The Thicket at State Legislatures

A Tough Choice on Her First Day in the Legislature

by Karl Kurtz

The Chicago Tribune has this story about an Illinois legislator on her first day in office:

Moments after being sworn in, freshman state Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) cast the only vote against impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich, her brother-in-law.

Mell, the daughter of Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) and sister of first lady Patricia Blagojevich, declined to talk to reporters but issued a statement saying she could not "in good conscience" vote for impeaching Blagojevich.

"Given my unique relationship to the governor, this is a vote to which I have given a great deal of consideration," Mell said in the statement. "I have known the governor for more than 20 years and the charges in the impeachment were difficult to reconcile with the man and brother-in-law I know."

"I could not in good conscience vote for his impeachment," she wrote. "I regard him as innocent until proven guilty and many of my constitutents have expressed this view."

The second impeachment by the House was necessitated by today's seating of a new legislature reflecting the results of the Nov. 4 general election. It was a procedural vote, but one needed to start the impeachment process during the new legislative session.

In a later story, the Tribune adds:

Asked whether Mell should have abstained because of her relationship to the governor, a spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan said it's up to individual lawmakers to decide how to vote.

The readers' comments on this story are often vitriolic, many of them saying that Rep. Rell should have recused herself.  But I don't think this is an open and shut case.  As our web page on conflict of interest points out, the rules about recusal for conflict of interest on legislative votes vary widely from chamber to chamber.  The most widespread agreement is that members should not vote on issues in which they have a direct financial stake.  In this case Rep. Rell voted against impeachment because of her knowledge of her brother-in-law, not because she would benefit personally.

I agree more with Rich Miller's comments in The Capitol Fax Blog:

She could’ve abstained, but members are not barred from voting on issues where they have a conflict of interest. But hitting the “yellow” button would’ve been the easy way out. Frankly, I appreciated her guts....

Record Number of African-American Top Leaders

by Karl Kurtz

In January 2007, I posted "African-American Presiding Officers," a list of the eight African-Americans who had served as the top leaders in their legislatures going back to Speaker John Lynch in Mississippi in 1872.  At no time in that history were there ever more than two African-American top leaders in state legislatures at the same time.  Now, in 2009, there are five black presiding officers or top senate leaders:

• California: Speaker Karen Bass
• Colorado: Senate President Peter Groff and Speaker Terrance Carroll
• Nevada: Senate Majority Leader Steven A. Horsford (photo)
• New York: Senate Majority Leader and President Pro Tem Malcolm Smith.

There are others who serve as majority or minority leaders or speaker pro tem or president pro tem, but our focus here is on presiding officers or the top senate leadership position.

Of Coalitions, in Tennessee and Elsewhere

by Karl Kurtz

In a surprise move, Republican Rep. Kent Williams was elected speaker of the 99-member Tennessee House yesterday with votes from 49 Democrats and himself, defeating the Republican leader, Jason Mumpower who was widely expected to garner the 50 votes needed for the top leadership post.  Williams will replace the long-time Democratic Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, who will remain a member of the House but was not renominated after Democrats lost the majority in the chamber in the 2008 election.

According to newspaper reports, the tone of the opening day was angry and sometimes raucous.  Here's an excerpt from TheCityPaper:

It is now official: There is a Republican speaker of the Tennessee State House. But his name is not Jason Mumpower.

The Tennessee House of Representatives officially installed East Tennessee Republican Rep. Kent Williams of Carter County as the Speaker for 106th General Assembly. The path to his victory was a wild one.

Democrats pulled the old switcheroo and put Williams into office to cries of "traitor" from some members of the Republican caucus. Williams had been considered a target for a Democratic vote but had maintained all along that he would vote for a Republican. In the end, he did, voting for himself.

Williams took to the well and said he understood why he was being booed and asked all to hear him out. He acknowledged in his address that he would likely lose his next election, but then said, "Today is the day that ends the reign of a great speaker, Jimmy Naifeh. Today, I realize the disappointment and hurt of a lot members, especially our leader Jason Mumpower."

Tennessee becomes the fourth legislative chamber this year to organize on a coalition basis with votes from both sides of the aisle.  The other three are the Texas House, where Democrats helped to determine the majority Republican speaker, the Louisiana House in which the Democratic majority elected a Republican speaker (after 2007 elections in that state), and the Alaska Senate where the president was elected with votes from both parties.

We don't have official records of bipartisan coalitions at NCSL, but in our collective staff memories we think that two to four chambers with coalition leadership is fairly typical in any given year.  For example, in 2008 there were bipartisan coalition leaders in the Alaska and Tennessee senates and the Louisiana and Pennsylvania houses of representatives--the same number as there are this year.

Watching What They Eat

by Pam Greenberg

An Associated Press story yesterday highlighted the Montana Legislature's new practice of posting the legislative social calendar on its website. 

