The Thicket at State Legislatures

Not Even a Record for a Deliberative Body Since Wisconsin in the Age of Eisenhower

by Karl Kurtz

I enjoy reading Gail Collins in The New York Times as much as I do any columnist, not because I always agree with her but because of her clever and engaging prose.  Here's a recent example in a column last weekend, "Putting the Fond in Farewell."

Nowhere is the need for the graceful exit more apparent than in our politics. This week Senator Robert Byrd turned 92. He has been in office for more than 50 years. That’s an all-time record for Congress. In fact, it is probably a record for every deliberative body since Athens in the Age of Pericles.

That's a marvelous turn of phrase, but unfortunately, Ms. Collins, it's not even a record for a deliberative body since Wisconsin in the age of Eisenhower.  Sen. Byrd was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958, two years after Sen. Fred Risser (photo) was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly.  A Democrat from Madison, Risser fought the tide of the landslide reelection of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Risser was elected to the Wisconsin Senate in 1962 and has been serving there ever since.

A nit-picker could say that Byrd is the longest-serving in the same chamber of a "deliberative body" (compared to Risser who has served in two different chambers in the same state legislature), but we would suggest caution in making that claim.  NCSL has pretty good knowledge of records for length of service by state legislators since the 20th century, but we can't track earlier periods in American history. 

And for an international perspective, check out "Longest Serving Legislator in the World? Not" about Chaudharry Prem Singh, who was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly in the same year that Sen. Byrd was elected to the U.S. Senate.  We don't know what month Chaudharry was elected, but the odds are that it was earlier than Byrd's November 2008 election and that he took office before Byrd on Jan. 3, 1959.

California Civic Health Index

by Jan Goehring

Californians have cut back on civic engagement in the last year and are suffering a "civic recession" according to the California Civic Health Index 2009 report released by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC). Nearly three in four residents report cutting back on volunteering, participating in groups or doing other civic activities. During this economic downturn, people are turning inward and watching out for themselves.

Confidence in state government is dwindling. Only 22 percent of respondents say they have a great deal of confidence in state government. When it comes to policies to support civic renewal, respondents rated government-paid tuition for public service as a top choice followed by a civics test.

The NCoC tracks, measures and promotes civic participation and published America's Civic Health Index 2009. The organization previously released civic health index reports for Illinois, New Hampshire, Florida, Minnesota and Ohio.  

Thanksgiving Trivia

We are talking turkey on this Thanksgiving holiday. Before you sit down at the dinner table, stuff yourself full of some useful trivia to share with family and friends. Here are a few questions to whet your appetite.

Which state produces the most turkeys?

Which state has a town named after the turkey?

Approximately what percentage of homes eat turkey on Thanksgiving?

And in what state is the Wild Turkey Center located?

For the answers to these questions and even more trivia, head to NCSL's website. You can gobble up all of our facts and impress your guests with your extended knowledge of the holiday!  

Learn Civics Online

by Jan Goehring

The Internet offers a wealth of sites for learning about civics and government. Through daily quizzes, interactive games and other tools, you can explore all sorts of great information. Here are just a few examples.

Do you already know a lot about civics? Then test your knowledge with the daily civics quiz offered by the Center for Civic Education. A one-minute podcast explains the answer to each daily quiz. For example, did you know that the Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641 was America's first Bill of Rights?

Are you interested in the U.S. Constitution? Then check out the Interactive Constitution that allows you to search the text of the document by keyword, topic and select Supreme Court cases. It's one of many tools offered by the National Constitution Center.  

The Center on Congress at Indiana University has developed e-learning modules to educate website visitors about Congress. You can try your hand at balancing the federal budget or find out about the many roles of a member of Congress.

Our Courts, a web-based education project inspired by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, encourages students to learn about the U.S. Supreme Court and to become active citizens. Try out their new games, "Do I Have a Right?" and "Supreme Decision."

Civic learning has made its way to YouTube as well. For example, NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy has posted a series of public service announcements about our system of American democracy called "Am I Missing Something?" In these videos, young students talk about making their voices heard, compromise and special interests.  

Civic Health Index for New Hampshire and Illinois

by Jan Goehring

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) just released reports about the civic health of New Hampshire and Illinois. New Hampshire civic health is strong, but Illinois citizens seem to be withdrawing from civic engagement.

Findings from the New Hampshire Civic Health Index show that the state has a high level of civic engagement. Residents are more likely than "Americans as a whole to volunteer, to belong to civic groups, to attend community meetings, and to work with others in their neighborhood to solve community problems. They have a positive view of the state’s civic tradition, they pay attention to public affairs, they get involved in political, social and community issues, they take voting seriously, and have high regard for the active role of citizens in the political and governing process."

While the economy has had some impact, New Hampshire citizens are willing to help one another. However, in this downturn, they are skeptical of government decision-making and have little confidence in financial institutions, companies, organized labor, media and Congress. State residents tend to be more knowledgeable about civics and government than average Americans, but there is still a gap in their understanding of legislative processes.

The Illinois Civic Health Index indicates that residents of the state are disappointed and disengaged. Recent political scandals and the economy have taken a toll. Only 15 percent of residents say they trust state government to do what is right most of the time. Possibly even more concerning is the finding that 77 percent of those aged 15 - 29 report declining interest or involvement in civic education.

On the up side, Illinois citizens strongly support federal legislation to improve civic education in schools. 

The NCoC tracks, measures and promotes civic participation. It published America's Civic Health Index 2009. The organization previously released civic health index reports for Ohio, Minnesota and Florida. The California Civic Health Index will be out soon.  

There is a List for That Tweet

by Meagan Dorsch

This month, Twitter unveiled a new feature called Lists. It's a way for you to organize your followers or the people you are following on Twitter. 

