The Thicket at State Legislatures

Legislative Junkie in Morocco

by Karl Kurtz

As this photo of me in front of the Moroccan Parliament with Elarbi Imad, director of the Moroccan Center for Civic Education, will attest, I visited my 82nd national or subnational parliament in Rabat last week.

At the Parliament, I met with two members of the staff who are responsible for training programs for Moroccan parliamentarians and staff to discuss possible collaboration and exchanges between American state legislatures and their parliament.  They were very interested in the idea.

Unfortunately, though, there was an international conference of African parliamentarians on immigration going on in the Parliament that day, so I was not able to visit the chambers or meet with any parliamentarians or senior staff.  So I'm stretching my tally of "parliaments visited" to include having been in the parliament building and meeting with a couple of staff without actually seeing the chambers.

I was in Morocco for the 12th World Congress on Civic Education, which I will report on in a later posting.

Using Technology to Improve Constituent Communication in Algeria

by Meagan Dorsch

I am excited to be in Algeria with an NCSL delegation to share experiences with members of parliament and staff on how to use technology to communicate better with the public and the media.

One of the challenges of cross-cultural communication about legislative strengthening is figuring out what ideas work best in different countries.  For example, Virginia Delegate Kristen Amundson and Ric Cantrell of the Utah Senate staff gave an overview of the technology tools they use in their legislatures. Both highlighted features like blogs and podcasts, tools that parliament members were familiar with but had never used. Ric did a terrific interactive session with the Algerians on how to set up and begin writing a blog from beginning to end.  The audience was really engaged and enjoyed these sessions, but they expressed concern that if they offered this type of technology to the public, it would not be used.

We learned that of Algeria's 34 million people, only about 1.9 million own a computer. But 28 million Algerians own a cell phone. And it is projected that by the year 2010, Algeria will have 36 million mobile phones--more phones than people! This is why Ric's second presentation on "text blasting" resonated so well with our audience.

Ric and the Utah Senate started "text blasting" five months ago with a small Utah company, Vox Partners. Anyone can sign up as a subscriber to receive a short text message sent out by Ric's office about things that are going on in the legislature. Ric demonstrated this process by importing the cell phone numbers of everyone in our NCSL delegation into his Vox website. He typed in a message, sent it off, and 8 seconds later we all received his message. When our ringers went off inside the workshop, the Algerians' eyes lit up! Ric told the crowd that Utah is beginning a movement by using this form of technology, but if Algeria picks it up, they could truly become a pioneer!

You can read all about the members of our delegation and our experiences--even how I regretted my choice of shoes to take on the trip--in a blog that we set up specially for our delegation, Algiers 2008. But I also want to share a few other highlights here in The Thicket.   

Cynicism about Lobbying--In Argentina and the United States

by Karl Kurtz

At the end of my visit to Buenos Aires for the World Congress on Civic Education, I went with NCSL’s key contact in Argentina, Alejandra Svetaz, to meet with an official at the United States Embassy.  Alejandra, who works for a member of the Argentina National Congress and runs an NGO supporting legislative strengthening in Argentina, is organizing a delegation of provincial legislative officials to attend our NCSL annual meeting in Boston this summer and is seeking support from our Embassy for this purpose.  She asked me to go along to meet with the Foreign Service officer to whom she has submitted a proposal and to support her case.

In the course of our conversation with the State Department official, Alejandra, who has attended NCSL annual meetings in the past, mentioned that one of the most valuable things that Argentinean legislative officials could learn from attending our meeting is how lobbying in the United States is vital to the legislative process and conducted in a transparent fashion.  She said that lobbying in Argentina takes place but that it is very secretive.  “Everyone knows who the lobbyists are, but in public we are supposed to act as if they don’t exist,” she said.