The Montana Legislature is offering its constituents food for thought by posting its 2009 calendar of special interest group-sponsored brunches and mixers online for the first time.

The electronic posting of the Legislature's social calendar strengthens openness in government, said House Speaker Bob Bergren.

"We want to make sure this (legislative session) is a transparent process," Bergren said.

He said it's also better than a paper calendar for keeping the state's 150 legislators informed.

The article mentions New Mexico and Nevada as other states that post social calendars, but social calendars also are available online from the Arkansas Senate and the Colorado, Iowa and Oregon legislatures. (Let us know if there are others we missed.)  The practice may be part of a growing transparency movement, although the Arkansas Senate first posted the social calendar on its web site back in 1997.

Peggy Kern's article, "The Influence Business," in this month's State Legislatures magazine, discusses how lobbyists are now facing stricter regulations than ever before.  Reporting and disclosure is a theme in many of the calls for reform. 

Arizona English Language Learner Case Heads to Supreme Court

By Jan Goehring

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an Arizona case that deals with funding for English language learners. The lawsuit began in 1992, when plaintiffs argued that the state violated federal law by not adequately funding programs to help foreign-speaking students become proficient in English. The appeals were filed by legislative leaders and the state superintendent of schools challenging federal court rulings that required the Legislature to increase funds for services to English language learners. Education Week reports that the case will be on an expedited schedule with oral arguments in April. A Supreme Court ruling should bring this ongoing tug of war to an end.

What Other States have Impeached Public Officials?

by Karl Kurtz

Today's impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich by the Illinois House of Representatives raises the question of what other states have impeached public officials in recent years.  According to the Book of the States, every state except Oregon has the power to impeach the governor and other state executive and judicial officers. But for the most part the power is used sparingly.

An AP report earlier today says that only seven governors have been impeached, convicted and removed from office in the history of the country.  The only one in the last 80 years was Gov. Evan Mecham in Arizona.

Of course, there is a difference between impeachment--the decision to bring charges against a public official, which is the responsibility of the house in all but two states--and conviction on those charges (and therefore removal from office), which in most states is the responsibility of the senate.  As with the impeachment of President Richard Nixon by the U.S. House of Representatives, impeachment by the house may cause the accused official to resign rather than face a trial.  In the case of Gov. John Rowland in Connecticut in 2004 even the initiation of impeachment proceedings may contribute to the resignation of a public official. 

At NCSL we don't have comprehensive records of impeachment proceedings about public officials.  However in 2001 we did an informal survey of states that generated this  incomplete list of relatively recent impeachments:

• Florida: In 1978 a circuit court judge was convicted of four of five articles of impeachment.  In 1975 the state insurance commissioner and treasurer was impeached, but prior to his trial in the Senate he resigned from office.
• Missouri: The secretary of state was impeached by the House of Representatives, and she was tried, convicted and removed by the state Supreme Court in 1994.
• Nebraska: The Unicameral impeached the attorney general in 1984, but he was exonerated by the state Supreme Court.
• Nevada: In 2004 the state controller was impeached and convicted, the only case in the state's history.
• New Hampshire: In 2000 the New Hampshire House impeached the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, but the Senate failed to convict him.
• Pennsylvania: In the mid-nineties, the House impeached an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and the Senate convicted on one Article and removed him from office. 
• Vermont: In 1976 the sheriff of Washington County, an elected position, was impeached by the House, but the articles of impeachment were not sustained by the Senate.  (This points out that in many states the legislature may also impeach local government officials.)

However incomplete, this list demonstrates that the power is used sparingly in the states.

And what about Oregon, the only state that does not have an impeachment provision?  In the Beaver State public officials may be tried for incompetence, corruption, malfeasance, or delinquency in office in the same manner as criminal offenses.  In other words, the people of Oregon have the same protections as other states, but the safeguard is in the courts, not the legislature.

And for the datahounds out there, the two states in which the house does not vote articles of impeachment are Alaska, where the process is reversed and the Senate votes impeachment and the House tries the case, and Nebraska, in which, because there is no house in a unicameral legislature, the Senate votes impeachment and the Supreme Court tries the case.

Posting Committee Handouts Online

by Pam Greenberg

Sen. Steve Urquhart's (Utah) blog posting today about "Newspapers and Informed Citizens" discusses government transparency and the kinds of information available on the Utah Legislature's website. He makes an interesting side point about posting committee testimony online.

Documents handed out to committees or on the floor should be made available on-line. Those “last-minute” documents are intended to sway outcomes, and often do sway outcomes. Thus, they should be open to the public’s examination.

