The Thicket at State Legislatures

’Tis The Season: State Capitol Holiday Traditions

By NCSL's Public Affairs Staff

NCSL has its own tradition of collecting photos from legislative staff across the country that feature the capitol building or legislative building decorated for the holiday season.

 

You can watch the entire slideshow on NCSL's Flickr account. But there are other holiday traditions celebrated across the country. From Wisconsin to Georgia, state lawmakers are winding down their legislative sessions and ushering in the New Year with petting zoos, tree lightings, choir singers, and other holiday traditions.

In California, the State Capitol Museum is welcoming visitors to enjoy daily musical performances in the Capitol Rotunda, including the Salvation Army brass quintet and Cal-Trans, a choir comprised of a "spirited" group of state employees.

On December 10, families visiting the state capitol in Washington were treated to free pictures with Santa, a petting zoo, pony rides, and a hayride through Olympia's historic South Capitol neighborhood.

The Capitol Museum Guild of Arizona decorated the Capitol Rotunda at the annual holiday tree trimming on December 1, the last trimming before Arizona celebrates its statehood centennial. Arizona achieved statehood on February 14, 1912.

In North Carolina, the state capitol is honoring its Tar Heel heritage with a tree from Ashe County. Delivered on November 28 by the family-owned Peaks Farms, the 24-foot Fraser Fir was installed in the capitol's south plaza. Governor Bev Perdue and the First Gentleman lit the tree on December 8.

The tree lighting in Atlanta went off without a hitch, as Governor Nathan Deal and the First Lady participated in the annual event on Dec. 8. Festivities included live entertainment courtesy of the Atlanta Boys Choir.

In Wisconsin and Rhode Island, however, Christmas wars soured the holiday cheer.

Changes in Top Legislative Staff Positions

The end of the calendar year has brought an unusual flurry of changes in top legislative staff positions. Unusual because staff changes most often occur after elections at the end of a biennium, not so much in the middle of the normal two year cycle. Here is our staff's collective knowledge of major staff changes since about the first of September:

• It's not often that a retiring House staffer anywhere is described by current and former governors and House and Senate members as “a masterful politician,” “brilliant,” “invaluable” and “irreplaceable," but that's what they're saying about Arkansas House Parliamentarian Tim Massanelli. 78-year-old Tim is almost certainly the most senior top staffer who is departing: He began working for the Arkansas House in 1973 and has been parliamentarian since 1975.
• Laura Clemens, clerk of the Ohio House, has left that position to become director of government affairs for the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Laura is a past president of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries (ASLCS) and member of the NCSL Executive Committee. Thomas Sherman, who preceded her as clerk when the House was under Democratic control, is the acting clerk.
• Joyce Bigbee, Director of the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office, has announced that she is retiring January 1, 2012. Joyce has worked for the office for 33 years and has been director since 1987. She is a past president of the National Association of Legislative Fiscal Offices. Norris Green will become interim director.
• Rob Marchant, chief clerk and director of operations of the Wisconsin Senate since 2004, has resigned to become deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds, which oversees the state pension system and the state employee health care system. Rob is the immediate-past president of ASLCS.
• Lorne Malkiewich has announced his intention to leave his positon as director of the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau before the next session of the Legislature in 2013. He began working for the LCB straight out of law school 30 years ago and has served as director for the last 18 years. A committee has been named to search for a replacement.
• Florida's Philip Twogood left his position as secretary of the Senate to become coordinator of the Legislature's Office of Program Planning and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). Phil is a former member of NCSL's Executive Committee. Debbie Brown is the interim secretary of the Florida Senate.
• Jillayne Rock is stepping down as secretary of the Illinois Senate to care for a new family. A search committee is seeking her replacement.
• Jeannine Wood, secretary of the Idaho Senate since 1990, has retired. Jeannine began work for the Legislature in 1976. A remarkable tribute to Jeannine by the Idaho Statesman's Dan Popkey begins, "The Idaho Senate has lost its queen. Secretary of the Senate Jeannine Wood has been a regal presence since 1990, overseeing lawmaking with grace, dignity and class." Jennifer Novak is the new secretary of the Senate.
• Luke Martland is the new director and chief counsel of the Vermont Legislative Council, replacing Emily Bergquist who took a position with the state Tax Department earlier this year. Luke has a decade of experience in New York state government in the offices of the attorney general and the governor.
• Patricia Mau-Shimizu, formerly chief clerk of the Hawaii House since 1993, is the new director of the Hawaii Bar Association. C.J. Leong is the acting chief clerk.
• Alaska Legislative Auditor Pat Davidson is retiring at the end of December 2011. Kristin Curtis will be acting legislative auditor.
• Dave Larson is retiring as director of Kansas Legislative Computing Services. Dave is a past president of the National Association of Legislative Information Technology.
• Larry Barish, manager of research and information services for the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau and editor of the Wisconsin Blue Book since 1987, is retiring at the end of the year. Larry served two terms as chair of NCSL's Research and Committee Staff Section.

