The Thicket at State Legislatures

Capitol Halloween Stories

by Karl Kurtz

Hawaii House director Georgette Deemer is at it again with a new ghost story about creepy happenings in the women's restroom near the House chamber. (See "Halloween Ghost Stories from the Hawaii House" for stories from previous years.)

And yesterday's New York Times has a story, "Spending a Night with Ghosts Where Legislators Roam," about haunted house tours that Stuart Lehman, education coordinator for the New York Capitol has been leading for the last eight years. The story begins:

In a black bowler hat and flowing frock coat, Stuart Lehman stands out at the Capitol. It is just past 5 o’clock, and around him state workers hustle toward the doors.

Phones pressed against ears, white sneakers over stockings, the day is done, but their eyes linger briefly on this man who seems of another time. The gold chain on his pocket watch swings as he walks toward the empty hallways they leave behind, toward an evening filled with ghosts.

Eight years ago, Mr. Lehman, who works in state government, started the Hauntings Tour, a walk through the Capitol, which rises like a Gothic castle off the Hudson River and brims with enough spooky back story to rival the modern-day foibles of wayward governors and law-breaking legislators.

Happy Halloween! And be sure to give the candy to the kids instead of eating it yourself.

Photo credit: Nathaniel Brooks, New York Times

Legislators who have Served as Speaker and Top Senate Leader

by Karl Kurtz

An article yesterday in nola.com (New Orleans Times-Picayune) reports on Gov. Bobby Jindal's endorsement of Sen. John Alario as the next president of the Lousiana Senate, an event usually tantamount to election to that position according to the traditions of Louisiana politics. Alario served as speaker of the House as a Democrat during the governorship of Edwin Edwards. He has served in the Legislature since 1971 and switched from Democrat to Republican 10 months ago.

The article goes on to quote me on the history of legislators serving as speaker and top senate leader:

If Alario is elected Senate president, he would be the second Louisiana lawmaker in modern times to preside over both chambers.

The first was the John Hainkel, a New Orleans Republican, who served as speaker from 1980 to 1984 under the state's first modern-era GOP governor, David Treen, and as Senate president from 2000 to 2004 under Gov. Mike Foster.

At the time, Hainkel was the first legislative leader in the nation to serve in both capacities, said Karl Kurtz, a researcher at the National Conference of State Legislatures, a clearinghouse for legislative issues. Alario would be the fourth lawmaker in the nation to hold both presiding offices.

Well, I was wrong--on more than one count!

The three other top leaders of two chambers that my colleagues and I thought we could remember were Hainkel, Bill Harris of Ohio and Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell of Maine. Once I did some fact checking (after talking to the reporter), though, it turns out that, while Harris of Ohio was widely believed to be in line to become speaker in 2000, he never actually assumed that office because he was appointed to fill a Senate vacancy. He did go on to become president of the Senate. Strike one for my memory.

Strike two came when Tyler Bridges, a former reporter in Florida who had read the Louisiana story, e-mailed me to say that Mallory Horne had been the top leader in both chambers of the Florida Legislature before John Hainkel pulled off that trick in Louisiana. Horne served as speaker of the Florida House, 1963-64, and as president of the Senate, 1973-74.

In my defense, I had told the Louisiana reporter that our information was what we could remember during our time working with state legislatures. Horne's service as speaker in the 1960s was before the time of any of us on the NCSL staff, but I did know him when he was Senate president, knew that he had been speaker and should have remembered him.

So here's what belated fact checking reveals: Horne of Florida, Hainkel of Louisiana and Mitchell of Maine are the three legislators that we know of since 1970 who led both chambers in their state legislatures. Alario will become the fourth--and the first and the second after Hainkel to do it under two different party banners--if he is indeed elected president by his fellow members. [Correction, 1/7/12]

If anyone wants to deliver strike three (it's World Series time after all) by coming up with other legislators who have served as speaker and president, we would welcome the information. Send us an e-mail or offer a comment below.

Photo credits: Richard Alan Hannon, The Advocate via AP at nola.com and Wikipedia.

Civics 2.0 Conference

by Jan Goehring

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently hosted Civics 2.0: Citizenship Education for a New Generation, a research seminar that examined how America's schools can develop informed and engaged citizens. Experts from across the country shared their research and their ideas about how to teach and assess civic education, provide professional development and use technology to further civic learning.

The event opened with a panel that discussed civic education, past and present perspectives. For example, Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement argued that schools do indeed teach civics, but it is knowledge based. What is needed is education about how to participate as a citizen. The panel members also talked about how such education needs to factor in global changes including the economy and the digital revolution.

What students know and how civics is taught was the next topic. Panelists focused on the importance of students learning about current political figures, political parties, and the how and why of citizenship. Simulations and activities where students can consider different views and engage in reasoned debate need to be included as well as technology for civic learning. The seminar then addressed teachers, what they know and how they learn it. The panel focused on the need to ensure that civics teachers are provided high-quality training and professional development.

The conversation continued with a panel that examined different students in different sectors. Professor Joseph Kahne, Mills College, talked about the need to give students an online environment that "belongs" to them. Digital media can offer many opportunities for civic learning through online games, social networks and other resources.