Many of those documents are embarrassingly simplistic and deceptive – intended to stir passions at the time of voting, when it is too late to fact-check the documents’ assertions. If they became part of an open and permanent record, the documents might become more honest and substantive. Or, even if they remain trite and deceptive, they could be used as “smoking guns” for future reform. Someone could later argue, “At the time of the vote, advocates of the law argued X, as you can see here. I now submit clear evidence to show that the argument was false and that advocates had to know it was false at that time the document was circulated.

Relatively few legislatures post committee testimony on websites in part because of the difficulty of obtaining the material from the witnesses/presenters and the staff time necessary to post the documents. Some legislatures also have concerns about posting materials that may be copyrighted (e.g., exhibits and attachments that accompany testimony).

Some of the states that do post committee testimony online include Connecticut, the Hawaii Senate, the Michigan House and Senate, Nevada and North Dakota.

What do you think?

New Legislative Clerks and Secretaries

by Karl Kurtz

Along with changes in legislative leadership, new legislative sessions also bring changes in the offices of clerk and secretary.  These transitions may result from retirements and other normal attrition or from changes in political party control.  The offices of clerk of the house and secretary of the senate (in a few states the title is clerk of the senate, but there is no one called secretary of the house) are nonpartisan in their function, but in some legislative chambers the practice is to change the position when a new majority takes over.  In most states, the clerk or secretary is elected by the membership as a whole.

Duties of clerks and secretaries vary widely across the states.  According to Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure, they are the "chief legislative officers" of their chamber.  They are generally responsible for the processing of legislation, official record-keeping and the publication of journals and calendars.  Most of them serve as parliamentarian--the authority on legislative rules and procedure.  Some of them are also the chief administrative officers of their chambers, responsible for budget and personnel management.

Among the newly named clerks or secretaries, the most unusual arrangement is in the Minnesota Senate where longtime Secretary of the Senate Patrick Flahaven retired at the end of last year (see "Minnesota Senate losing its veteran, respected 'referee'" for a nice summary of Pat's career).  His job has been split between two long-time Senate staffers.  JoAnne Zoff is the new secretary of the Senate for administration and Peter Wattson the secretary of the Senate for legislation.  This is a unique arrangement.  There have been "co-secretaries" in other legislative chambers but usually only when party control has been tied.

Other new clerks or secretaries named so far (the list is not yet complete) include:

• Delaware House: Richard Puffer
• Florida: Robert L. Ward in the House and Philip Twogood in the Senate
• Kansas House: Susan Kanarr
• Montana: David Hunter in the House and and Marilyn Miller in the Senate
• Ohio House: Tom Sherman replaces Laura Clemens, who has been named deputy clerk
• Oklahoma Senate: Paul Ziriax.

The word is not yet official in the New York Senate, but a news report today says that Angelo Ponte will be named secretary of the Senate.

We will post something on other new clerks or secretaries when the roster is complete in a few weeks time.

For an amusing account of the election of Zoff and Wattson as co-secretaries of the Minnesota Senate, read below the jump.

'Tis the Season...

...for legislative sessions, that is.  The legislatures of all 50 states, the five American territories and commonwealths and the District of Columbia will be in session this year.  Many of them convened this week.  As of today, 21 of them are in session, and by next Wednesday 46 will have gone back to work.  Most of the rest convene in late January or early February.  The states with the most unusual legislative starting dates are Florida, which convenes on March 3, and the Louisiana legislature, which doesn't begin until April 27.

The first to adjourn this year will be the Virginia General Assembly on February 28.  "All 50 State Legislatures will Hold Sessions in 2009" has links to a complete calendar, a backgrounder on full and part-time legislatures and our forecast of top issues in 2009 sessions. 

New York Senate Democratic Leadership Resolved (Again)

by Karl Kurtz

The on-again-off-again deal among New York Senate Democrats (see "New York Senate Leadership Deal Falls Through"), who hold a two-vote margin over Republicans but have had three dissident members who have held up organization of the Senate, is back on again.  Sen. Malcolm Smith (on left in photo with Gov. David Paterson) was today elected majority leader (the power position in the Senate) on a voice vote.  The previous majority leader, Sen. Dean Skelos, becomes the minority leader.

Sen. Smith's acceptance speech included this pledge to change the management of the Senate:

This morning we created a new committee on rules and administration - a bi-partisan commission - to review the full Senate Rules and adopt a process for greater transparency that allows greater public input into our legislative process, as well as provides for greater authority for individual members.  The commission will report back to us no later than the end of September.

Imagine a fully functioning legislature where Senate committees function like real committees, where members debate and even amend bills in the committee, where members of the Majority and Minority introduce bills onto the floor for a vote, and those votes are recorded.  And, where budget conference committees and individual members are able to negotiate final bills with their Assembly counterparts.

Sen. Smith's election brings the number of African-Americans serving as the top leaders in their state legislative chambers to five.

