Notes From The Floor

After its Over

I am home in front of the wood stove with the dog snoring and Carol doing her taxes. The pundits are assessing the session while I work to dig myself our from under mountains of unopened envelopes and unsorted e-mail.

All across Idaho legislators are taking off their badges and putting on sweat pants and finding home again. We visited Rep. Donna Pence in Gooding this morning. She had on her tree digging clothes, no lipstick. Human again. I had on my green corduroy jacket and a t-shirt. I'll be happy not to see my black tights or a skirt for a few weeks. I'm sure I won't get my way on that one.

But there is much to do after the session ends. I've taken a day to breathe and clean and sort and poke around in the yard. I'll go to debates and forums and meetings now. Soon I'll look forward to planting tomatoes and getting ready for the campaigns ahead.

But I'm lucky, I've not been away from home and family for months like most my colleagues. Some have children they have left at home, young ones. Ken Andrus, Brent Crane, Steve Kren, and Branden Durst. Some are teachers and go back to work. Others take up small businesses that have sat still and dead, others return to larger firms where secretaries and staff filled the gaps. Many go home to ready for planting, lambing, burning ditches and moving cattle. As we grow more urban, we lose that feel of seasonal change. I remember traveling between teaching and my work for the forest service many years back.

But the legislative session distorts the seasons a bit. It is like a time warp where we miss winter altogether. We go in in the cold and dark and gray and come out with the lawn mowers blaring and now here the grass is coming up green and wild.

Saying Goodbye

I'm wearing the mixed perfume and cologne of many colleagues. I've found those I wanted to give a big hug to. Some escaped before I got to say good bye. Some when you say good bye you wonder with the hard races ahead will they be back. We all wonder. With the hours everyone puts in and what many give up in family and marriage and what might have been retirement I know the year will be heart wrenching for some. I'll write more later. Now I'm going home.

Getting Silly

As we prepare to adjourn Sine Die as we call it... things are getting silly. People are playing competing country music songs on their computers, the speaker has a baseball he's joking about throwing to the ceiling and Bill Killen has passed out some little plastic parachuters for all of us upstairs to throw from the balcony to those below.

We laid several issues to rest today and I'm in a good mood. I've done my mourning for the year so today I'm amazed at where we are after all this toil.

Business personal property tax is now a small-business-focused $100,000 exemption which costs about $17 million, rather than an unlimited exemption that would help mostly big industry. This exemption looks a lot like the $50,000 exemption Democrats crafted and proposed both this year and last. We have reason to be proud.

This afternoon the state retiree benefit plan, restricting what the state will pay for health benefits was killed by the State Affairs Committee. This issue should be taken up with state employees and retirees involved in the process and more information provided so they are informed and not left in fear of what complex legislation will mean to their lives. It will be a sad day when we as a legislature choose leave state employees to the whims of private plans and rising premiums, with less healthcare security rather than more.

Of the two pieces of legislation dealing with local option sales taxes, sadly H688, the legislation which I'd hoped would be amended to give authority to local voters to fund public transportation and other needs, was killed by the senate and never revived. Fortunately, HJR4, the constitutional amendment restricting the use of local option taxes was laid to rest by the Senate this afternoon. The delay the amendment caused communities like ours here in the Treasure Valley is inexcusable. Each year more people grow frustrated waiting in traffic. They have every right to be angry with this legislative majority which did nothing but stand in the way and propose obstacles to the local authority which local people have waited far too long for.

Empty Baskets

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I know it is as much a message for us to go home as is Betsy Russel's huge gold tie, but all the food in this place is gone. This is no plea for pity, just a phenomenon producing some interesting results. Low blood sugar is only aggravating the testiness of this place just now as tough votes threaten to hit the floor. Rep Jaquet suggested some gestures she would use if one more person said that a committee vote was some how more democratic than a floor vote.

As our caucus was starting (in the lounge because at first our caucus room was locked) and the press filed in, Lenore Barrett came in looking to get to the refrigerator. It, like the snack table and bowls and baskets normally holding granola bars, was undoubtedly empty. She stared around the room, with all the democrats stacked on couches and chairs, and commented that if she saw a nice leg she might take a bite.

