Irons said she believes if the two-year college system’s policies had been reviewed by the Legislative Council some of the alleged corruption that led to the system’s former chancellor, Roy Johnson, pleading guilty to federal charges could have been avoided.
“Everything in the system has been kept under wraps. Let’s get it all out there in the open,” Irons said.
The meeting ended in controversy, with Spicer calling for a voice vote as the committee’s ranking Republican member, Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, stood directly in front of Spicer waving his hands and hollering “recorded vote.” Several other committee members also were asking for a recorded vote.
Spicer is an assistant to the president at Enterprise-Ozark Community College and one of the lawmakers affected by the “double dipping” policy. He said he was not required to take a recorded vote.
“The chair has the option and lots of members didn’t want a recorded vote,” Spicer said.
He said the bill has nothing to do with the board’s policy concerning “double dipping.”
“What the bill is trying to do is open up things and make sure there’s an opportunity for the public to see what’s happening,” Spicer said.
House Minority Leader Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, called the voice vote “a shameful railroad job.”
Ball said he wanted a recorded vote so the public could see the position of each committee member on the bill.
“I was standing right over him (Spicer) saying ‘roll call vote.’ That undermines why we are up here. It’s so disappointing,” Ball said.
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