A study of the plasma sum rules suggests that the oscillator strength for transitions from initial s‐p states in a‐Ge and a‐Si is reduced significantly compared with crystalline excitations, and is displaced to energies beyond the plasma frequency. Since p‐state transitions are essentially unchanged, the matrix element cannot be the same for all transitions, as has been assumed. A model is presented which makes a first attempt at accounting for the necessary electron energy dependence by considering transitions from the upper two p‐like states independent of excitations from the deeper s‐p states. The model is applied to a‐Ge;if the simplest different form is chosen for s‐p transitions, a substantially better agreement with experiment is achieved. We conclude that there is a substantial change in the character of s‐p states in going to the amorphous phase, thereby demanding that the electron energy dependence for optical transitions be considered.