Later I ran down and got her some licorice and made her a few legs she could actually eat. It is April fools day and some say we can not adjourn on April fools day. I'm ready. We've passed the substance abuse funds the Governor axed and those with the strings in their hands stand ready to kill or destroy everything good that remains, so let's go home. Now.

Those We Like

It is hard to debate against those we like. Maybe we see harm in a piece of legislation that they don't see. Maybe the harm they see of not passing it is out-weighed by the harm we see in passing it. But we disagree and we have to debate, maybe even with some vigor. Maybe we are in our same party, maybe not. But we are friends. We have shared meals or conversation, stories of our lives and families. And today we have different positions and we each have to fight them, advocate for those we are standing for, who we represent.
    We all try not to take it personally but the words said in debate are hard to hear sometimes, especially when you have legislators who lose if a bill passes and others who gain politically, in terms credibility with constituents or real policy that is part of their life's work. Tomorrow we all have to rearrange ourselves into other alliances and coalitions, so, rather than taking the fight off the floor, we all as seasoned lawmakers in the end of our two year terms, we know to leave the heat there in the big black seats in front of the lap top computer screens, go to lunch, go home, let it rest until it is less raw.
    There is a line in debate we have to be careful not to cross, that is in characterizing another's intent, or speaking poorly of their efforts or integrity. There are unspoken rules about this. When a line is crossed, a legislator is seen to have an edge that I think makes many dread having that person debate on the floor. It takes a while to learn that, to see how it works. Its part of fair play that you are careful. At the same time, in an election year, making partisan contrasts, claiming better moral high ground for a position on an issue that falls largely on party lines, is a role many of us are supposed to take. But it is a delicate balance to do that with in the rules. This time of year you can watch us walk that line, delicately or not.

It is hard to debate against those we like. Maybe we see harm in a piece of legislation that they don't see. Maybe the harm they see of not passing it is out-weighed by the harm we see in passing it. But we disagree and we have to debate, maybe even with some vigor. Maybe we are in our same party, maybe not. But we are friends. We have shared meals or conversation, stories of our lives and families. And today we have different positions and we each have to fight them, advocate for those we are standing for, who we represent.
    We all try not to take it personally but the words said in debate are hard to hear sometimes, especially when you have legislators who lose if a bill passes and others who gain politically, in terms credibility with constituents or real policy that is part of their life's work. Tomorrow we all have to rearrange ourselves into other alliances and coalitions, so, rather than taking the fight off the floor, we all as seasoned lawmakers in the end of our two year terms, we know to leave the heat there in the big black seats in front of the lap top computer screens, go to lunch, go home, let it rest until it is less raw.
    There is a line in debate we have to be careful not to cross, that is in characterizing another's intent, or speaking poorly of their efforts or integrity. There are unspoken rules about this. When a line is crossed, a legislator is seen to have an edge that I think makes many dread having that person debate on the floor. It takes a while to learn that, to see how it works. Its part of fair play that you are careful. At the same time, in an election year, making partisan contrasts, claiming better moral high ground for a position on an issue that falls largely on party lines, is a role many of us are supposed to take. But it is a delicate balance to do that with in the rules. This time of year you can watch us walk that line, delicately or not.

Blues

    People ask me if it ever gets to me, bashing my well gelled skull against the polished granite of this place. I don't give up easily but at the end of the session it is over, there is no hope but next year, the will of frustrated voters, a gift from the courts, acts of congress or something as yet beyond me. I know how to recover in the interim, how to take this feeling and turn it into determination, bring it to the voters and help them to take it to the ballot box to create change in this place. But for now we are stuck here with little but sinister excuses for policy before us.
    Yesterday I left the building on the verge of tears and walked in this morning trying to swallow the lump in my throat. We could go home now, bang the gavel now. Call it damage control. We would forgo hurting state retirees, encumbering the constitution, shifting burdens, letting developers charge hidden taxes and yes admitting that the majority are again this year leaving many still in harms way. That the Governor and Republican leaders have waited this long to address transportation funding of all kinds means we will likely do this badly, in some sort of forced or leveraged way.
    Here on the floor with a list of bills in front of us, I whisper to the white ceiling that we could go home now, before we vote. Make the clerk stop reading. Turn off the computers, empty our desks, hug, shake hands and be gone. The state would likely be better for it.