The conference ended with a lively discussion of the future of civic education, what action is needed, and the role of reformers and the federal government in the process. Although specific ideas and opinions differed, all were in agreement that America's schools need to ensure that students are educated to be informed and engaged citizens.

A number of the experts who participated on the panels prepared research papers for the event. Drafts of the reports, the agenda and video of the conference can be found here. 

Values of Legislative Staff Offices

by Karl Kurtz

Most nonpartisan legislative staff offices operate with implicit organizational core values, but how many of them state them explicitly? Wisconsin's Legislative Reference Bureau, the nation's first nonpartisan bill drafting and research agency founded in 1901, does. Here is a recent note from Steve Miller, chief of the LRB:

When I first [joined the LRB] in 1998, I interviewed several of the senior staff and distilled their beliefs into four core values. These are:

1. Nonpartisanship.

2. Confidentiality.

3. Bringing the highest level of expertise we can muster to bear on our work.

4. Pride in and support of representative democracy and the legislative institution.

The first three are required by law, but I think they would be core values for us even if not mentioned in the statutes. We probably share these values with most legislative agencies around the US. But I think it is a good idea to explicitly state them where the LRBers and others can see them.

Good work, Steve and other LRB staff!

Legislative Budgets in the News

by Karl Kurtz

The internal budgets of legislatures normally don't receive a lot of media attention, unless there is a pay raise for legislators that is. But this week the budgets of three of the most well-funded legislatures--Congress, New York and California--in the nation have made news:

• In Congress, according to the Washington Post, all committees, including internal legislative administration committees, have been charged with making recommendations for budget reductions to the "supercommittee" on budget reduction. Republicans on the House Administration Committee have recommended elimination of the Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan office that assists states in complying with the requirements of the 2002 Help America Vote Act and is part of Congress' budget, saying that its work is done and its time is past. Democrats disagree and say that the office is essential to effective election administration. Instead, the Democrats are offering up proposals for improving energy efficiency in congressional buildings, reducing information technology costs, raising fees for copyrights governed by the Library of Congress and reducing printing costs.
• In the New York Senate, Democrats initially made significant reductions to the Senate's budget when they gained the majority in 2008, but they soon built it back up as leadership offices proliferated and the members demanded new services. Now back under Republican control since the 2010 election, the Albany Times-Union reports that the restored majority party has reduced the Senate payroll by 25 percent, and overall spending is down eight percent compared to last year.

Individual senators receive $350,000 to run their offices, with additional funding for committee chairs (around $575,000 total) and ranking members (around $450,000).

Central offices have also shrunk -- the Finance Committee has 20 staffers, down from 40; the Program & Counsel office went from a high of 208 to 35 in March; Conference Services is down from 68 to 19 and Communications has dropped from 26 to 9.

• Perhaps the most interesting story, though, comes from California. The Sacramento Bee has been on something of a crusade of late to track down and report (and try to force the speaker to report) details about the Assembly's internal budget. Two recent stories have focused on how Speaker John Pérez uses the budget to enforce discipline in his chamber and compares how other recent speakers have used the power of the purse strings:

Perking up Over Redistricting

by Karl Kurtz

Ex-California Senate staffer Tim Hodson has been battling a brain tumor for more than a year. The first symptoms of his disease appeared at the NCSL Legislative Summit in Louisville last year. Tim retired two weeks ago from his most recent position as director of the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State University, in which capacity he also served as co-director of NCSL's Legislative Staff Management Institute. Tim is currently under hospice care and is resting at home.

Tim's wife, Ruth, keeps hundreds of Tim's friends apprised of his status in touching and often amusing postings on CaringBridge.org, a remarkable support service for families and friends of cancer patients. Here is one of her recent commentaries:

I thought you'd all get a good laugh out of this:  Darren Chesin, Tim's successor at Senate Elections, and I were sitting next to Tim chatting as he dozed. The conversation turned to the potential qualification of the referendum on the redistricting  commissions maps--guess who perked up, eyes wide open, listening intently to us.  There are very few people in this world that actually wake up when the conversation is about redistricting and our guy is one of them, but then we all know what a rare guy he is. Matt [Tim's son] suggested that God must be looking to do some redistricting and needed an expert.

All the best to Tim, Ruth, Matt and the rest of his family from a large family of friends at NCSL!

10/25/11 Update: I'm sad to have to add that Tim passed away. He was an honored colleague, collaborator and friend!

One of the fascinations that Tim and I shared, in our geeky, legislative junkie fashion, was novels and movies that are set in and around state capitols. He was an occasional guest author in The Thicket. See "Book Review: Fair, Balanced and Dead." "1960s TV Drama About a State Legislator." and "More Detective Novels Set in State Capitols."

Sherry Bebich Jeffe, a noted and frequent commentator on California politics at the University of Southern California, has added her own thoughtful comments on Tim's life and his impact on California politics on NBC Los Angeles, appropriately entitled "Farewell to a Giant of Civility."

10/26/11 update: Today the Sacramento Bee posthumously published Tim's last op ed piece in the form of a poem, "The New Petty."