I was taken aback when the Foreign Service officer responded by saying, “Oh, I would never hold up lobbying in the U.S. as a model!  We have lots of problems with lobbying.  Congress passes laws to control their activities and all the lobbyists do is figure out ways to evade them.”  She went on to cast aspersions on what she viewed as the pervasive power of certain lobbying groups that she disagrees with. (The “special interests” are always the other guy’s, not our own preferred interests, which we think of as the “public” interest.)

Cynicism about the policy process is so pervasive in American life that I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to hear it from a Foreign Service officer.  But I would hope that those who represent us in our foreign embassies might offer a more informed and positive view of representative democracy in America.

The fact is that lobbying in the United States is conducted in a remarkably open manner.  In the Congress and virtually all state legislatures lobbyists have to register their interests publicly and report (often in great detail depending on the jurisdiction) their expenditures on elected officials.  They testify publicly before legislative committees about their positions.  They provide valuable information to legislators about the impacts of proposed legislation.  To be successful, they must be truthful and honorable with elected officials. 

Maintaining a Quorum, Argentinian Style

by Karl Kurtz

Meeting my own definition of a legislative junkie, I visited my 80th and 81st legislatures--either national or subnational--yesterday.  In Buenos Aires attending the World Congress on Civic Education, I toured the Argentinian National Congress and the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires. 

These two legislatures meet just a few blocks apart in grand buildings that were built in the late 1890s and early 1900s about the same time as many U.S. state capitols and resemble them in style. The city's legislative building is undergoing repair and updating, and the national capitol is in need of the same, as some of its glory is fading.

Displaying yet another variation on the often complicated governance of federal capital cities like Washington, D.C., Delhi, and Brasilia, the Buenos Aires City Legislature is so autonomous that the laws passed by the Congress do not apply to it.

I was most intrigued and a bit amused by a device that the Congress has for monitoring the presence of quorums in the 257-member Chamber of Deputies and the 72-member Senate. In both chambers the chairs are pressure sensitive and wired to an electronic board on the wall that displays how many members are present and in their seats. Business is not conducted unless a quorum consisting of an absolute majority is registered on the board. The presiding officer must often remind members to be seated to ensure the presence of a quorum.

This gives rise to occasional mischief, according to the veteran staffer to a deputy who was my guide. Members who wish to stall action without appearing to do so will rest their weight on the arms of their chairs. Conversely, resting your feet on your neighbor's empty chair counts for two members being present. One woman legislator weighed so little that her chair did not register her presence, so they gave her some hefty books to hold in her lap.

This device doesn't have much application to American state legislatures because in nearly all of them, by tradition and practice, the members are present during sessions. But imagine how the work of the United States Congress would change if the members had to be in their places for any business to be done!  It would give new meaning to the idea of a seat in Congress.

Another technological innovation in the Argentinian Congress is that the members' electronic voting buttons must be activated by a fingerprint scanner. The scanners are at every desk and work for anyone in the chamber, so the members do not have to be in their own seats to vote.  A few of our state legislatures could use this idea, especially ones where members occasionally reach over and vote for their absent neighbor or jam a letter opener in one of their buttons to register their votes while they are out of the chamber.

[Photo of Congreso de la Nacion Argentina from Wikipedia]

Russian Reflections on a Labor Caucus Lunch

by Dmitry Polyakov

[Ed. note: Guest author Dmitry Polyakov, from St. Petersburg, Russia, is a Legislative Education and Practice Program Fellow who splits time as an intern between the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Colorado Legislature.  He comments occasionally on American politics from a Russian perspective for The Thicket .]

Every other Thursday during the Sixty-Sixth Colorado General Assembly a bi-partisan Labor Caucus serves lunch to discuss current bills affecting labor and to present labor lobbyists' take on them to state lawmakers.

It was one of those busy Thursdays in the beginning of the legislative session when my supervisor, House Majority Policy Director Terry Whitney, sent me to the Labor Caucus lunch to observe what was on the labor lobbyists' agenda on that day.