Madame Speaker

Retiring Rep. Margaret Henbest as acting Speaker of the House.

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I am a bit teary still. Long time democratic legislator for District 16, Margaret Henbest is retiring this year. She is very well known for her tireless work on health care and the House Health and Welfare Committee.
    It is a tradition of sorts that a long time legislator might have a chance, at the speaker's consent, to serve as speaker for part of a floor session. When Margaret got up just now and the first of us had to address her as "Madame Speaker" a cheer went up. It sounded so good. Madame Speaker. May the day come and maybe should our numbers grow this year and next, just maybe that balance point in the state will be reached and maybe someday that Madame Speaker will be a woman, a democratic woman.
    I am leaving the House for the Senate so may never see that day. Seeing Margaret up there reminds me how close to the end of this session and this term we are. The board is full of bills to debate but committees are shutting down. We did not have Rev & Tax this morning but will print a few bills tomorrow. One will be mine. My technical fix to the sales tax exemption for non-profit organizations. I've labored over it for more than a year and may now have something that will work. The chair wouldn't hear substantive proposals I or other democrats had, but this technical fix is probably not very threatening or likely to help me in my campaign or career so I think it escapes the political net.
    Somber times in a way. The secretary of state's filings grow each day. Many of us will not be back. Sometimes that is healthy, sometimes we lose a unique voice or perspective common out in the voting public but not in here. I will miss Margaret. She is a strong, wise voice in the caucus, a balance to leadership sometimes much needed. I wish her well in her new adventures. 

Shooting Guns

We get invited to a lot of events with different organizations working on creative ways to get us to show up after a long day in the statehouse so they can share their ideas on issues we face. Some events are participatory but most are not, unless you count the eating. Legislators do a lot of eating at evening events.

Some involve long power point presentations. This one was by far the best in a long time. It is a sunny afternoon in the Boise Foothills and after some safety instruction, officer's from the Fraternal Order of Police let us shoot their hand guns at the Fort Boise range. K9 and bomb squad units demonstrate skills, tools, weapons and training. Above: Rep. Phil Hart fires.

Rep. Raul Labrador decked out for SWAT

Mom's insistence that I learn how to shoot a gun at a young age comes in handy. Odd feeling but somehow I shoot a whole round into the head of my target.

Rep. Branden Durst uses his expert verbal and shooting skills in a lethal force simulation. He credits the shooting skills to video games.

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Earlier, Rep. Mack Shirley, Rep. Russ Mathiews and a group of House pages and I stood in a big circle in the annex out side the tiny page room where pages spend parts of the day waiting for directions and requests for assistance. We talked about guns and the second amendment
    On such a polarizing issue I've found that pacing oneself, taking deep breaths or using humor is helpful. We talked about how much control a student gun owner has over their guns, especially on campus. Humor was not going to be helpful. And as Mack pointed out, with the obligation of administrators to protect all students, how can they do that if they can not ensure guns are under lock and key?    
    Pages views were mixed and thoughtful. This is our second round of pages for the year. I imagine that watching all the debate in committee, especially now that its so heated, some must at times just wish they could jump in. I remember years past interns testifying at hearings, very powerfully in fact. Pages though, I wonder if it is part of the rules for them to be silent.

Places to Talk

In the absence of offices and because even a whisper can be heard from anywhere on the house floor, places to talk strategy or call home are hard to come by. Some spots include: the benches in the stairways. The echo is fantastic but the lobbyists are becoming experts in acoustics. Ah privacy. Note the mural and interpretive sign placed here in cooperation with Idaho's tribes.

The Supply Closet. Too symbolic. But my favorite.

The Elevator. Drawback is the door which pops open on its own.