Congress Inches Closer to Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind Act

by Alex Fitzsimmons

Congress is inching closer to reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) with a series of reforms designed to restructure the state-federal partnership on education policy.

Calling on Congress to improve and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), NCSL sent up a copy of its action policy to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee ahead of a scheduled mark up.

On October 19, the HELP Committee began to mark up its version of ESEA reauthorization, the federal statue under which NCLB is contained. After Senator Rand Paul objected that there had not been enough time to review the bill, Chairman Tom Harkin and Ranking Member Mike Enzi announced they would schedule a hearing on Nov. 8, after the mark up has been completed but before the bill would go to the floor. Since Senator Paul agreed to drop his objection, the plan is to complete the mark up by the end of the week. 

The Senate's reauthorization bill borrows elements from the Obama waiver package, Senate GOP proposals, and an amendment offered by Senators Tom Harkin and Mike Enzi.

Led by Senator Lamar Alexander, a group of Senate Republicans recently announced a package of bills aimed at increasing accountability, improving teacher development programs, consolidating federal education programs, and expanding federally-supported charter schools.

The Harkin-Enzi amendment, a bipartisan agreement between the Democratic chairman and Republican Ranking Member of the HELP Committee, eliminates teacher evaluation requirements tied to student performance. Instead, the bill shifts the teacher evaluation component to a competitive grant process called the Teacher Incentive Fund.

Using Tablets in State Legislatures

by Karl Kurtz

No, we're not talking about returning to Moses' style of lawmaking. It's tablet computers that are all the rage. How are they affecting legislative procedures and information services?

At a recent NCSL focus group of legislators and legislative staff, half of the participants said that they own tablet computers, and most of the other half said that they intended to get one in the near future. Reflecting the popularity of these devices, legislatures around the country are experimenting with using tablets to provide legislators and staff with easy access to bill status, committee agendas, state budgets, and other critical legislative information.

Last week at a joint meeting of the Legislative Information and Communications Staff and Leadership Staff sections in Richmond, Sharon Crouch Steidel, director of Virginia House information technology, and Tom Bennett, assistant to the majority leader of the West Virginia House, reported on pilot projects in their chambers to provide legislators with iPads. Sixteen Virginia and 10 West Virginia House members participated in their states' pilot programs during the 2011 legislative sessions.

For the most part, legislators who participated in the pilots were very pleased. One Virginia House member was so happy with the experience that he told Sharon, "You'll have to pry the iPad from my dead, cold hands."

Here are the principle benefits of using tablet computers that Sharon and Tom noted:

• Virginia participants found the iPads particularly useful in accessing and viewing state budget information.
• Members in both states liked the ability to integrate their various e-mail accounts on one platform, although they had to be careful about not having campaign-related e-mail on their state-owned devices.
• Members with weak vision appreciated the ease of expanding fonts with a flick of their fingers.
• The tablet computers are more portable and have better battery life than laptops.
• Tablet users made fewer help desk requests than did laptop users in Virginia.
• Virginia participants made effective use of DropBox to share files with other devices such as smart phones and PCs or Macs.
• Tablet users did not print as many documents as non-tablet users (see obstacles below).

However, there were also obstacles that had to be overcome:

Farewell to Center for Governmental Studies

by Peggy Kerns 

The California-based Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) has closed. Goodbye to CGS and thanks. Thanks for 28 years of rattling the cages with thoughtful, nonpartisan and provocative research on governance reforms.  Thanks for ideas on campaign finance laws, state budgeting, ballot measures and higher education - to name a few. Thanks for the hundreds of studies and more than 70 books and reports. You will be missed. A victim of the economy and loss of foundation funding, the center will continue access to its website and publications.  

The center was guided by a two-fold principle that “21^st century democracy can only be improved by efforts both to reform the underlying structures of government and to use new communications technologies to inform citizens and help them participate in government,” said CGS founders, Tracy Westen and Bob Stern.  The center’s research focused primarily on California, but its impacts went far beyond the state’s borders.

Its July 2011 report, Citizen Legislators or Political Musical Chairs: Term Limits in California, concluded that term limits in California have failed as term-limited politicians bounced around to other political offices.

Nobody Likes Confusion—Especially Voters

by Wendy Underhill

Has your state adopted new laws this year that will have an effect on how people vote? Perhaps instituted new photo voter ID requirements, authorized all-mail elections or changed where and when early voting will take place?

If so, voters can be confused—and nobody likes confusion. Generally, state election officials will highlight changes through web pages, newspapers, radio spots and whatever means necessary. Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board , for instance, is creating a public education plan to let voters know about new photo voter ID laws that become effective for the primary on February 21, 2012. It may cost $600,000.

One legislator that we know of has taken voter education into his own hands, Senator Royce West of Texas. This week he sent out a press release entitled, Election Time, It's Sooner Than You Think. In it he used an effective rhetorical technique: repetition. The question, "ARE YOU READY TO VOTE?" is repeated four times. Yes, FOUR TIMES.

If legislators want their electorate to show up and do their civic duty, maybe it makes sense to join with your state officials and get out the word in an effort to get out the vote.