Things are messy in the Oklahoma State House. The speaker has resigned his post in the wake of an ethics scandal. That scandal has resulted in legislative efforts to reform the ethics laws for legislators:

Lawmakers say ethics reform and lawmaker accountability may become top priorities in the Oklahoma House following former Speaker Lance Cargill's resignation from the chamber's top job.

Cargill resigned yesterday following a series of embarrassing revelations, including not filing state personal income tax returns and fundraising activities by a House GOP political action committee he headed that is the focus of an Ethics Commission investigation.

Lawmakers say Cargill's departure could touch off a free-for-all among Republican and Democratic lawmakers who will compete to push through tough ethics reforms to deal with issues that concerned them during Cargill's 1-year tenure as speaker.