The Thicket at State Legislatures

Sine Die Traditions

by Meagan Dorsch

Each year, our NCSL contributors to the Thicket work hard to post a Sine Die (scroll down if you hit this link) for each legislature as it goes dark.

This morning, I noticed an article posted by Dan Petty at Stateline.org. Dan had a little fun with his Sine Die piece, delving into the traditions state legislatures have for the final day of session. 

Our own Karl Kurtz wrote an article on Sine Die and other Vulgarities, where you can find a great list of legislative localisms (this is also one of the most googled article in the Thicket).

Please enjoy both pieces when you have some time, and let us know of any other (Sine Die) traditions that your state might celebrate!

What Would Happen if Congress were Abolished?

by Karl Kurtz

In our work on the Trust for Representative Democracy we are always looking for creative ways to make the point that representative democracy works, not without flaws but better than any conceivable alternative.  One of the ideas that we have toyed with is to try to show what life would be like without legislatures, but we haven't quite come up with the way to do it.

In the process of searching for old documentaries on government, my colleague Gene Rose found a 1947 Coronet Instructional film, "The Powers of Congress."  This 10 minute video features a character, Charles Bentley, who complains bitterly about the burdens that the Congress has placed on him and suggests that it should be abolished.  He then falls asleep and has a dream about all the dreadful things that would happen if there were no Congress (or at least no federal government).  The dream is cleverly produced, complete with marvelous bubbles floating across the screen in a manner that seems way before its time.  When Bentley awakens from the dream, he has a new appreciation for the work of Congress and composes a speech for his service club on the subject. 

This last third of the video in praise of Congress turns pedantic in its approach, but it doesn't wipe out the campiness and fun of the first two-thirds.  You'll have fun watching it.

Report Confirms Online Influence on 2008 Election

by Gene Rose

The Pew Internet & American Life Project on Sunday released a new report, "The internet and the 2008 election," summarizing how voters in the United States are using online technologies in this election cycle. According to the report, the main findings are:

• 40% of all Americans (internet users and non-users alike) have gotten news and information about this year’s campaign via the internet.
• 19% of Americans go online once a week or more to do something related to the campaign, and 6% go online to engage politically on a daily basis.
• 23% of Americans say they receive emails urging them to support a candidate or discuss the campaign once a week or more.
• 10% of Americans use email to contribute to the political debate with a similar frequency.

Other notable findings:

• 35% of Americans have watched online campaign-related videos.
• 8% have donated to a candidate online.
• 60% agree with the statement: "The internet is full of misinformation and propaganda that too many voters believe is accurate."
• 74% disagree with the statement: "I would not be as involved in this campaign as much if it weren’t for the internet."

Here is Pew's summary of the report.

Tim Russert, ex-Legislative Staffer

New York Senate staffer Jeff Wice reported this little known fact about Tim Russert in a posting in the blog, Capitol Confidential:

...Tim Russert served as counsel to the Assembly Railroads Subcommittee in 1976. This was right after law school and before he went to work with me in the Moynihan Senate campaign. His chairman was Vincent Graber. Tim’s greatest and proudest accomplishment was to arrange a train trip with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to save Grand Central Terminal’s historic status from development.

Of course, Tim returned to Albany several years later to work for Governor Cuomo in a much more public role.

After posting this item, we received the following elaboration from Jeff:

Civics also not on the Test

by Karl Kurtz

A friend recently sent me a link to a wonderful, funny/sad Tom Chapin song, Not on the Test.  The song, which bemoans the fact that art and music are no longer taught in schools because they're "not on the test", was composed by Chapin and John Forster for NPR in January 2007, but I had not previously been aware of it.

When I shared the song with Ted McConnell, the new director of the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (CMS campaign), I said that I wished that Forster and Chapin had included something more explicit about civics and government not being tested besides some lines about how "rational discourse" is one of the subjects that is no longer taught.

Ted came back with a clever suggestion that some (not-altogether-politically-correct) lyrics be added to the song: "No civics, no history, no geography, too.  If this keeps up our country is screwed!"

Great line, Ted!