Add a comment below or e-mail The Thicket if we have missed some changes in top leadership staff positions in the last several months.

The Texas Redistricting Case Explained

by Karl Kurtz

We haven't written about the U.S. Supreme Court accepting the Texas redistricting case in large part because it has been in the national news. But I've read half a dozen stories about the challenge that were either inaccurate or so murky that it was hard to make sense of the case--which is complex to begin with. Yesterday, though, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza wrote "Texas redistricting case: Five things you need to know." It's a tidy summary of an untidy case and recommended reading. It includes this speculation on two of the more extreme possible outcomes of a Supreme Court ruling:

The real question, then, is what kind of instruction the Supreme Court offers. Those watching the process suggest two potentially far-reaching outcomes (among many other possibilities, which are too numerous to name).

First, the Supreme Court could tell the three-judge panel in San Antonio that it needs to draw something closer to the map drawn by the state legislature. Or second — and this is the Nuclear Option — it could say that the state should simply use the map drawn by the state legislature.

The former option would set a new standard when it comes to court-drawn maps. Currently, court-drawn maps are drawn with deference to the last constitutionally-approved map available (i.e. the existing map). Changing the standard would give state legislatures greater power over the final product, even in the event that their maps are invalidated.

The latter would be the big one, as some suggest it would essentially invalidate the section of the Voting Rights Act — Section 5 — that requires states like Texas to get pre-clearance. Essentially, the maps would no longer have to be pre-cleared. This would allow these states greater freedom to draw their maps and increase the burden on minority groups and others who may fight the maps in court. These groups would no longer have an avenue to stop the maps before they are enacted.

This is the first redistricting case that SCOTUS has accepted in the 2010 redistricting cycle and the first case since the high Court ruled in Bartlett vs. Strickland (North Carolina) in 2009.

New Report Says Term Limits Detrimental to Missouri Legislature

by Karl Kurtz

A new report from the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri concludes that term limits have had a negative effect on the independence and decision-making capability of the Missouri General Assembly. Here's a portion of the abstract:

Legislative term limits were approved by Missouri voters in 1992 and took full effect in the House in 2001 and in the Senate in 2003. This report...concludes that term limits has had a negative impact on the level of knowledge in the legislature, has changed but not reduced the influence of lobbyists, has created a new and non-legislative career orientation among legislators, and has weakened the General Assembly as a legislative body. Term limits, then, achieved none of the sponsors’ principal objectives and has significant negative consequences that were not anticipated by either supporters or opponents.

The author of the report, David Valentine, associate director of the school and a former research director for the Missouri Senate, has compiled a number of useful tables and charts that conclude:

• The average within-chamber tenure of Missouri legislators in 2011 is about what it was in the 1920s

• The tenure of legislative leaders, including the chairs of the appropriations committees, ranges from two to five years--about half of what it was before term limits.
• The loss of experienced members has resulted in a significant loss of institutional memory.
• The legislature has become a stepping stone for legislators who want to continue to have careers in politics. "If you're a political animal, you're already setting your sights on something else instead of focusing on your job and doing the work of your constituents," says former Rep. Patrick Naeger.
• Lobbyists have had to change how they operate but have adapted to the new environment.

The report is consistent with findings of other studies of the effects of term limits in various states.

Hollywood Comes to the Virginia Capitol

by Meagan Dorsch

When I traveled to Richmond recently to conduct social media training for a group of legislative assistants at the Virginia Legislature, I didn't know that I would also be rubbing elbows with Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, Steven Spielberg, James Spader and Daniel Day Lewis! OK, so I didn't get to work alongside some of Hollywood's biggest stars, but they were at the Capitol at the same time as I was, as they  have been for the last eight weeks, shooting the new movie Lincoln.

The movie is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's novel, "Team of Rivals," and has an A-list cast of stars and supporting actors and hundreds of movie extras who have taken over the state capitol in Richmond.

Clerk of the House Paul Nardo provided me some insight on what it has been like to work on (or around) a Hollywood movie set.

They say working in the legislature is never dull and brings something new each day. Nothing could be more true than when Hollywood comes to your legislature, camps out at your front door, on your back stoop and in your rotunda and legislative chambers. That's been the experience for the House and Senate Clerk's Offices at Mr. Jefferson's Capitol in Richmond.

There is, of course, a bit of irony in making a film about Lincoln in the former Capitol of the Confederacy. The site was chosen in part because its temple style exterior could be made to look like the White House. Set designers have built a "new" portico to mimic the White House, and they have transformed the exterior by bringing in cannons, tents, trees and shrubs, together with tons of mulch.

Meeting Public Scrutiny

by Bruce Feustel

As a former state attorney general, Speaker Greg Stumbo of Kentucky has an unusual perspective of having moved from elected executive branch official to the legislature. "When I was the AG, everyone believed me, but as a legislator, nobody believes me." He was exaggerating for effect, but his point was that the public tends to give the benefit of the doubt to executive branch officials, but be highly skeptical of legislators.

