Anger at Ga. Speaker over state DOT board election boils over in House chamber

ATLANTA - Resentment boiled to the surface Tuesday in the state House when members applauded a lawmaker who stood to complain after he was punished for defying Speaker Glenn Richardson on a key vote.

``This is a low point in the House, and this is a dark day,'' said state Rep. Tom Graves, who was demoted after he voted contrary to Richardson's wishes for a state Department of Transportation board member.

Graves' remarks from the House well were met with a smattering of applause, a rare sign of emotion in a chamber where applause is restricted.

Graves was fired as a House ``hawk'' a lawmaker who can vote in any committee meeting and told to vacate his Capitol office after he voted Friday to re-elect Mike Evans as the DOT board member for the Ninth Congressional District. He was among at least six House members who cast ballots for Evans.

Evans, who chairs the DOT board, was targeted by Richardson last year when he supported Gena Abraham to be the new DOT commissioner instead of the speaker's choice, state Rep. Vance Smith.

The Ninth District lawmakers voted by secret ballot, but Graves made no secret about his vote. Other House members who supported Evans could be reprimanded as well.

Graves is known as a rising conservative leader in the Capitol.

He chairs the 216 Policy Group, a conservative caucus that started in 2005, the same year the House's Republicans gained control of the chamber for the first time in generations. Since then, the group's membership had grown to several dozen lawmakers and so has its scope. It now holds regular meetings in the cramped Capitol room and has launched a Web site devoted to the cause.

Richardson was not in the chamber when Graves delivered his speech, but his spokeswoman Clelia Davis said the ``House leadership fully supports'' the speaker's decisions.

Senate leaders, meanwhile, have openly questioned Richardson's response.

``If a senator was punished for voting their conscience, the rest of the Senate would be in a very rebellious mood because if it happens to one it can happen to them,'' Senate Pro Tem Eric Johnson told reporters Monday.

``I think House members are going to have the same feelings that senators would.''

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Georgia Legislature: http://www.legis.ga.gov

http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/206585