Okay, so there isn’t much to talk about at the Capitol these days, so forgive us if we’re all abuzz at the news that Senate President Bob Burns has taken away Senator Ron Gould’s committee chairmanship. According to a “tweet” from Gould, “President Burns just took away my comittee chairmanship over my NO vote on the TAX HIKE. Sad day for rank & file republicans.”
The move was not entirely unexpected, as Gould is routinely a reliable vote against the Republican budgets and was, along with Senator Pamela Gorman, the holdouts that prevented the budget bill from passing. The bill, which contained spending cuts and tax cuts as well, also permitted a public vote on a proposed three-year 1-cent increase in the sales tax. That was a deal breaker for Gould and Gorman who refused to support the bill, in spite of the laundry list of conservative groups and individuals lined up in support of it. In fairness, longtime liberal lioness Senator Carolyn Allen also refused to support the bill, but that was because it had too many spending cuts and tax cuts in it and she felt it was far too conservative to support. Gorman ended up resigning her position as Whip before she could be replaced and now Gould finds himself without a committee.
People we have spoken to do not expect the move to accomplish very much. ”Gould just shows up, votes no, picks up his paycheck and goes home. That isn’t going to change now” said one Capitol politico. Another pointed out that President Burns had no reason to believe that Gould was ever going to get on the same page as the Republican majority, so while he might not have anything to gain, he also had nothing to lose by making this move.
It will be interesting to see how this move impacts Gould in his own district. While his votes often earn him applause at GOP gatherings, he has been an ineffective Senator in terms of getting his own bills passed, and he now finds his own power further diminished with the loss of the Chairmanship.
The last time this happened was when Representatives O’Halleran and Hershberger were stripped of their chairmanships for blocking a Republican budget. Each survived one more term before being beaten in a primary. Gould has one term remaining in the Senate, is running for office, and has no declared opposition at this time.