The National Conference of State Legislatures tweets daily under NCSLCOMM (this site is operated out of our communications division, hence the COMM) and we have decided to put this new list feature to good use.

On our Twitter page, we have made our "lists" available to our followers. You can now find state legislators, legislative staff, caucuses and NCSL staff on Twitter. We would be remiss if we did not thank NCSL policy staff and the Legislative Information and Communications Staff Section (LINCS) at NCSL for helping us compile these Twitter addresses.

We know that we were not able to capture every state legislator or caucus that is active on Twitter, so this is where your help comes in. Please send us a direct message on Twitter (or reply to this blog) and let us know where to find your lawmaker or staffer.

We hope you enjoy and use our "lists" and we look forward to adding more names in the coming weeks.

Follow NCSL on Twitter and Facebook and Ning!

A Complementarity of Powers

by Karl Kurtz

At a workshop for Algerian parliamentarians last week, our faculty team was emphasizing the separation of powers in the American system of government.  An attorney for the Algerian Council of Nations (Senate) spoke up and said, "In Algeria, we have a complementarity of powers instead of a separation of powers."  In saying this, she was recognizing the strong authority of the executive branch in Algerian government but suggesting that the parliament supplements the work of the executive and makes it more effective.

Her comment was clearly aimed at the Algerian system of government.  But the more I reflected on the "complementarity of powers", the more I liked how the phrase captures much of the reality of the relationship between branches of government in our American separation of powers system. The legislative, executive and judicial branches of government often complement each other, perhaps more than they compete.

Two small examples of ways in which the legislative and executive branches of government collaborate came up in our workshop with the Algerians.  Minnesota Senate counsel Peter Wattson answered a question about the effective date of new laws by saying that Minnesota has a default effective date of August 1 but that executive agencies, bill authors, committees and staff often communicate about the most appropriate effective date and negotiate a change.  Gary Vanlandingham, director of Florida's OPPAGA, pointed out that legislative program reviews of executive agencies are not designed to embarrass the agencies but rather to help them strengthen their programs.

Conjugating "to vote"

by Karl Kurtz

Sunday was election day for municipal offices in Kosovo, where I am spending the week with my NCSL colleague, Bruce Feustel, scoping out plans for a project to strengthen the Kosovo Assembly in partnership with NDI.

Spray-painted on walls all over the capital, Pristina, are signs like this one:

Translation:

I vote
You vote
He/she votes

We vote
You vote
They profit

At a fundamental level, it's a reflection of the cynicism of some Kosovars toward democracy and the elections.  It's also part of a grafitti campaign to promote a Kosovo Albanian right of self-determination, led by Albin Kurti, in protest against the international administration of the country.  In fact, though, the election process has been praised by international observers, and turnout was reasonably good.

Would you Let the KKK into your Town Hall Meeting?

by Karl Kurtz

Lee Hamilton has another excellent Commentary on Congress, "Whatever their Tone, We Need Town Hall Meetings."  It begins:

Years ago, when I was still in Congress, I pulled up one day to address a public meeting in a remote and very rural part of Indiana. The sheriff, a friend of mine, met me outside the small volunteer fire house where I was to speak. "The Ku Klux Klan is here in full regalia," he told me. "If you'd like, I'll keep them out of your meeting."

For just a second, I'll confess, I weighed his offer. But I was not in the business of trying to keep constituents out of public gatherings — even if they were in the KKK. No, I told my friend, the Klansmen could come in, as long as they removed their hoods. There's no place for anonymity in a public meeting, I said.

And so about twenty-five of them — hoodless — marched down the aisle made by the rickety folding chairs set up in the tiny firehouse and took their places in the front. Was this or was this not a Christian nation, they demanded. And what did I think about Jewish influence in Hollywood and on the media? I responded calmly, but their persistent overtones of anti-Semitism wore out the audience's patience. Eventually they left, and the meeting continued.

And concludes:

Over my years in Congress, I conducted hundreds, if not thousands, of town-hall meetings. Almost every time I came away with the feeling that this was precisely what I was meant to be doing — engaging with my constituents in a small part of the dialogue of democracy. Just as often, these meetings reinforced my confidence in the fairness, decency and judgment of the American people.

I've been in Algeria for the last week with a team of legislators and staff, leading a couple of workshops for Algerian legislators.  One of our topics was citizen engagement and  constituent communication. We emphasized the importance of town hall meetings and talked about how to set them up.  We have a great team here, consisting of North Dakota Rep. Rae Ann Kelsch, New Jersey Assemblymember Upendra Chivikula, Minnesota Senate legislative counsel Peter Wattson, Florida policy research director Gary Vanlandingham, and NCSL's Christy Delafield.  They did a great job of carrying Lee Hamilton's point, but after reading his commentary, I wished that he had been here with us to tell this story.

See our previous postings in The Thicket about town hall meetings starting with "Town Hall Meetings: Building Trust Online."

State Legislation Opposing Certain Health Reform

by Meagan Dorsch

States have complicated shared power relationship with the federal government in regulating various aspects of the health insurance market and in enacting health reforms.

In this edition of The Buzz, we sit down with Dick Cauchi, program director for NCSL's health program. Dick explains the actions that some states have taken to block certain health care reform.

These are actions that could put states in a binding position, aiming to block mandates that could come from future health care legislation either in their own state or from the federal government. Dick also takes the time to talk about what it could mean for health care down the road in these states and the unique situation in Arizona with its pending constitutional amendment.

Of course some states have been players in health reform since 2003, long before congressional actions on this issue.  

Listen to our podcast (8:06) and turn to NCSL for additional resources on state health reform and federal health reform.