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Legislative Effectiveness Standing Committee

Legislative Effectiveness Committee

Meeting Summaries
April 2007

 

Meeting Session:	Nonpartisan Staff: Staying Relevant in Partisan Times
Overview & Presenters:	Nonpartisan staff have been critical to improving the capability and responsiveness of state legislatures, but legislators and staff have struggled to figure out the possible new roles for nonpartisan staff in the increasing partisan environment. Moderator:  Susan Clarke Schaar, Clerk of the Senate, Virginia Presenters:   Representative Rosie Berger, Wyoming  Steve Miller, Chief, Legislative Reference Bureau, Wisconsin, Staff Chair of NCSL Peter Wattson, Senate Counsel, Minnesota
Summary:	Susan Schaar introduced the panelists and gave a special welcome for a group of Russian interns in the audience who are serving in various state legislatures this year.  She began by thanking everyone for the strong support that Virginia has received in the wake of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. Susan’s own career provides some guidance about nonpartisan staff challenges.  When she started in the Virginia Senate Clerk’s Office, it was  a partisan office.  When she was approached by leadership to take the Clerk’s position, Susan decided that she would take it if it was a nonpartisan position.  She decided that her strengths were in administration, not in politics, and that she wanted to be able to serve each member fully.  She also felt she could be more useful to the Senate from a nonpartisan basis in the situations when they had to stand up to the governor.  Serving in this fashion, she has kept her position under both Republicans and democrats and a 20-20 tied chamber.  To earn respect, she feels she really has to be the keeper of the flame of the legislative institution and make sure her staff has plenty of learning opportunities through NCSL and other organizations. Representative Rosie Berger of Wyoming is from a unique state.  Wyoming has only 33 staffers, all nonpartisan.  She doesn’t even know their political affiliations.  Wyoming also had term limits and a period of very high turnover, so the nonpartisan staff has been vital in preserving institutional memory. Representative Berger noted some key challenges that the staffers face.  The staff is aging and can feel the pressure of burnout from the amount of work and time deadlines.  New members often expect their work will be finished instantly and they have little understanding or appreciation for the legislative process.  One of the most important responses has been to greatly increase the new member training.  She also stressed that the legislative staff is greatly outnumbered by the governor’s staff and the staff of the executive branch, so the legislature needs to be thinking of what functions they may need to beef up.  At present, they may need to address the media relations function. Steve Miller had five points of advice: Deliberate introspection.  As an agency, you have to examine if you are really nonpartisan.  You have to objectively evaluate your agency.  It is a key to developing trust with all members. Be clear about it.  Develop a product and label the product.  Create and use a brand.  Also, connect your image or brand to your core values.  At Steve’s agency (LRB), they have articulated their core values as nonpartisanship, expertise, confidentiality and pride in the legislative institution. Document your process.  The LRB has created a drafting manual and fiscal estimate manual to note all the proper procedures in those processes.  Not only are they good training tools, but they also help the agency explain its reasons for handling work assignments when a legislator questions the LRB’s services or products. Diversify your services.  Look for opportunities to create valuable publications or provide needed services.  You can’t rely on doing what you’ve always done. Maintain an institutional focus.  You have to periodically assess how your agency fits into the three branches of government. Peter Wattson described Minnesota’s staff system, which seems to have every variant of joint, house and senate, partisan and nonpartisan, caucus and personal staff available.  It makes for a competitive situation, because legislators can get the same services out of more than one office.  If a legislator doesn’t like the bill draft Peter wrote for him or her, the legislator can make the same drafting request of the Revisor of Statutes.  To be successful in such an atmosphere, Peter suggested four guidelines: know your stuff, know your members, know the process and do it well.  The guidelines are straightforward but you must put them into action to get a reputation for doing solid work. During the roundtable discussion, the participants talked about the keys to surviving partisan control switches, the value of legislative internship programs, encouraging young people to choose a legislative staff career, the impact of technology, the pressure on staff to “like what the Speaker likes”  and term limits.