By the way, although there is not yet any mention of it on either the CMS campaign web site or the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) page, Ted's becoming the executive director coincides with the campaign moving its home base from the Council for Excellence in Government to NCSS.

More Detective Novels Set in State Capitols

by Karl Kurtz

My posting two years ago, "The Fly on the Wall and Other Novels," about mysteries that are set in state capitols generated a number of contributions from readers.  In that story I referred to correspondence that I had had many years ago with two fellow legislative junkies in California and Hawaii about this subject but could no longer find.  Rummaging through some old files recently, I found their letters and am delighted that they add substantially to the list of detective novels set in state capitols.

From a 1994 letter from the late Yen Lew, then the ombudsman for the Hawaii Legislature (hyperlinks added):

Two recent books to include in the listing are Running Mates by John Feinstein [who covered the Maryland Statehouse for the Washington Post for two years before becoming a sports reporter] and The Texas Capitol Murders by Bill Crider.

The Sean Hanlon book I would include is Deep Freeze where the hero works for the speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. This book is part of a series.  I haven't read all the others, but I think this is the only one with a legislative backdrop.

What Happened at NCSL's Spring Forum?

By Meagan Dorsch and Michelle Blackston

How can states address their educational capacity for training nurses? What effects do immigration raids have on families and how can child welfare agencies be prepared? Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case from North Carolina during its next term that could dramatically change the rules for 2010 redistricting for all states.

These are just some of the sessions held last month at NCSL's Spring Forum in Washington, D.C. This year, more than 600 state legislators and legislative staff were able to attend. 

Listen and enjoy over 12 different sessions highlighting federal and state policy issues ranging from health care and REAL ID to the 2008 Elections.

2008 Exclusive Election Preview

by Gene Rose & Tim Storey

The 2008 presidential election “may mark a shift” in how America chooses its presidents, according to one of the country’s most respected political analysts.

John Harwood, CNBC Chief Washington Correspondent and a political writer for The New York Times, this morning spoke at NCSL’s “Legislative Leadership: The Art, The Politics, The Challenge,” taking place at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, D.C. He is the co-author of  a soon-to-be-released book Profiles in Backroom Power, which shows “how today’s Washington power game really works, through stories of people who are making a difference on Pennsylvania Avenue.”

State legislative leaders got an exclusive preview of Harwood’s book, which he will be promoting over the next few days on Meet the Press, Charlie Rose and the Daily Show.

Harwood pointed out that when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, there were about 200 U.S. House districts that split their vote between a Republican president and a Democrat running for Congress. By George W. Bush’s run for reelection in 2004, that number was reduced to 50, politically polarizing the country.

“The electoral map is going to change,” he says, since the 2008 election pits a conservative vs. a liberal. “I think we are going to see an election that is going to be fought much more in the middle” than in previous elections. “Either one of these guys can break the gridlock that we have seen.”

Part of that will be seen on the campaign trail, since he does not see either candidate running a “slashing” campaign. Harwood says the general election will be as interesting as the primaries have been.

John McCain, who was considered politically dead at one point in the primaries, will run a much different campaign than Bush did, Harwood says. His reputation as a maverick is going to have appeal to some voters like those in New Hampshire where McCain is polling well. On the other hand, Barack Obama is going to have a greater capacity to compete in states like Colorado and Virginia. However, “The race problem that he will have might be greater than we have anticipated,” he says. McCain will face concerns about his age, he adds.

Republicans face the greater challenge in the fall, he says. “It’s a terrible environment” for the GOP, he says. While Obama will begin the general election with some damage with his fight with Hillary Clinton, Harwood says polling shows the American people feel  “lousy” about the economy and the Iraq war.  Many strategists feel that Republicans need the president to raise his popularity rating from the low thirties into the forties, he says.

Harwood says a choice of a running mate will be an important decision for the candidates. He says potential running mates for McCain include Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence and Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. Possible Obama running mates are Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, Delaware Senator Joe Biden and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. “But the name I hear the most” is former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, he says.

Harwood says he was pleased to be speaking to a group of legislative leaders. “I think state legislative sessions are the most fun journalistic event that I know of,” he says. Harwood covered the Florida legislature in Tallahassee in the 1980s. Legislatures are “a place to see democracy in action.”

