The Thicket at State Legislatures

Washington Legislative Scholar Program Continues Its Success

by Jan Goehring

The Washington Legislative Scholar Program offers social studies, civics and government teachers an opportunity to learn first hand about the legislative process. It is part of the Washington Legislature's commitment to civics and educating citizens about representative democracy. Teachers who have participated in the program find the on-site training at the capitol and the real-world experiences there to be invaluable.

Judi Best, Senate program coordinator, reports another successful summer seminar despite some challenges. In previous years, the program paid for the teachers' travel, hotel and meals. Due to some budget cuts, only some meals were covered this year. That didn't deter the teachers, however.  The same number of teachers participated as last year when the expenses were covered.

"The reputation of the program is spreading. Every one of the experienced teachers said it was the best educational training they had ever had in all of their years of teaching," according to Best. The seminar also included three students from the Master of Teaching program at Seattle University who received credit from their faculty for attending.  Best also says "the evaluations were once again fabulous, but they did ask us if we could expand the program to five days, at their expense! Probably the most exciting part is that the teachers are actually contacting us during session to arrange speakers, visits to the capitol, and materials for their classrooms." Teachers are using lesson plans that were either presented at the program or that are related to what they learned from the program. 

Teachers are looking for this kind of quality training. Are other states willing to develop similar programs?

5th Century BC Cynicism About Politics

by Karl Kurtz

Cynicism about politicians is an ancient art form according to Bill Purcell, director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics.  Speaking to an audience of several hundred legislative staff at NCSL's Legislative Summit last week in Philadelphia, the former majority leader of the Tennessee House and mayor of Nashville quoted Aristophanes as saying in 424 BC, "You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner."  And in 410 BC: "Under every stone lurks a politician."

I'll find a way to use those quotes from 2,500 years ago in a report that I am writing on public attitudes toward democratic institutions in the 21st century.

In a clever, entertaining and thoughtful speech, Purcell also shared this amusing description of legislative decorum in the 1950s by Georgia Gov. Marvin Griffin, "It's like three truckloads of bean pickers in a field without a foreman."  The quote appears in Zell by Richard Hyatt.

Racial and Ethnic Minority Governors

by Karl Kurtz

Prof. Chris Mooney of the University of Illinois Springfield has compiled the following list of governors from racial or ethnic minorities. If you know of any others, please add a comment below.

The first one on the list, Pinkney B.S. Pinchback, was one-fourth African-American and served as governor of Louisiana for two months after his predecessor was impeached.  "The Carpet Bagger" provides a lengthy and interesting biography of him.

Name	Party	State	Dates	Heritage
Pinkney B. S. Pinchback	R	LA	1872-1873	African American
Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca	D	NM	1917	Latino
Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo	R	NM	1919-1921	Latino
George Ryoichi Ariyoshi	D	HI	1974-1986	Asian American
Jerry Apodaca	D	NM	1975-1979	Latino
Raul H. Castro	D	AZ	1975-1977	Latino
Toney Anaya	D	NM	1983-1987	Latino
John Waihee	D	HI	1986-1994	Hawaiian
Robert Martinez	R	FL	1987-1991	Latino
Douglas L. Wilder	D	VA	1990-1994	African American
Benjamin J. Cayetano	D	HI	1994-2002	Asian American
Gary Locke	D	WA	1997-2005	Asian American
Bill Richardson	D	NM	2003-	Latino
Deval Patrick	D	MA	2007-	African American
Bobby Jindal	R	LA	2008-	Indian American
David A. Paterson	D	NY	2008-	African American

Who's #1 in Legislative Leadership?

by Karl Kurtz

The ever-popular question of who the longest-serving legislative leader is has come up again.  Since the last time we wrote about this in 2006, the rankings have changed and, as always, the answer depends on the exact wording of the question.

Illinois Speaker Mike Madigan (left) has the longest tenure of any presiding officer.  First elected speaker in 1983, he is now in his 21st year as speaker with a two-year hiatus in 1995-96 when he served as minority leader. 

Because of that loss of majority status, Madigan does not have the longest consecutive service.  That honor belongs to Maryland Senate President Mike Miller (right, with friend), who was first elected in 1987.  Miller is the longest serving top senate leader, consecutive or otherwise.

The Overgrown Thicket

by Karl Kurtz

In the last several weeks the brambles and thorns of preparation for NCSL's Legislative Summit, heavy business travel, personal vacation and a major project analyzing a new national opinion poll on attitudes toward democratic institutions have kept us from penetrating The Thicket.  We'll try to beat some new paths and get back on track.

During our hiatus, a few of the newsworthy events that should have appeared in The Thicket include:

• The New York Senate leadership situation seems to have stabilized, and both parties agreed on new rules that increase transparency, place term limits on leaders and committee chairs, and, perhaps most remarkably, provide equal staff resources to senators of both parties.  The rules were issued in a joint statement by Senate President Malcolm Smith, Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Deputy majority Leader Jeff Klein, Conference Leader John Sampson and Minority Leader Dean Skelos.
• The California and Illinois legislatures resolved budget impasses, leaving Arizona, Connecticut, North Carolina and Pennsylvania as the 3 states without budgets after the start of fiscal year 2010.
• National Journal's Lou Jacobson has published a list of "The Six Most Dysfunctional State Governments."  New York, Nevada, Illinois, Alaska, South Carolina and California make the list, which is based on a pseudo-scientific scale that appears to be based on talking to one or two people in each of these states.  The focus is heavily on scandal or malfeasance in the office of the governor.  Media cynicism is rampant in this article, leading with statements like "Of course, ineffective government is the oldest story in the book."