Surprise New Texas House Speaker

by Karl Kurtz

The long-running story of conflict over the speakership of the Texas House appears to be resolved.  Over the course of four days, Rep. Joe Straus, a Republican from San Antonio, put together a coalition of 72 Democrats and 16 Republicans to clinch the leadership of a House that is narrowly divided, 76R-74D. 

Incumbent House Speaker Tom Craddick, who was seeking reelection but has been under attack by Democrats and fellow Republicans alike for his leadership style, withdrew from the race in the face of Straus' signed pledges. Two other Republicans, Reps. John Smithee and Dan Gattis, also withdrew their candidacies.

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Straus’ remarkable four-day ascent began Friday when he was chosen as a consensus candidate by dissident Republicans that included Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth.

After Craddick withdrew Sunday night, most of his allies united behind Smithee, chairman of the House Insurance Committee. But less than 24 hours later, Smithee and Gattis conceded.

"Our priority is to take the focus off speaker politics and concentrate on how we can best serve the people of Texas in the 81st Legislature," their statement said.

"I’m happy it’s over," said Geren, who was critical of what he called Craddick’s dictatorial leadership style. "I’m glad I’m going to serve under Speaker Straus."

Straus still has to be formally elected on Jan. 13.  Although his opponents have withdrawn, he faces opposition from conservatives within his own party.

For an interesting history of Texas speakers who have been deposed from office, see "The speaker jinx" in Paul Burka's Burkablog for The Texas Monthly.

Changing How Citizens and Lawmakers Interact

by Pam Greenberg

The Internet has forever changed how citizens and lawmakers interact, says the Congressional Management Foundation's latest publication in its Communicating With Congress project. "Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue" presents interesting perspectives about managing communications between citizens and Congress. It discusses the challenges citizens, grassroots advocates, and members of Congress each face when dealing with communications in the Internet age. It also provides recommendations and a new model (described in bullet points in the report's executive summary) for these communications. Some highlights for state legislators and legislative staff include the report's "Recommendations to Member Offices."  Among other recommendations, it urges lawmakers to:

• Fully utilize e-mail for responding to constituents.
• Provide a tier-structured online Web form that differentiates between different reasons for contacting the office, so that time-sensitive requests for assistance do not get lost among the many issue-related messages.
• Develop and post correspondence policies online.

Another interesting section (on page 41) counters some common myths about responding to e-mail with e-mail, such as these (excerpted in abbreviated form here):

• "The text of our response will be altered if we respond with e-mail." Reality: "Offices that respond with e-mail have never reported that happening…"
• People like letters--they're more impressive." Reality: "People who send e-mail are expressing their preference for an online reply…"
• "Constituents who write via e-mail are not as important as those who write via e-mail." Reality: "Research shows that people…who have contacted their elected officials [online] are far more influential in their communities than the general public…"
• "We don't want to write shorter responses--constituents appreciate a good, quality response." Reality: "E-mailers will generally place greater importance on the speed of the response than on its length and will view a long response as an unnecessary and difficult read."
• "Answering e-mail with e-mail will encourage pen pals." Reality: "E-mail does make it easier for pen pals to prolong the debate, but there are some easy techniques for managing their expectations…"

The report's recommended "new model for constituent communications" also provides useful ideas and examples of "communications dashboards"--screenshots of a non-product-specific constituent management system interface in a congressional/legislative office.

Brush Up While There's Still Time

by Meagan Dorsch

Finding sources for alternative energy; successful programs to help people stop smoking; possible solutions for transportation revenue shortfalls and breaking the cycle of poverty. All of these issues were discussed at NCSL's Fall Forum in Atlanta, Georgia.

Over 200 legislators and legislative staff were able to attend. For those of you who may not know, our Fall Forum meeting gives lawmakers and staff an opportunity to share their experiences with shaping public policy, passing new laws and managing the legislative institution. 

This annual meeting also provides a first-hand look at the legislative decision-making process and is an opportunity to learn about developments in the states.

NCSL's Twelve Standing Committees help determine the content of our seasonal meeting, which we captured on audio tape!

Be sure to log onto our Fall Forum Recording page and listen to over two dozen sessions from Atlanta. You can learn what states are doing to address many of these complicated issues. Make sure to brush up on the issues while there is still time. Many legislatures go back into session in just a few weeks.  

 

New Laws Ring in the New Year

by Meagan Dorsch

On the eve of New Year's Eve, states are preparing to have an array of new laws go into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. 

Of the 46 states that met in regular session during 2008, legislatures across the country enacted 31,000 laws. A large handful of these laws become effective 01-01-09.

There is even some legislation that was enacted in 2007, but becomes effective Jan. 1, even if the state was not in session in 2008. Make sense?
The issues range from health care reform to criminal justice to labor practices.

Each year, NCSL puts together a comprehensive list of new laws that go into effect at the start of each new year. Please read it over and see what will impact you in 2009.

Happy New Year from all of us at The Thicket.