Is Social Media Right for You? Know your limits!

by Meagan Dorsch

Know your limits: this is the philosophy that I apply to everything I do, whether it’s putting together a media plan or buying a bathing suit.

This is a philosophy I think we in the legislative community should adopt before incorporating social media into our communication plans. Social media is also known as Web 2.0. As I explained to my father, Web 2.0 is not an application you can download onto your laptop. Web 2.0, or social media, are terms referring to several on-line communications tools.

Blogs, podcasts and message boards are some of the hottest social media tools on the market: twittering and tweeting are not far behind! Many companies, including government organizations, are considering whether or not to use these tools as a way to communicate with employees, constituents and the public.

This week, I have been attending the National Association of Government Communications annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Several of the sessions being offered have covered social media and have been well attended.

For some government organizations it’s hard to think about using social media to communicate with the public. The CIA probably doesn’t want its employees blogging, but other government agencies have had a lot of success with these tools. Steve Crescenzo of Crescenzo Communications showed us a blog launched by the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and a podcast produced by the U.S. Census Bureau.

So you may be thinking, “If the TSA has a blog, we should too.” Not the case my friends, know your limits!

Steve Crescenzo warned us you don’t have to use these tools just because they are out there. You should use them if they are:

• Engaging: the purpose of social media is to spark conversation in your on-line community. Be ready to hear feedback from the public both  good and bad.
• Entertaining: blogs started out as on-line diaries. Make sure they are written in the first person and have an element of entertainment. A podcast should sound like an old time radio show.
• And a good fit for your communications plan.

Keeping these three things in mind might help you decide if your organization, business or legislature should incorporate social media or Web 2.0 into your media strategy. If you do, these same three tips will help them be a successful and effective way to communicate with your employees, constituents and the public. And remember, know your limits!

Politics as Entertainment: Comedy or Tragedy?

by Gene Rose

Although Russell Peterson once worked as a stand-up comedian, he now doesn't see politics as a laughing matter.

Peterson has written a book, "Strange Bedfellows: How Late-Night Comedy Turns Democracy Into a Joke." In this Chicago Tribune article, Peterson says the cumulative effect of TV comedians treating all office holders as "corrupt, laughable, puffed-up egomaniacs" damages democracy.

I haven't read the book yet, but his point is one that we hear expressed from time to time. The Tribune article references a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press report that claimed one in five people aged 18 to 29 got their political information from late-night comics. Online debate raged on whether this is a good or bad trend.

We can't just blame the comedians though. A relatively small number of politicians provide the late-night comedian a generous source of material. The problem, as Peterson suggests, is that the entire public service industry gets painted with that large brush.

And still, politicians can't tear themselves away. This New York Times article provides a great glimpse on how politicians are trying to capitalize on the large audience television attracts. The article talks about the president being on Deal or No Deal and the Democratic  presidential candidates appearing on The Colbert Report before the Pennsylvania primary. Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rosenthal wrote about how all three main presidential candidates taped messages for World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw program. Poynter columnist Al Tompkins points out comedians have been using politicians as foils for a long time.

We've discussed in this blog how the entertainment industry portrays politicians. Late night comedians are guilty of exploiting politicians for their own benefit. Does it hurt democracy, as Peterson and others have suggested? I suggest it does, especially when public servants provide the punchlines. However, the politicians who understand the power of the medium can use it as a platform to promote democracy. There are some good ones out there, but we could use a few more.

Changing Perceptions of Public Access

by Gene Rose

State governments are often accused and criticized in the media for blocking access to records and information. A pair of legislative staffers in Oklahoma are doing their best to change that perception.

Oklahoma Senate Communications Director Malia Bennett and Senate Department of Information Systems Director John Warren earned a special public award for innovations that give the public greater access to the activities of the Senate. The award, given by Freedom of Information Oklahoma, recognizes organizations that enable and thwart public access to records. The winners of this year's awards were summarized by this article in the Oklahoman.

Bennett and Warren were given high marks for the Senate's Web site, streaming proceedings of Senate deliberations and posting votes in real time.