The lunch started at noon, bringing together lobbyists and a legislative crowd: state representatives, senators and their staffers, along with always-desperate-for-some-free-meals legislative interns—like me.  The overall atmosphere was calm and friendly.  It didn't matter if you were just a legislative intern or a member of the house or committee chair—everyone was treated equally.  Labor representatives spoke on issues of concern to them; legislators, staffers and interns digested information and food.  The lunch took only an hour: in that time everybody was up-to-speed on labor-related legislative issues, fed and (therefore) happy.  That was the Labor Caucus lunch paid for by working class Americans who want to defend their interests using democratic and constitutional methods.  Everyone at the lunch was respected for doing his or her job and not for having a longer title on a business card.

The Labor Caucus lunch was a very interesting experience for me--something we Russians don't have a habit of doing.  The whole concept of having serious labor policy dialogues over a slice of pizza and a glass of soda seemed strange and new to me. But, I figured, some pizza and face-to-face honest conversations are way better than cash kickbacks, champagne and caviar dinners, and paid-for cruises that lobbyist often supply legislators with in my part of the world…  Now such lunches appear to me to be very simple, but transparent and truly democratic instruments, that people in Russia should also consider using their attempts to influence legislative decision making.

The Minnesota Legislature Through Russian Eyes

by Dmitry Polyakov

[Ed. note: Guest author Dmitry Polyakov, from St. Petersburg, Russia, is a Legislative Education and Practice Program Fellow and an intern who splits time between the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Colorado Legislature.  Recently he had an opportunity to visit the Minnesota Legislature as part of his work on an NCSL project.]

Early morning freezing cold air in St. Paul made my nose run and reminded me of my home in St Petersburg, Russia.  But thoughts about "mother-Russia" weren't important for me that day: I was heading to the State Capitol to get acquainted with the Minnesota Legislature.

Having previously visited state capitols in Oregon, Maryland and Colorado, I knew something of how legislatures differ across America.  I was excited and looking forward to learning about the legislative process in Minnesota. 

And there it was: a beautiful capitol, just a little over one-hundred years old.  Looking out from a faded early 19th Century black-and-white photograph, a group of well-dressed gentlemen—members of the Minnesota State Capitol construction commission—welcomed me as I entered the building.  I was immediately struck by gorgeous stone work and wide hallways. The atmosphere was friendly and calm. There was no rushing about, no undue noise and disturbance. Everyone seemed to know where they were going and what they were doing.

As soon as I entered the Senate Information office directed by Scott Magnuson, handshakes, warm welcomes and introductions started to fire at me with a pace of M-16 automatic rifle.  It seemed like everyone at the Capitol knew that "a guy from Russia" had arrived and wanted to stop by and say "hi".

[Continue reading after the jump.]

Increasing Voter Turnout

by Karl Kurtz

What can state policymakers do to increase voter turnout?  The answer is, "Not much," because voting is more a question of motivation on the part of citizens than it is of rules and structures provided by the legislature.  But there are some things that states have done or could do that might increase voter turnout, at least on the margins. 

I was asked last week to lead a discussion with NCSL's Redistricting and Elections Committee on this subject.  To prepare for that session, I reviewed a lot of recent political science literature on voter turnout and thought that I would share the results here in The Thicket.

The first point is that registering to vote and casting a ballot are much easier acts today than they were a generation ago.  Widespread reforms like the federally enacted "motor voter" law and state initiatives like early voting, "no excuse" absentee balloting, election day registration and Oregon's balloting by mail system have made it easier than ever to cast a vote.

Yet the rate of voter turnout  has remained almost constant since 1972, averaging 56% of eligible voters in presidential elections and 40% (39.9% in 2006) in midterm elections.  This is also contrary to the popular view that turnout has been declining.

Read more about turnout statistics and state policies that affect turnout after the jump.