Top 9 Issues of 2009

by Meagan Dorsch

For the second year in a row, NCSL has predicted state budgets will be the number one issue legislatures across the country will address in 2009.

"State legislatures are facing the worst fiscal conditions we have seen over the 30-plus years we have been analyzing state budgets," says NCSL Executive Director William Pound. "Every program, every bill and every policy issue will be affected by the economy."

In addition to budgets, transportation, higher education, corrections and health care are predicted to be some of the Top 9 Issues of '09.

In 2008, NCSL accurately predicted budgets, immigration, financing America's roads and the uninsured would be top issues.

You can order a copy of NCSL's webinar on the Top 9 Issues or read our press release. If you think we have left any issues off of the list, please let us know. And be sure to update us when your state takes up one of these pressing issues.

"Majority Technology Leader" to Head Hawaii Senate's Technology Initiatives

by Pam Greenberg

The Hawaii Senate has become the first legislative chamber to have a "Majority Technology Leader."  Hawaii Senate President Colleen Hanabusa created the new leadership position for the 2009 Legislative Session, naming Senator David Ige (photo) to the post.  Ige served as technology liaison for the Senate's paperless initiative in 2007 and led a number of other technology initiatives for the Senate. 

Senator Les Ihara, Jr. gave a presentation on the Senate's paperless project for members of NCSL's Legislative Effectiveness Committee at the recent Fall Forum meeting in Atlanta.  The initiative resulted in a 60 percent reduction in paper, as reported in the Senate Majority Caucus blog. The Senate invested in tablet PCs for each Senator and enhanced wireless capability in conference rooms and the chamber.  During floor sessions, most senators access daily orders of the day via the laptops.  In 2008, the Senate also piloted a paperless project in two committees.  All the committee hearings were managed via interactive agendas on laptops, and almost all paper folders of bills and testimony were eliminated.  In 2009, all committees will be paperless. 

Other states also have taken steps toward going paperless, as reported in a State Legislatures magazine article in 2007.

While the title of majority technology leader is unique among the states, it fits a pattern of the Hawaii Senate using lots of leadership titles.  In addition to technology leader, the Senate leadership web page lists the president, a vice president, majority leader, majority policy leader, majority caucus leader, two majority whips, not to mention a president emeritus.

The Most Republican and Democratic Legislatures

by Karl Kurtz

Alan Greenblatt's well-done piece in Ballot Box last week, "Seeing Red in Oklahoma," taking NPR to task for calling Oklahoma "the most Republican state in the Union" suggests that we should publish the list of the most Republican and Democratic state legislatures.

There are three states in which Republicans hold more than two-thirds of the total seats after the 2008 election:

	House	Senate	Total
Idaho	74.3%	80.0%	76.2%
Utah	70.7%	72.4%	71.2%
Wyoming	68.3%	76.7%	71.1%

Kansas, where Republicans hold 77 percent of the seats in the Senate--second among senates only to Idaho, just misses the two-thirds cut with 65 percent of the total seats in the Legislature in Republican hands.  Oklahoma ranks 10th among the most Republican legislatures.

Democrats will hold two-thirds or more of all legislative states in seven states in 2009:

	House	Senate	Total
Rhode Island	92.0%	86.8%	90.3%
Hawaii	88.2%	92.0%	89.5%
Massachusetts	89.4%	87.5%	89.0%
West Virginia	79.0%	82.4%	79.9%
Connecticut	75.5%	66.7%	73.8%
Maryland	73.8%	70.2%	72.9%
Arkansas	71.0%	77.1%	72.6%

The 89-90 percent numbers for Rhode Island, Hawaii and Massachusetts are remarkable.  New York Democrats hold nearly three-quarters of the seats in the Assembly, but their narrow, two-seat margin in the Senate means that they miss the two-thirds threshold among total seats by 0.1 points.

Trivia time (courtesy of Tim Storey):

1. What are the four states in which Republicans have never held a majority in either chamber since Reconstruction?
2. What is the only state in which Democrats have never held the majority in both chambers at the same time? (Yeah, I know, this sounds like one of those stupid sports statistics that Frank Deford was complaining about the other day.  My only defense is that this is a blog by and for legislative junkies.)

Answers below the jump.

The Power of State High Courts to Remove Governors

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's action to request the state Supreme Court to declare Gov. Rod Blagojevich unfit for office raises the question of how many states have provisions that allow a state court to remove the governor.  The answer, provided by the National Center for State Court is 15.  NCSC has a succinct backgrounder listing the 15 states and the extent of the courts' powers in "Gubernatorial Removal and State High Courts."  The Indiana Supreme Court most recently used this power to vacate the office of Gov. Frank O'Bannon, who had suffered a stroke.