In a press release issued by the Oklahoma Senate, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan said, "Our communications and information systems departments have been proactive and innovative in developing a variety of features to provide the public with greater access to the business of the Senate. This is a well-deserved honor for our staff." Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee echoed those remarks, said, "We are proud that they have been honored with this award. The Senate will continue working to find new and innovative ways to provide the public with government information.”

Photo of Oklahoma Capitol dome by Eric Oxendorf.

Videos on State Politics

by Karl Kurtz

Looking for videos--documentary or fictional--about state and local politics?  Professor Carl Klarner of Indiana University compiled a list after posting an inquiry on an academic political science listserv about videos on state and local politics that would be useful in the classroom.  With his permission I am reproducing his list here, organized slightly differently, leaving out lots of suggestions he received about movies not directly related to state and local government and adding any links that I could find.  The comments on each video are either those received by Prof. Klarner or they come from online listings.

This list was produced by academics.  The Thicket readers are invited to add their own suggestions by writing a comment below or clicking on "contact us" and sending an e-mail.  For a similar lively discussion of movies that are set in (but not necessarily about state politics) state capitols, see "Lights, Camera...Capitols."

As usual with fictional portrayals of government and politics, an overwhelming (and dismaying) number of these films deal with government corruption.  Caveat emptor.

State Politics

• Last Man Standing: Politics Texas Style--2004 television documentary. Asking what the politics are that launched George W. Bush to national office, award-winning filmmaker Paul Stekler takes his camera to Texas for a lively, behind-the-scenes look at a pair of 2002 elections — one for state representative in a district that includes Lyndon Johnson's hometown, and a polarizing race for governor.
• State Legislature--2007 documentary about the Idaho state legislature by Frederick Wiseman, 3 hrs., 37 min., like first-hand observation with editing.
• Bill's Run--a 2004 PBS documentary about a campaign for the state legislature in Kansas.
• Brotherhood--2006 Showtime TV series: Set in an Irish neighbourhood in Providence, the series reflects around two brothers on opposite sides of the law: one a gangster (Jason Isaacs) and the other a Rhode Island state legislator (Jason Clarke).

Bigger Issues, Fewer Reporters

by Gene Rose

St. Petersburg Times Bureau Chief Steve Bousquet commented Monday on a trend at the Capitol that he doesn't like: there are fewer reporters covering the Florida legislature and state government.

In 1998, American Journalism Review did an extensive survey and reported an alarming decrease in reporters covering statehouses. Any Capitol observer knows the trend's continued and, primarily due to newspaper consolidation and budget-cutting, the numbers will continue to go down.

As journalists leave the Capitol, there is a void. There probably won't be a public clamor to fill that void, but there are two sectors that I believe will attempt to do so. The first is government employees (e.g. press secretaries, public information officers) using new social media tools to try to keep the public informed. The second is by concerned citizens, or political action groups, who decide to form their own news bureaus.

Bousquet's newspaper has a proud national reputation for statehouse coverage. He rightfully worries how less newspaper coverage will affect the public. At a time when arguably there are tougher and more complicated issues for legislatures to debate, should we worry if nobody notices or cares?

Clemens, Congress and the Media

by Gene Rose

Is the use of steroids by major league baseball players an important national issue or one that simply allows members of Congress to grandstand for the television cameras? The public relations battle between pitcher Roger Clemens and his trainer is taking center stage in Congress and there appears to be a lot of hand-wringing on whether the issue deserves to be a Capitol Hill headliner.

Poynter's Al Tompkins has a good column on the debate today with some thoughtful commentary on both sides of the issue. Washington Post's Tony Kornheiser, who hosts one of the few programs I insist on watching daily ("Pardon the Interruption" on ESPN), has said on the show recently on more than one occasion that Congress has more important things to worry about, such as the war in Iraq.

I always cringe when I hear statments like that. While I like and respect Tony -- and agree with him and others that there are more important things in the world to worry about -- comments like this ignore a critical fact of life: the media has decided it's news.

