearly defined principled core, any organized system of consistent beliefs, or any methods by which to declare their shared values, set goals and objectives, and benchmark their progress against those goals. Perhaps most concerning, buried under the arrogance of unchecked power, the vast majority don’t seem capable of situational awareness or to possess the slightest cognizance of their current condition.

What led the institution of the House to this state of moral and functional decay? What underlying factors drove this decline, and what are the methods and means for restoring a sense of mission and purpose that reflect the values of the voters? Stay tuned.

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Jason Murphey was a member of Oklahoma House of Representatives and was term-limited in 2018. He scored a perfect 100% score on the Oklahoma Conservative Index for each of 12 years he served.