Teacher Pay Raise Bill Removed From Consideration After Accidental Posting Online
Mistakenly posted legislation sends shock waves through Capitol
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — What is being described as an “honest mistake” ratcheted up the tension in a state Capitol already on edge Tuesday.
Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, said two bills released Tuesday morning that call for boosting teacher pay by up to $10,000 a year while cutting benefits and raising the state sales tax, were early drafts of legislation that has been worked on this session, and he said final versions may or may not be heard in the coming days.
“We’ve been working on a teacher pay-increase plan,” Hickman said Tuesday night. “My hope is that we can come up with something.”
He said the basic elements of the plan were in the bills that surfaced briefly Tuesday but that the details remain troublesome.