The definition of news has changed dramatically in recent years and, quite frankly, the media has decided this story has legs and, like covering Britney Spears, will run on this story as long as there is a perceived high level of public interest. Will the media be covering today's U.S. Senate hearings on the foreclosures of elderly homeowners or the President's proposed budget for Veteran's affairs with the same breathless intensity? Try to find it in your morning newspaper or the evening news tonight.

While I am the last person to say that there aren't people on Capitol Hill who are hoping to use this story for political gain, the fact is that without the media, there would be no story. Rather than criticizing Congress for holding hearings on this issue, I think a fairer question to debate is whether the media has more important news to cover.

Poll Results: Watching Legislative Broadcasts

Our poll asking how frequently you watch broadcasts of legislative proceedings, which was based on Pam Greenberg's post, "Is Anybody Watching," was up for about two weeks and drew only 14 responses.  But those who did respond confirmed the legislative junkie nature of our readers: Half of the respondents said that they watch their state's legislative sessions daily.  Two said that they tune in about weekly, and the remaining five said either that they seldom or never watch or that no broad cast is available in their state.

Poll Results: Increased Partisanship in Legislatures

Our poll about the causes of increased partisanship in legislatures, which was based on the posting, "Things Ain't What They Used to Be and Never Were,"  was probably the most complicated question that we have posed in The Thicket.  The question read, "Many believe that partisanship in legislatures has increased, and civility and camaraderie have declined.  What is the primary cause of this in your state?"

Seventy-six readers responded to the question. Thirty-five (46%) of you said that the cause was increased partisanship nationally, 12 (16%) chose ethics laws/term limits, 8 (11%) picked general changes in social relationships, 7 (9%) blamed the media, and 4 (5%) clicked on greater diversity/complexity of society and government.  The remaining 10 (13%) respondents disagreed with the premise of the question, presumably because they don't believe that partisanship, civility and camaraderie have declined in their state's legislature.

Is Anybody Watching?

by Pam Greenberg

Last week, Governing's Management Letter asked "a simple question:"

"A bunch of states are considering requiring audio or video recordings of government meetings. But who's watching? …all we want to know is whether states that put in the effort measure the number of people who actually look at the recordings afterwards."

For state legislatures, the answer is that many do have the numbers on how many people watch legislative proceedings on the Internet, and the numbers are interesting.  Barry LaGrave, Director of Public Information Services for the Minnesota House of Representatives provided me with these figures:

For calendar year 2007, the Minnesota House had:

• 111,754 combined hits to the live and archive webcast streams, averaging 306 hits per day.
• 11,652 "distinct visitors"  (This means the number of unique IPs. Each one could have watched one or 111 clips.)
• Average play duration of live and archive streams was 29 minutes, 27 seconds
• A relatively even usage pattern Monday-Friday, with a slight increase on Thursdays.

Barry notes that their top "hit" day was April 26, 2007 (6,024 hits), when they had a two-part, 10-hour floor session debate of the omnibus tax bill and the statewide smoking ban bill. The last day of the 2007 regular session also generated a ton of hits: 5,836.  Minnesota's House Television Services and Senate Media Services televise and webcast the legislative proceedings.

Some numbers from other states:

Washington's TVW televises and webcasts government proceedings.  TVW produces more than 2,000 hours of original programming annually, of which about 40 percent is legislative coverage.  TVW reports that "2006 and 2007 statewide polls of registered voters by Elway Research show that 22 percent of registered voters in Washington State, some 800,000 people, had watched TVW within the last 2 weeks."

The Virginia Senate has about 70-100 daily users of its streaming video coverage (not including staff and others in the Senate, House of Delegates and Legislative Agencies who watch on the Capitol Campus).  Jonathan Palmore of Senate Information Services also reports that the Senate has an audio only stream that has about 20 users daily.

Maine provides video coverage of legislative proceedings.  Paul Mayotte, Director of the Office of Information Services, was able to report that from the beginning of January 2008 through January 24, the Maine Senate registered more than 700 connections, had close to 200 unique viewers, and averaged more than 30 daily viewers.  Average play duration was close to 20 minutes.  Keep in mind that Maine is early in its session--these statistics cover just eight floor sessions that did not average more than an hour. 