New York Senate Leadership Deal Falls Through

by Karl Kurtz

The New York Senate deal between Democratic leader Malcolm Smith and three dissident Democrats that we wrote about last week, appears to have collapsed.  See "Senate majority drama endures."  Both the dissident three and the other members of the Democratic caucus got cold feet about the deal for different reasons.  Sen. Smith is now saying:

We would rather wait two more years to take charge of the Senate than to simply serve the interests of the few. New York state cannot afford the type of self-serving politics being proposed, and I will not be the leader to sacrifice what is right for New York for a quick political solution.

Check out any of the New York blogs in the left column of The Thicket, and you'll find lots of speculation about about both Republican and Democratic deals to resolve the situation but not much hard information.

Public Opinion Data from AEI

Haven't gotten enough yet of election coverage, polls, stats and charts?   The November-December issue of AEI's Political Report has lots of interesting graphs and charts on the election just past, current public opinion and a look ahead at 2010 U.S. Senate races.  Among the tidbits in this report are:

• a summary of "Down the Ballot" races drawn from NCSL and The Thicket,
• an intriguing preliminary report that African-American turnout in the 2008 election may have exceeded white turnout
• and this public opinion question:

Q: Will you miss following campaign news?
      National  Rep.  Dem.  Ind.
Yes     17%   10%  25%   13%
No       82      87    75     85
Source: Pew Research Center, November 2008.

Just for fun, we'll ask the same question of The Thicket readers:

Lieutenant Governors Successful in Elections

by Karl Kurtz

In our reporting on the 2008 elections, we've covered governors and state legislatures, but we haven't said much about lieutenant governors.  Now, thanks to a newsletter from the National Lieutenant Governors Association, we can provide a few highlights.  Unfortunately, the newsletter, Focus, does not appear to be available on the NLGA web site, so we can't provide a link.  Here are some of the more interesting reports from the newsletter:

• Both lieutenant governors who sought higher office, Beverly Perdue (D) for governor in North Carolina and Jim Risch (R) for the U.S. Senate in Idaho, won their elections.
• All seven lieutenant governors seeking reelection won.
• The governor and lieutenant governor will be of opposite parties in nine states in 2009.  (Is this a record?  The Thicket has no idea.)
• New Mexico and Utah passed constitutional amendments on lieutenant governor succession in the event of a vacancy.  In both states, the changes specify that the governor appoints someone to fill the vacancy subject to senate approval.
• The New Mexico amendment was just in time.  Assuming that Gov. Bill Richardson is confirmed as Secretary of Commerce, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (D) will succeed him and get to name her successor as LG. 
• In Arizona, Secretary of State Jan Brewer (R) will become governor when Janet Napolitano (D) steps down to become Secretary of Homeland Security.  This will mean a switch in party control of the governor's office and increase the number of states with unified Republican control (governor and both chambers of the legislature controlled by the same party) from eight to nine.

Public Trust Suffers a Blow

by Karl Kurtz

The Thicket won't join the "Blago"-sphere today.  Enough has already been written by others (the best and most prolific source on the Gov. Blagojevich story is The Capitol Fax Blog, as with all things Illinois politics). 

All we'll say is that it makes the job of NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy, designed to combat pervasive cynicism toward government and improve public understanding and appreciation of American democracy, that much harder.  When given a choice between two statements, "Elected officials work to serve their personal interest" or "Elected officials work to serve the public interest," 41 percent of the public already choose the cynical response compared to 35 percent who agree with the trustful one (24 percent had no opinion).  Those numbers would tip even more toward cynicism and distrust if we took this poll again after today's news.

Rethinking Opening Session Speeches

by Gene Rose

The opening day of a legislative session is a big production. With many legislatures beginning their 2009 sessions in January, thousands of legislative staff are working hard this month to get ready for the big day.

It's also one of those rare days that captures the media's attention. Not only is there visual pomp and ceremony, but in many legislatures it's an opportunity for leaders to convey -- through an opening session speech -- their vision for their chamber's work in the months ahead. Having worked on a few of those speeches back in the day, I understand the difficulty of trying to convey a lot of information, passion and motivation in less than 30 minutes.

For his annual State of the City speech, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his press secretary Nathan Ballard decided they needed 7 1/2 hours, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rather than forcing attendees to sit through such a long event, the Mayor has posted a series of 45-minute presentations on YouTube. Being a self-proclaimed policy wonk, the Mayor wanted to talk in depth on the issues he cared about and those, he rightly assessed that he could cover topics that would not fit into a typical speech.

The article says this model follows one laid out by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. By putting the video on YouTube, they say, it helps create a dialogue with citizens by allowing them to post video responses.

Will any state legislative senate presidents or house speakers follow this lead and try something beyond the typical opening session speech to communicate their message? We'll be "watching."

Who is Left in the Media?

by Ed Smith

Gene Rose's post on Friday pointing out the ongoing erosion of seasoned TV reporters is brought into even sharper relief with the news over the weekend that the Tribune Company is exploring the possibility of bankruptcy protection.