Writing in the Sacramento Bee, Dan Walters has a particularly trenchant summary of the California budget problems:

There are, in the broadest sense, three aspects to the state's chronic fiscal dilemma – societal, financial and political.

Virtual Doodling at Legislative Summit

by Pam Greenberg

Each year at NCSL’s Legislative Summit, the various staff sections and committees independently select  the topics that will be covered in the sessions they sponsor. Lately, it seems the technology-related sessions run in three’s. One year there were three sessions about e-mail and public records. This year it’s social media. Technology, of course, intersects with many different subject areas—criminal justice, health  care, education—just to name a few. But technology now is also part of every session: our audience members  have laptops, Blackberries, and smart devices.  They are emailing, blogging and Facebooking and Twittering…during the sessions.

As someone who was brought up to listen politely and never interrupt, I’ve always been slightly uncomfortable when audience members talk during someone’s presentation, when someone gets up and walks out in the middle, or when a cell phone rings (and I’ve been guilty of each of these!). So I found danah boyd’s latest blog entry about how she uses various digital devices at conferences particularly interesting to read during the Legislative Summit.

danah boyd, a researcher at Microsoft Research New England  and a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society, is one of the most interesting people writing about social networks.  She is outspoken and can be controversial, but if you are interested in social networking, read her dissertation, Taken Out of Context: American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics, some of her papers, and her notes from talks she’s given, like this one about the "The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online."

And as you attend Legislative Summit sessions, whether in person, via Twitter or by listening to audio and video recordings back home, go ahead and check your Blackberry…or maybe just doodle.

California Reform in the Works?

In the wake of massive budget deficits in California, a number of groups are calling for government reforms as reported by the Los Angeles Times. The reforms range from changes in budgeting practices to a state constitutional convention. Others call for a change to the super-majority requirement for passing the budget or making the Legislature part time. There seems to be a growing sense that the government needs some real repairs.

Domes, Domes, Domes

by Kae Warnock

When we think of capitols, many of us immediately conjure up an image of a dome similar to the federal-style domed building, where the U.S. Congress meets.  But state capitols, just like the states themselves, are unique and none is an exact replica of the U.S. Capitol, nor should it be.  As noted earlier in The Thicket, the unique nature of capitols is what makes them iconic symbols to their citizens rather than cookie cutter copies of the federal example.

So, what is a dome? A dome is usually the top half of a large sphere, though some domes are shallower. Some capitol domes are even octagonal. They can also be smaller and sit atop a cupola tower. Most capitol domes are hollow to create the high curved ceilings that we typically equate with rotundas.

Historically, domes have been used in churches and other religious structures for at least two thousand years. They have played a part in U.S. civic architecture such as capitols and courthouses primarily since the construction of the Maryland (1788) and Massachusetts (1798) statehouses. The architect for the capitol in Boston, Charles Bullfinch, also added a dome to the U.S. Capitol in 1822. The dome we all know today, a large painted cast iron half sphere on a massive drum tower, was built in 1866.

A few states built their capitols with the federal model in mind. Twelve capitols have a large central dome made of painted cast iron, stone or concrete. These look the most like the U.S. Capitol. Michigan and Texas have painted cast iron domes. Minnesota's dome is the second largest self supporting marble dome in the world.  Only St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is larger.  Rhode Island has the fourth largest self supporting marble dome in the world.

Dome Facts

• 10 are gilded - Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming
•  Nine are copper clad - California, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah
• Seven are made of stone - Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island and Wisconsin
• Two are terra cotta - Kentucky and Pennsylvania
• One is brick & concrete – Washington
• One is zinc – Illinois
• The newest dome belongs to Oklahoma.  It was added in 2001-02
• Two capitols have a cupola tower – Delaware, Nevada
• Only one domes is made of wood – Maryland         

No Dome?
As I said at the beginning, state capitols are unique.  So, it should come as no surprise that another 9 capitols have no dome or cupola - Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, and Virginia. Three states, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee, used a Greek style drum tower as the central architectural feature of the capitol instead of a dome. One state, Arizona, built an executive tower for the governor and House and Senate buildings adjacent to the old capitol building that has a copper dome.

Interested in more facts about capitol domes? 

Domes pictured: Vermont and Colorado 

Cap City Trivia for Your Holiday Edification

by Tim Storey

Quick--what state capital has the most people? Hint--it's not Atlanta, Boston or Denver--all big cities and the largest cities in their respective states. 

Time's up; it's the sprawling southwestern capital of Phoenix, Arizona.  According to new city population estimates released by the U. S. Census Bureau, Phoenix had 1,567,924 people on July 1, 2008 making it the largest state capital--nearly double the next largest, Indianapolis, at 798,382 people.  The smallest capital city is beautiful Montpelier, Vermont with 7,760 people.  Phoenix is over 200 times larger than Montpelier.  Pierre, South Dakota ranks 48th in total population with 13,899 people. 

Phoenix is also one of the fastest growing state capitals having grown by over 18% since the 2000 census.  The top award for fastest growing capital goes to Raleigh, North Carolina which has grown over 35% since 2000. In 15 capitals, the population has actually decreased since 2000 with Charleston, West Virginia topping the list posting a 5.7% decline. 

The average size of a state capital is 247,092 people.  For a table of capital populations, click here. 

Do you think it is easier to find parking near the Capitol (with an O) in Montpelier than Phoenix? Probably not.

Have a wonderful 4th of July.  

Arizona Budget Update

by Jan Goehring

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed parts of the budget package that the Legislature sent to her earlier this morning. In a statement, she called the budget "fatally flawed" and called for a special session to begin on Monday. She wants the Legislature to address a temporary increase to the sales tax and make other adjustments to the budget. According to azcentral.com, Senate President Bob Burns is scheduled to be out of the country next week.