Meeting Session:	How to be a Media Rock Star
Overview & Trainer:	What does it take to get the media to pay attention to you and your issues?  The answers may surprise you in this interactive workshop designed to help you strengthen your relationships with the media. Trainer:  Gene Rose, Co-Director of Communications, NCSL, Colorado
Summary:	Gene Rose led a group of legislators and legislative staff through a workshop on how to be a media rock star, beginning with some key tips: Know how the media operates.  A legislator needs to know how newsrooms are structured, the difference between news and editorials, and the competition for space. Be accessible.  A legislator has to understand media deadlines, return calls in time in good and bad times, and never be a “dead end.” Build relationships.  A legislator should provide useful information, involve the media in important events and talk even when there is not a media opportunity. Become THE expert.  A legislator must be like the hedgehog in Jim Collins Good to Great book about management.  Adapting Collins’ thought to the political arena, you must find the intersection of what you are passionate about, what you can be the best at and what drives your political engine.  At the center of the answer to those three questions is the area that the legislator should focus his or her work and message to the media. Create compelling messages.  A savvy legislator needs to see the big picture and be able to talk in both sound bites and depth, as well as effectively tell stories and be able to prove them. Understand that perception is reality.  A legislator needs to respond objectively to criticism, keep track of the public pulse and create messages that engage people. Remain cool under pressure.  Crisis times can present great opportunities, as some of our best images of politicians come from how they show “grace under fire.”  Legislators should grant interviews in stressful times, admit mistakes and never throw a tantrum. Confidently crave the spotlight.  A legislator must remember that interactions with the media are presentations, not conversations.  He or she must convey passion and vision. Create a brand.  Find an image that identifies you, that connects to your message.  Gene then led a volunteer (Representative Rosie Berger of Wyoming) through a five-minute media makeover.  The key is to apply the nine tips above to your own political and personal strengths and situation, and then follow through on your plan.
Meeting Session:	Basics of Blogging: How to Blog with the Best of Them
Overview & Presenters:	This session provided practical help with setting up and running a blog.  In addition, presenters explained how they are using this new technology to communicate with constituents and others. Moderator:  Paul W. Taylor, Chief Strategy Officer, Center for Digital Government, California Presenters:  Delegate Kris Amundson, Virginia Sharon A. Crouch Steidel, Director, Information Systems, House of Delegates, Virginia, Staff Vice Chair of NCSL Karl Kurtz, Division Director, Trust for Representative Democracy, NCSL, Colorado
Summary:	Paul W. Taylor introduced the panelists and described how valuable legislative blogs can be for democracy and civic engagement.  The Internet provides a special opportunity for legislators who are willing to be authentic and personal in their blogging.  The recent Virginia Tech tragedy showed us how valuable current technology is in both the dissemination of critical information and the process of grieving.  However, it’s not just the younger generation that is blogging---this two-way communication process is reaching a number of people that legislators haven’t reached in the past. Delegate Kris Amundson of Virginia talked about her experience with blogging.  She’s not a technical wizard, but after attending a conference on blogging she was excited to start.  She and Delegate Bob Brink run a blog called 7 West (http://www.7-west.org/) and they have done it for minimal cost, although they acknowledge the great assistance of a computer expert named Waldo.  Delegate Amundson, in the spirit of mixing fun and substance, enumerated her top ten reasons to blog  (also listed on her blog): “10. 60 million voters get some or all of their campaign news from the Internet. Unless your last name is Gates, you probably can’t afford to communicate with them any other way. To put this in perspective, I won my first race by 339 votes. 9. This may be the last time in your life that you can be called “cutting edge.”  Even a person with my limited tech skills can blog. 8. Even your kids and their friends might occasionally read your blog. Look, a blog post isn’t the same as a Mother’s Day card, but you take what you can get.  Also, blogging is a great way to reach out to younger voters. 7. There are people who really care about why you introduced that bill on state fruit. Okay, there are 11 of them. But they will read your blog. 6. On the Internet, no one will know if you laugh at your own jokes. 5. Blogs help constituents see you as a real person. Of course, for some elected officials, that might not be such a good idea.  I never knew there were so many other Tar Heel fans in Virginia! 4. Indiana state senator Lewis Wallace wrote Ben Hur. So don’t tell me you don’t have time for a two-paragraph post.  Yeah, blogging takes time. But it’s worth it. 3. A lot of your readers are smarter than you. Which you will find out when you misspell the name of the Secretary of Agriculture.  Readers of blogs are smart people. Electeds could get way better at their jobs if they listened to them. 2. If Matt Drudge can do it, how hard can it be?  