That does not mean the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune are going to close up shop. But it does bring another painful reminder that the newspaper business is facing very tough times.

Every week, it seems, there is a new report of layoffs or buyouts at newspapers large and small. Nailing down exactly how many jobs have been lost, however, is more difficult than it might seem. The Project for Excellence in Journalism releases an annual study that looks at a wide variety of issues dealing with news coverage. In the 2008 report, the study concluded that about 3,000 newsroom jobs had disappeared since the end of 2,000, generally considered the peak of news gathering and editing employment in this country. The report also concluded that about 5,400 jobs had been lost in the decade ending in 2007, nearly 10 percent of the newspaper editorial workforce.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors has conducted a newsroom census since 1978. Its 2008 report found that about 2,400 journalists left newsrooms in 2007, the largest decline in at least 30 years, and that 3,800 had left since 2001.

The scenario only gets worse. Marks Potts, who operates the Recovering Journalist blog, estimates 6,311 newspaper jobs from all departments, not just the newsroom, were lost in 2008. The Paper Cuts blog, which also tracks overall newspaper job losses, puts the number at more than 15,000 for 2008. 

All this means fewer reporters and editors covering what happens at the statehouse and, increasingly, fewer places for those stories to be printed.

Anchors, and News Coverage, Away

by Gene Rose

“Basically, you replace someone who knows City Hall with someone who can’t find it.”

An article in Sunday's The New York Times ("A Generation of Local TV Anchors is Signing Off")  revealed a growing trend in the country of long-time news anchors losing their jobs. The above quote was attributed to John Beard, a Los Angeles news anchor who lost his job after 26 years.

As our nation of legislative junkies have already guessed where I am heading with this, you could replace the words "City Hall" with "The Capitol," when talking about veteran reporters. Many would add the caveat that television stations long ago left the capitol and don't remember it's there until a controversy erupts. There are several good exceptions to the rule, but the sightings of news crews in state capitols have dramatically decreased over the last decade.

We also hear anecdotal reports about fewer print reporters walking the statehouse hallways. With the economy, that's likely to only get worse. Those of us based here in Denver were saddened -- but not surprised -- when word came out that Rocky Mountain News is on life-support and Denver very likely could become a one-newspaper town. And we don't suspect our friends at the Denver Post will be able to double their statehouse staff if the Rocky does fold.

Studies indicate that most people still get their main source of news from local television and the loss of long-time anchors will, one way or another, have an impact on viewers. Ernie Bjorkman (photo), a 36-year anchor for a Denver TV station, told The New York Times, “I don’t think we’re going to see the anchor people grow old with the audience anymore.”

California Case Highlights Broader Transparency Trend

by Pam Greenberg

Two open government advocacy groups filed suit Tuesday against the California Legislative Counsel's office, seeking access to the underlying database used to produce the Bill Information section of the California Legislative Information website.  The groups filing suit are the California First Amendment Coalition, which sponsors educational programs and has filed "test case" free speech and open-government rights lawsuits, and MAPlight.org, which has created a public database that "illuminates the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes." 

California was the first state to require, through landmark legislation in 1993, free public access to legislative information through the Internet.  All the information requested by the two groups under the state's public records laws--including bill text, bill history, bill status, legislator voting records, and the legislative calendar--is currently available on the legislative website.  But, the groups claim, the data is in a format that makes searching and analysis of the data "nearly impossible."  Computer-assisted analysis of the data, the groups claim, could highlight the "influence of money on the legislative process by linking campaign contributions to specific legislative actions.  This will prove embarrassing to legislators."

Regardless of how the case is resolved in California, it highlights a growing government transparency movement that seeks to make information and raw data more easily accessible and manipulable--by anyone--through technology and the Internet. 

Look Out for an "April Nightmare"

by Karl Kurtz

States, which already have closed $40 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget gaps, face at least an additional $97 billion they must close over the next 18 to 24 months, according to a national report issued today by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

NCSL said the news will pose difficult decisions for state legislators across the nation as they prepare for the 2009 legislative sessions.

"These budget gaps are approaching those seen in the last recession, which were the worst since World War II, and show every sign of growing larger," says William T. Pound, NCSL's executive director.

That's the bad news lead in the press release on NCSL's latest report on the fiscal condition of the states, State Budget Update: November 2008.

Enterprising reporter that I am, I journeyed the three feet from my office to that of Corina Eckl, the principal author of the report, to interview her about the "rest of the story."  Here's what she had to say:

Deteriorating revenues in nearly every state are the main culprit behind current state fiscal conditions.  Plunging consumer confidence, rising unemployment rates and increasing business failures all are contributing to shrinking state revenue.  In 15 states, severe revenue shortfalls are plaguing all major tax categories.   The shortages are particularly acute in states like Arizona, California, Florida, New York and Nevada. 

