Someone, please, check Rep. Arch Beal’s pulse… or maybe his EEG.
As I listened to the audio from Friday’s House State Affairs committee hearing on House Bill 1246, I realized Vice-Chair Beal had assumed the chair. Friday’s minutes don’t reflect when Chairman Lee Qualm yielded the gavel, but Beal apparently had to manage the meeting through three measures.
Listen to the audio on HB 1246, and you’ll hear someone near Beal whispering to him cues for nearly every step in the committee process: read the title… seeing none, no need for rebuttal… action… discussion… secretary call the role… recess….
Good grief. If your vice-chair doesn’t know the basic order of business and can’t even remember the vote count the secretary just recited to him, you need a new vice-chair.
Real man of genius
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDxfBX_DVE0
LOL, guy fits the bill for sure. That is the only thing this dud could pass.
Brain fart
If you listen to the tape recordings Mr. Qualms says “I have to go to the Nelson” and hands Mr. Beal the hammer. Then Mr. Beal says “All these years in the legislatures and I’ve never got to sit at the head of a committee,” acknowledging his new-guy-ness. So we might consider cutting the fellow a little slack, as he’s trying really hard.
New guy? It’s Beal’s third term. He’s sat in plenty of committee hearings. Anyone who listens to just one or two hearings on the Internet can commit to memory more of the basic charing formulas than Beal could get on his own during the hearing cited above.
I did not say Mr. Beal pays attention during hearings.