In giving advice to his legislative colleagues about budgeting for the legislature in hard times at NCSL's Fall Forum in Tampa last week, Speaker Stumbo said that legislators need to stand up for their branch of government. "[Legislatures] have traditionally underfunded themselves because of the intense public scrutiny," he said. He believes that legislatures should take a fair share of cuts, but should also assert the need for funding the legislative branch.

He helps Kentucky legislators prepare to explain the case for legislative expenditures. He advises them to be clear and honest in making explanations and to use common sense reasoning to explain decisions. He sends out talking points for legislators for conversations with their constituents about the cost of the legislature. Speaker Stumbo urged legislators to take on the challenge of high public scrutiny for legislators, continue to fund the legislature at fair levels, and be prepared to tell constituents why the legislature needs to be strong.

Photo credit: Bluegrass Politics

Online Holiday Shopping a Loss for States

by Alex Fitzsimmons, NCSL Communications Intern

As the holiday shopping season kicked off over Thanksgiving weekend, millions of people embraced the Black Friday tradition of storming their local shops in search of the best deals. But many other eager shoppers waited until Monday to hunt for bargains from the comfort of their homes.

Cyber Monday sales shattered records and gave Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, a run for its money. According to IBM, online sales topped $1.2 billion, up more than 30 percent from just a year ago. Sales on mobile devices also surged to 14.3 percent of all Black Friday sales, compared with 5.6 percent in 2010.

For online sellers, Santa came early this year. But for state governments, Cyber Monday served as a sobering reminder of missed revenue opportunities.

Many states are struggling to raise revenue and close budget gaps. But a loophole in the tax code prevents states from collecting sales taxes from online sellers who conduct business, but lack a physical presence, in their state. The Supreme Court ruled that because of interstate commerce issues, states could not collect sales taxes from out-of-state sellers without congressional approval.

As a result, states have suffered: It is estimated that state budgets lost about $18 billion in uncollected sales taxes in 2008 and are expected to lose $23 billion in 2012. States can no longer afford not to collect what's legally theirs.

Washington's TVW Launches New Website

by Jan Goehring

TVW, sometimes referred to as the Washington state C-SPAN, recently launched a new website at TVW.org to help viewers more easily access programming. TVW provides televised coverage of the state Legislature, Supreme Court, Executive Branch and key policy-related stories.

The site offers a new design and improved search capabilities. TVW reports that it has developed an innovative video player with enhanced search features. For example, a viewable scroll bar that shows thumbnail screenshots and a keyword search within videos will improve searches and navigation within the program. It will also provide a copy of the meeting agenda for legislative events and direct access to all legislative documents associated with the event. The ability to share videos with social networking sites will also be available.      

“We hope that the new TVW.org will be a much more practical and functional tool for citizens to use to stay informed about the important public policy issues being debated in our state,” says Greg Lane, TVW president.

State public affairs networks in 23 states and the District of Columbia, air coverage of state legislative, executive, judicial, and agency proceedings on cable TV. The National Association of Public Affairs Networks, Inc. (NAPAN) supports the establishment and expansion of these networks to provide citizens with access to unbiased information about state government and policy.  

"A Jigsaw Puzzle Half-finished"

by Karl Kurtz

In the wake of a threat by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to veto a redistricting plan drawn up by New York Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans, the New York Times provides a nice historical footnote on how Governors Alfred Smith and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had vetoed legislative plans in their day. Their veto messages contained some colorful language:

Smith blamed local party leaders “who were unquestionably actuated by political motives.” He said they went so far as “to bedevil the whole situation” by creating a skinny district in Manhattan that zigzagged from the Hudson River east from Bleecker Street on the south and 101st Street on the north. The district, which was designed to ensure the election of a Republican state senator, violated the constitutional requirement for compactness, Smith said.

The lines, Smith wrote in his veto message in 1926, “go around corners and up alleys to escape any portion of the population of Manhattan Island that experience teaches are prone to vote the Democratic ticket.”

“It is high time that political parties be given to understand that they cannot make a joke out of the Constitution of this state for the purposes of helping their political organizations,” Smith concluded.

Governor Roosevelt vetoed reapportion plans passed by the Republican legislators twice, in 1929 and 1930, on the same grounds that districts should be equal in population and as compact as practicable. He described the districts drawn by lawmakers to preserve their seats or to dislodge Democrats as “a jigsaw puzzle half-finished” and a “grotesque and unconstitutional reapportionment.”

A rose from The Thicket to Jeff Wice.

Photo credit: Associated Press

What the Deficit Reduction Means for States

Disappointed by the congressional super committee's failure to reach a deficit reduction agreement, state legislators are working to understand what the automatic budget cuts mean for their states, and how best to prepare for the cuts.

Of particular concern for lawmakers are the federal funding cuts in education, energy, the environment and criminal justice. And with large cuts to defense spending as well, states with military bases, homeland security operations and defense contractor employers are rightly concerned about a double economic hit.

NCSL policy analyst Jeff Hurley discusses what states can expect from sequestration.