Bob and I, the Bloggers on Walkers, are Exhibit A in this regard. And the number one reason elected officials should blog – 1. Like The Washington Post is going to call you every day.” Sharon Crouch Steidel gave a series of pros, cons and considerations in deciding to creating a legislative blog: Blogs are almost expected.  It is part of the mainstream way people communicate these days. It is fairly inexpensive with little initial investment. It is intended to be brief---to toss out ideas and create discussion. You must keep your material fresh and you need to commit time to it.  Different legislators note different time commitments, but it will usually be a minimum of weekly updates. You will encounter negatives in the form of spammers, negative people and personal attacks.  As the administrator you can set the tone for a respectful dialogue and can remove entries that are outside the bounds of civility or taste. You can’t really control all the misinformation that people may include in their entries, but you can respond and you can encourage an exchange of thoughts and ideas in which others respond. Sharon also talked about the use of blogs by state legislatures, in contrast to blogs by state legislators.  Legislatures have the opportunity to create blogs to further civic education efforts and improve messages to members.  She gave an example of a civic education project where high school students chose a budget topic and a whole series of executive and legislative branch officials responded to the questions the students posed.  This blogging may also appeal to some legislators in the “America’s Legislators Back to School” program.  The messages to members piece of blogging may have more challenges.  Some content management may need to be done, yet staff may be very wary of playing that role.  The question may turn on how political a public web site can be.  In conclusion she suggested that if you are willing to make the time commitment, your writing is good and informative, you set and follow a “code of conduct” and you’re able to create an easy-to-use blog, you will do well. Karl Kurtz described the experience NCSL has had with its blog “The Thicket at state Legislatures” (http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/) and the insights he has gained from following many legislator blogs.  Karl noted how favorably a blog compares to a legislator’s newsletter.  Blogs are inexpensive, less formal, shorter and timelier, and provide more feedback.   Karl’s advice was: Post regularly.  If your site looks like an archive, readers won’t come back The technology of blogging is reasonably easy.  Karl noted popular software providers at Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and Drupal among many others.  If you just add “.com” you can find them on the Web. The best way to learn how to blog is to blog.  Read other blogs (like NCSL’s Thicket and the links to state legislator blogs that you will find there) and participate to learn how others use this medium. Find a consistent voice.  Make sure you know why you are blogging and what you are trying to achieve.  Find a voice and stick to it. Market your blog.  Once you have your blog operating the way you want it, market it.   You may want to use an Internet “aggregator” service (like feedburner.com) to help make it easy for constituents to receive your blog. Give it a try.
Meeting Session:	Committee Business Meeting
Overview & Presiding Officer:	Committee officers and members discussed plans for committee sessions at the 2007 Annual Meeting. Presiding Officer: Committee Staff Chair: Gwen Bailey, Virginia
Summary:	The committee made plans for sessions for five available time slots at the upcoming 2007 Annual Meeting in Boston August 5-9.  The approved sessions are: The Boomers Come to the Capitol.  More citizens are coming to the Capitol to testify and otherwise participate in the legislative process.  Is this a reflection of the “baby boomer” generation getting to an age where health concerns or tax issues are bringing them out in force?  What does this mean for legislators and citizens?  Boomers have lots of ideas and expertise that could assist the legislature in a variety of ways. The Rise of the Task Force.  Legislatures seem to be creating more and more task forces and advisory groups, particularly to deal with technical or complex issues.  Some of these options involve “sharing control” with the regulated private sector and the public.  What are the pros and cons of these various options? No Cup of Coffee---The Line Between Legislators and Lobbyists.  Colorado recently joined the states that have set limits on lobbyist/legislator interactions with Amendment 41, but the questions and problems have followed.  What is the purpose behind these attempts to regulate lobbyist conduct and what lessons have we learned? The Pulse of the Legislature.  State legislatures have many differences, but some trends are prevalent.  Increasing partisanship, more partisan staff, more training for members, better use of technology and increasing pressure from new members all are familiar to those who frequent the nation’s state capitols. Strong Legislative Caucuses.  What makes a legislative caucus vital and effective?  Whether a caucus serves Republicans or Democrats; African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans or tribal members; or some other group, certain strategies and practices can help their members build relationships and accomplish their goals.  This session will be held in cooperation with the NCSL’s Institute for State Tribal Relations.