What makes the revenue news so distressing is that some collections do not even fully reflect recent crises in the financial services sector and deep declines in the stock market.  The full extent of the personal income tax breakdown won't be completely know until after the April 15, 2009 federal tax filing deadline.  Many states are bracing for an "April nightmare," a scenario not seen since the 2001 national recession.

Take a look at the spiffy new interactive maps of state fiscal conditions that summarize the results of the report.

New York Senate Democratic Leadership Resolved

by Karl Kurtz

New York Senate Democrats won a 32-30 majority in the elections a month ago, but their ability to elect the leadership and manage the chamber has been in doubt because three members of the caucus held back their support for the Democratic leader, Sen. Malcolm Smith (photo).  A New York Times blog reports this afternoon that the conflict has been resolved with the dissidents--Senators Carl Kruger, Pedro Espada Jr., and Ruben Diaz Sr.--coming into the fold, but details are sketchy.  Assuming the deal holds, the 2009 legislative session will be the first time that Democrats have controlled the Senate since 1965.

Part of the solution to the conflict appears to be that the offices of president pro tem and majority leader, which have historically been combined in a manner unique to the New York Senate, will be split.  Sen. Smith will be the pro tem--the top leadership spot--and Sen. Espada the majority leader.

Many New York Democrats are undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief, because when they last won control of the New York Senate in 1965 it took them four and a half months to organize the body.

12/5 update: Here's a more detailed story on the deal: "3 Senate Democrats End Holdout in Return for Power Sharing."

Kevin Harrington, Massachusetts Senate President, was First President of NCSL

by Karl Kurtz

Kevin Harrington, the president of the Massachusetts Senate, 1971-78, died last week at age 79.  His obituary in the Boston Globe tells all about his contributions to Massachusetts state government but fails to mention that he was the National Conference of State Legislature's first president in 1975 when the organization was first formed as a result of a merger of three previously competing organizations of state legislators and staff. 

Since each of the three organizations had presidents who still had time left in their terms of office, one of the sticking points of the merger negotiations was who would lead the new organization.  Negotiators decided to line the three presidents up on a ladder in the new organization with Sen. Harrington, who was president of the National Conference of State Legislative Leaders, going first, followed by Tennessee Rep. Tom Jensen representing the National Society of State Legislators in 1975-76 and Minnesota Speaker Martin Sabo from the National Legislative Conference in 1976-77.

Although I was around at the time, I don't remember why Sen. Harrington was chosen to go first.  Perhaps it was because he was the longest serving of the three leaders and from the largest of the three states.  Perhaps it was because the Leaders Conference was the organization that was least certain that it wanted the merger to occur and choosing Sen. Harrington was a way of honoring their role in the new organizations.  Or perhaps it was because he was the biggest guy around--at 6'9" he literally towered over everyone.

As the leader of NCSL, he presided over some of the new organization's most critical decisions including the hiring of Earl S. Mackey as executive director, the selection of Denver as the headquarters, an emphasis on a strong Washington office of state-federal relations, and the structuring of a budget for a new organization and an appeal for funding from the states.  The strength and stability of his leadership contributed to the fact that 46 states paid their dues in the first year, and within two years all 50 states were on board.

After he left the Massachusetts legislature he became a lobbyist and later taught at various colleges in the area.  He helped found the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire.  I was pleased that a year or two ago he called me to ask for information and advice about setting up civic education programs for St. Anselm students.  In that phone call he was as vigorous, courtly, formal, intelligent and clever as I remembered him being as president of NCSL.

Photo: A painted portrait of Kevin B. Harrington that hangs in the Massachusetts Senate library. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe)

Project Citizen Documentary an Audience Favorite

By Jan Goehring

The World We Want, a documentary profiling students from around the world who confront community issues, recently won the Audience Award at the AFI Fest. The students featured in the film are all participants in Project Citizen, a curricular program that promotes responsible participation in government. Participants learn to identify, analyze and influence public policy.

Patrick Davidson, filmmaker and producer of the World We Want, traveled the globe to film groups of students as they took on problems unique to their culture and community. The documentary also chronicles their participation in the Empowering a New Generation for Democracy: The International Project Citizen Showcase held in Washington, D.C., July 2007. More than 30 countries participated in the showcase.

The projects featured in the film include:

• Inclusive education for special needs students in Brcko, Bosnia-Herzegovina
• A town constitution for Alejandria, Colombia
• Neglected monuments in Delhi, India
• Tax policies that harm traditional silver crafts in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
• School violence in Al Karak, Jordan
• Teen gambling in Samara, Russia
• Access to clean drinking water in Ross Bethio, Senegal
• Healthy school lunches in Vancouver, Washington.

Take a look at the online trailer to see these remarkable young people in action.