Lobbyists take note: If legislation you oppose makes its way to the House floor, the best tactic for fighting it is not leading a rowdy protest in the Capitol gallery. House members might take issue with that and bounce you from the building.
Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal decided on Friday to do just that to AFL-CIO lobbyist Bruce Tunnell, booting him from the gallery for the rest of the session because he led an organized protest during a vote on a controversial bill, the Wichita Eagle reported. Tunnell also won't be allowed in leadership offices during his exile.
Tunnell and about 50 union workers held their noisy demonstration to
disrupt House final action on a bill that would prevent unions from
directly withdrawing money from employee paychecks and sending it toward
union political causes.
Tunnell was barred in part for allegedly telling union protesters in the
gallery, "Keep quiet, but when [the bill] comes up, do whatever you
want." What they wanted to do, apparently, was shout and yell and
generally raise hell. The protesters were kicked out of the building,
but O'Neal says Tunnell's actions warranted banishment. Tunnell later admitted that he
and the group made too much noise.
The Kansas City Star reported that banning somebody from the Capitol is rare, even for leading a protest. The paper reports:
The House's rules don't specifically ban demonstrations inthe gallery but do give the speaker the duty to preserve order. If
spectators spontaneously boo, cheer or applaud an action or speech, the
speaker or presiding lawmaker usually warns them it's forbidden. An
organized demonstration in the gallery is rare in Kansas -- as is banning
someone from the gallery.
O'Neal told the paper that ignoring the rules could lead to disruptive
behavior becoming commonplace in the gallery.
Tunnell is vowing to fight O'Neal and return to the Capitol, and he's
not exactly being diplomatic with his language. He released a statement
reading in part: "I only wonder how long until the speaker bans more
people from the 'people's house' because they don't dress like him, talk
nicely to him, or God forbid, disagree with his viewpoint."
Yeah ... because enforcing decorum rules and banning all political
opponents are practically the same thing.
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