We won't compare these numbers to the Nielsen ratings for The Oprah Winfrey Show, but all the same, the numbers seem pretty impressive to me.   NCSL's list of states that webcast and televise legislative proceedings is at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/webcasts.htm.

Morality in a Digital Age

by Gene Rose

Two journalists' thoughts on morality and communications return me to a reoccuring question I struggle with -- are state legislatures prepared to meet the challenges of communicating in the Web 2.0 age?

The New York Times columnist David Pogue was astonished recently when he couldn't find a question to college students about copyright protection that "would trigger these kids' morality alarm." By asking questions ranging from making safety copies of DVDs to downright illegal downloads of movies, he found that students living in the new digital age are used to acquiring free content and have few qualms about getting the digital content they want by any means necessary.

Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus asked some similar questions to students, but focused more on online newspaper content. Again, he found that students are so used to getting free online news articles that paying a fee for them struck the students as a crazy idea. His larger point is that journalism needs a better business model to guarantee its future.

These columns raise several questions that legislatures should consider about how they communicate on the Internet. Is the content being provided able to compete with other digital content students are downloading? Is information being provided in a format that is easy to obtain and update? Are enough resources being put in place to generate content people will use and become more involved? Is the media -- where most people say they get information about legislative actions -- reacting fast enough to these changes?

There are public information officers in the states who are paying attention to these trends and working on ways to make sure they are adapting to the changes in journalism and the new ways that people are sharing information. Legislatures that don't adapt are at risk of others controlling their messages for them.

Billions Ready: Does Democracy Have a Chance?

by Gene Rose

The money is in the bank or on its way. The commercials are in production. The candidates have their messages. Does democracy have a chance?

Right after the holidays, it will be open season on legislative and executive institutions as political candidates -- led by those running for president -- begin to release billions of advertising dollars between January and November. (With recognition of the citizens in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, who already have seen their fair share.) By all indications, the trend to criticize candidates' viewpoints, experiences and judgments will continue in 2008. And few will overcome the urge to trash the very institutions the candidates are seeking to join.

"Political Ad Spend to Soar," says this article in Adweek. Forbes agrees, and says it's good economic news for all media and even the U.S. Postal Service. Newspapers are hopeful to increase their political advertising revenues, according to this article in Editor & Publisher.

Negative advertising works, political candidates are told. (Wikipedia offers some nice background on it here.) While there are plenty of examples where it doesn't work, not going on the attack often makes a candidate look weak.

While the tactic largely is seen on the national stage, there are plenty of current state legislators who have won due to negative advertising, and those who have barely survived an onslaught.

In the end, the billions spent attacking candidates and political institutions only reinforce the public's cynicism of public service. And, there is reason to believe that there are plenty of good, qualified people who would consider running for elected office that decide they don't want to put themselves or their families through this process.

There are several organizations, such as NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy, who are fighting hard to show the value of representative democracy. Their cause is worthy. All they have to do is go up against the billions of dollars spent trashing the system and the people who participate in it.

The Leaky Media Faucet

by Gene Rose

Politico's Ryan Grim writes on "The art of the leak" today, putting a magnifying glass on how politicians and government officials in the nation's capital work with the media. He discusses how information is "leaked" to and from the press, in hopes of generating news coverage or providing perspective without accountability.

"There are probably a thousand leaks a day here," Grim writes, and then cleverly identifies 11 different types of leaks including the "I Scratch-Your-Back-You-Scratch-Mine" Relationship Leak, which he translates to "I'll confirm that nasty rumor now, but you owe me."

In America's statehouses, there are significantly less reasons to leak information. (In fact, in the media training I do, I encourage legislators and staff to avoid any off-the-record or background discussions with reporters.) But, as with all rules, there are times when leaks are necessary, but it takes skilled spokespersons and journalists to pull it off.

Still, the theme of the story is true, the press would rather get its information from sources rather than from a news conference or press release. (A 2004 NCSL survey of legislators and reporters confirms this. You can read the summary here.)

The bottom line is, if you want media coverage, you need to learn how the media operates. Even if you find it a leaky situation.

[Photo by Jenny Romney, courtesy of Flickr.]