Reaching Out to Young People in Australia

by Jan Goehring

Journey to the Land of Bean to find out how the jellybeans choose representatives to speak on their behalf. That's just one of the many educational tools offered by the Parliamentary Education Office in Canberra, Australia. The office was created in 1987 to develop parliamentary education resources.

As part of their effort, the office brings more than 100,000 school students to the capitol each year to participate in a parliament role play program. Participants learn the decisionmaking process first hand and have an opportunity to interact with members of parliament. These real-life experiences have been so successful that the education office has developed a role-play program to be used in local government council chambers and state parliaments all over Australia.

The Land of Bean is part of an online interactive program called KidsView designed to teach young people about democracy. NCSL has been involved in a similar effort and, in partnership with the Center for Civic Education and Center on Congress at Indiana University, recently launched democracykids.org that offers fun, interactive games and activities about American democracy, Congress and state legislatures.

Same Issues, Different Continent

by Karl Kurtz

For the last week, I have been in India with Illinois Senator and NCSL Immediate Past President Steve Rauschenberger, working to develop an international exchange between Indian and American state legislators.

As the national capital of India, Delhi has a governmental structure very similar to that of Washington, D.C. or Brasilia.  It is a "union territory" with its own legislature but, much to its chagrin, does not have the same status as the 28 states of India.

The Delhi Legislative Assembly convened its winter session today.  Here is what members of the legislative assembly told us, supplemented by a story in the Hindustan Times, about the topics on the agenda for this session:

• An unpopular land use decision by the nation's high court (sound familiar?), which has the potential for costing the current coalition leader, the Congress party, the next election in Delhi
• Alleged corruption in the city government of Delhi
• A proposal to reorganize the government
• Relaxation of local property taxes
• Water, energy and law and order issues
• And that ever popular issue of a pay and allowance raise for members of the legislative assembly.

Perhaps the Delhi Legislative Assembly would like to join NCSL, since the issues are so similar.  We could all learn from each other.

The Longest-serving Legislator in the World? Not

by Karl Kurtz

During a visit to the Delhi Legislative Assembly last week, my ears perked up when someone said that the speaker of the legislative assembly, Chaudharry Prem Singh, first elected in 1958, is "the longest-serving legislator in the world."  Wow, that's quite a claim!  Unfortunately, though, we happen to know it's not true.

At NCSL we get questions like this all the time--am I the longest serving this or the first legislator of thus and such characteristics to do that?  We do our best to answer these questions for the U.S., but we don't try to answer them for the world.

In this case, though, our previous posting in The Thicket, Longest Serving State Legislator, disproves the claim about Speaker Singh in Delhi.  Both Sen. John Marchi in New York and Sen. Fred Risser in Wisconsin were first elected two years before Speaker Singh and are completing their 50th years of legislative service.

Sorry, though, Senators Marchi and Risser, we can't tell you if you're the longest serving in the world.

Legislative Junkie Defined

by Karl Kurtz

Have you been wondering why we style this a "blog by and for legislative junkies?" I can't answer the "for" part (that's for you, the reader, to define), but I can tell you about the "by" part.

Last week on a day off from attending the World Congress on Civic Education, I went to visit the Polish parliament composed of the Sejm (house), where the power is, and a largely advisory Senate.

The Polish parliament is the 75th national or subnational legislature/parliament that I have visited around the world--54 in North America, 12 in Europe, four in Africa, three in South America and two in Asia. I have seen at least a dozen others from the outside, but they don't count because I haven't actually visited their legislative chambers.

Call me compulsive. Call me a legislative junkie.

Here We Go, Senators, Here We Go (Clap, Clap)

by Gene Rose

While it may be considered un-American to root for a Canadian hockey team, a case can be made that those who work in America's legislative branch of government should do just that.

The National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators start second round play against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. It's one of the few teams we've found that, through its team name, pay tribute to the first branch of government. The only other team in the league that comes close, the Washington Capitals, did not make the playoffs this year.

Which got us wondering about other North America team nicknames with a legislative bent.