More on Bloggers' Press Credentials

by Karl Kurtz

Jill Miller Zimon has written "Beyond the wonks: access to Ohio's legislature" in her blog, Writes Like She Talks (a clever name, except that her writing belies the title--either that or she talks well), about how the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association controls media credentials for the Ohio General Assembly.  Thus far, no bloggers have been credentialed in the Ohio legislature. 

In her post (which also appears in a Cleveland Plain Dealer blog) she has included the language of the Ohio Senate rules that gives that control to the incumbent reporters.  These rules say in part:

...[T]he Ohio Legislative Correspondents’ Association...shall see that the privileges of the floor be granted to representatives of the press association serving newspapers of general circulation, bona fide correspondents of reputable standing in their profession who represent newspapers of general circulation or magazines, or representatives of daily legislative information services of known standing and integrity, or their affiliates; organized for that one purpose and not controlled by or connected with an association, firm, corporation, or individual representing any trade, profession, or other commercial enterprise, and which have been in continuous and bona fide operation for such a period of years immediately prior to the date of making application for floor privileges as will have made possible the establishment of a reputation for honesty and integrity....

Whew, that's quite a mouthful--and quite a mountain for bloggers to climb, if they want to obtain press credentials!  Jill says that she plans to challenge the rule by seeking credentials for herself in the future.

Allowing the correspondents' association to manage press credentials is a classic approach to occupational licensing--let the incumbents control entry to the profession.  I've never paid much attention to the subject of press credentials in legislatures. When I looked this subject up in Inside the Legislative Process, I found that it's a fairly common practice: press associations determine accreditation of reporters in 27 of the 99 state legislative chambers. 

As the saga of bloggers' press credentials unfolds, it will be interesting to see if bloggers are less likely to get press credentials in chambers where the press associations are responsible for accreditation than from others (presiding officers, rules committees or appropriate staff offices) who perform this task.

We have written about the topic of bloggers' press credentials before in The Thicket in "Bloggers Get Press Credentials" and "A Victory for Bloggers."  In a poll that we posted on this subject, three-quarters of the respondents said that they believed that bloggers should be given press credentials, if they meet certain specified criteria.

Do any legislative junkies have recent updates to offer to these stories?

Broder Highlights Legislators' Public Outreach Efforts

by Karl Kurtz

David Broder wrote an excellent column yesterday, "Breaking Through to Voters," based on a panel session of state legislators talking about their public outreach efforts at the Council of State Governments-West meeting last week in Jackson Hole.  The column highlights Montana Rep. John Keane's efforts to get young people to draft legislation that he then introduces, Hawaii's public access room in the capitol, Utah Rep. Steve Urquhart's Politicopia web site, and Washington's TVW network that broadcasts legislative proceedings.

Just a couple of comments on these stories.  First, Rep. Keane's biennial effort to get Butte High School students to draft legislation for introduction into the Montana Legislature is a great idea, but only if he or someone else is also teaching these students about why their legislation might well fail.  In fact, since usually less than half of the bills introduced in Montana are enacted, the odds are that the students' proposed legislation will not pass.  Such failures--because of  disagreement about what's best for the state among legitimate competing interests--provide teaching moments that are just as good as those provided by successful passage.  Butte High School should enshrine the failed bills in their trophy case just as they have the successful ones.

Second, the case of an Idaho legislator who said that a superintendent of schools had blocked him from visiting a classroom for fear that he would politically indoctrinate the students is sad, but not unheard of in NCSL's America's Legislators Back to School program.  Because this program is all about helping young people understand our system of representative democracy, there is no reason for school leaders to be afraid of legislators visiting classrooms to teach about the legislative process and to hear what's on the minds of  students.  The fact that so many national organizations of school officials have endorsed the Back to School program attests to this.

Transparency in Public Pensions: Coming to Your State Next?

by Ron Snell

Public irritation at how much some retired public employees receive in pensions makes the news periodically in state after state.  A 2,205 page report released by the Massachusetts State Treasurer's Office and made available online by the Boston Herald lets you look at exactly how much each recipient of a state pension in Massachusetts receives.  You can search it by name, but apparently not by amount of benefit.   

Undeterred by the need to search through all the pages, the Boston Herald reports that 85 beneficiaries receive more than $100,000 a year, with the list topped by a former medical school faculty member at $232,000.  He is followed by former Massachusetts Senate President and University of Massachusetts president William Bulger, at $185,000.  Former governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis has been earning a more modest pension of $30,033.72 per year since 1991.

Pensions at that level reflect high compensation and long careers in public service. Massachusetts caps pensions at 80 percent of final average salary (usually the average of compensation for the last three to five years of employment).  That's a relatively low cap among the states that have one:  100 percent is a more common figure.  Thrifty Vermont has set its cap at 50 percent of final average salary, at the low end of the spectrum.  The states' benefit formulas and limits on pension benefits can be found in Section 6, "Benefit Formulas," of the National Education Association report, Characteristics of Large Pension Plans.

Concerns over state and local governments long-term obligations to retired employees for pensions and health benefits make it certain that the media will continue to scrutinize individuals' benefits.  Some states guard individual pension payments as a matter of privacy, but that could change.  Massachusetts has broken new ground with the publication of a comprehensive list, but in today's climate, other states may be forced to follow suit.

Lights, Camera...Capitol

by Tim Storey

One brutally hot summer day a few weeks ago, I decided to take the kids and seek relief in the air conditioned confines of the local movie house.  I let my kids (ages 5 and 6) choose the movie, so we set off to see the summer's most talked about canine-oriented flick--Underdog.  I spent most of the movie trying to figure out what state capitol provided the filming location for Underdog's heroic exploits.  The credits revealed that it was filmed in and around the Rhode Island state capitol and capital.  Rhode Island's legislative leaders, Speaker William J. Murphy and President of the Senate Joseph A. Montalbano, were formally thanked in the credits.  Apparently, Rhode Island lawmakers offered tax credits that helped attract the Underdog filmmakers, and legislators and staff worked around the inconvenience of having a film crew swarming through the building for several days.   

I started wondering how often legislatures have allowed Hollywood to use the capitol as a set.  A couple of years ago, filmmakers spent 10 days filming All the Kings Men, starring Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins, in Louisiana's towering state capitol.  I believe some Louisiana legislators and staff appeared in the film as extras.  Of course, we've devoted a great deal of virtual ink here in the Thicket talking about the documentary Legislature filmed in the Idaho state capitol (see here and here).  I imagine that other capitols have served as the backdrop for major motion pictures, so post a comment if you know of any other flicks filmed in legislative chambers.

And by the way, I wouldn't race out to see Underdog unless maybe you're under eight years old or you want to marvel at the beauty of the Rhode Island Capitol building. 

Lost in the Thicket of NCSL's Annual Meeting

by Karl Kurtz

We're back!  Last week's highly successful NCSL annual meeting in Boston and the run-up to it have meant that The Thicket has languished for a while.

Here are some notes that I stored up from the meeting but didn't have time to post last week.

• The meeting was a huge success, setting a record with over 9,000 participants.  You can find summaries and videos of some of the major sessions on our annual meeting web page.
• One of the most popular events was the general session at which the historian David McCullough spoke.  His theme was "For the last 25 years we have been raising a generation of young people who are historically illiterate," and he went on to emphasize the importance of history education in preparing young people for citizenship.  Connecticut blogger Aldon Hynes has a nice summary of McCullough's comments in "At home, thinking."
• The lively panel discussion between former presidential advisers David Gergen and Andrew Card, moderated by NPR's Mara Liasson, is summarized in Experts Discuss What Makes a President Great.  Minnesota Senate staffer Peter Wattson, though, wonders (in an email message to me) if Card's inclusion of George Washington on a list of unpopular presidents who were later vindicated by history is proof of David McCullough's assertion about the public's ignorance of history. Peter points out that  Washington twice ran for president unopposed.
• A search on "ncsl" in Technorati reveals a large number of bloggers covered our annual meeting.  My colleague Bill Wyatt will post a more thorough summary of media coverage later in the week.  But in a quick perusal I spotted postings from Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington, as well as various industry or organizational blogs.