One of the many rest rooms which now force the house and senate to mix. Lots of small restrooms mean many places where we meet on close quarters. This one is one of the roomiest. Note the nice stone walls. Some feature hot water in the bowl. There actually is an antique phone booth on the ground level, four stories below my desk on the floor. It has an antique phone in it and one of those beautiful old sliding doors.

Cursed by Gingrich

I have a beef with Newt Gingrich. He's a very smart guy. I'm not sure exactly what he said to some of my favorite Republican colleagues, but if one more member of leadership smiles at me and says, reassuringly, the words "cheerful persistence" I'm going to have to borrow bigger teeth, grow pig tails or start wearing pink.
    How do I convey this? I think Newt can hear the morris code in my heels clicking and the bounce in my step on the stairs of the Statehouse Annex now as I run one more time to the Senate to find that last vote I need for that bill. Cheerful Persistence. I'm pretty sure he feels the Braile in my smile as I look up from my computer getting one more email of frustration or anger from a person far off in some corner of the state to whom government is far away and abstract and for whom the idea of "wait" could mean a meal or even prison vs a warm bed and a space in a detox facility. Cheerful Persistence. I hope Mr. Gingrich hears my keys tapping to the far recesses of our state, sending smiley face thanks and encouragement to friends in Challis, pen pals in Lewiston and fellow non-profit organizers in Idaho Falls. Cheerful Persistence. Perhaps he can turn on his transistor radio and tune in to my thoughts as I run the frozen foothills ridge trails contemplating better debate strategies, rehearsing conversations with committee chairs and planning to set up meetings with cosponsors to keep things moving forward if not legislatively then at least in terms of people's understanding of the issues for next year. Cheerful Persistence. That's me. Newt Gingrich's biggest fan.
    My Question is this: if we are the cheerful sort and we do persist, does that mean this all works out in the end?
    I'm afraid it was Gingrich who also started this kinder, fuzzier, new conservative "Yes if" thing which is meant to make us feel as if something we want is attainable when in reality our committee chair just sat through this Gingrich pep session and was instructed to use a nicer set of words to say "No."
    Don't tell them "No," tell them "Yes, if..."
    Maybe this was the month for unfortunate advice from out of town. The National Federation for Independent Business (well known for their less than upstanding representation of their own survey statistics) had a lunch speaker from somewhere who went on for quite some time about unintended consequences. I missed the end of the talk (they lost me when sprawl turned out to be the fault of well intentioned environmentalists.) And so I'm not quite sure what direction they were going with the consequences but ever since this lunch talk, when Pete Neilsen or Russ Mathews don't like a bill in committee they use phrases like "I can see this will have unintended consequences." Or "I'm very afraid of the unintended consequences of this bill." It is usually said with some gravity as if we will all know what dreaded outcome will befall the state for this particular bill should pass or even be printed in committee.
    So if anyone has the Gingrich speech or the book by this consequences guy, I'd like some help decoding this stuff. And if I'm lucky, other phrases which are haunting my daily life in the statehouse will turn out to also be in code and I'll be fully enlightened.

Friday and the Stones

It is Friday. Just Democrats left in the upper house. I've got my head phones on rocking out to a mix of Stones, Catie Curtis, Traffic, Amee Mann and Warren Zevon. Don't ask. I've discovered this as a good way to transport my self in time and place, get work done and cheer myself up now that bills are falling, stumbling by the side of the marble race track, falling out of windows and finding themselves buried deep in storage closets. The budget is constricting like a corset just as we start setting state employee pay. My desk is struggling to stay orderly under a weight of notes passed in committee, secrets told behind hands and echoes falling through cracks in closed door meetings. Mid wives stop me in the hall. People streaming in this morning to speak so eloquently about our bill on Divestment from the Sudan. The place feels simultaneously like a benevolent father and a ticking bomb.

Not At Ease

When the Speaker banged the gavel and boomed "The House will be at ease," today the pages stormed out of the nooks and crannies and hung the "Back Benchers" banner on the wall behind the Speaker's desk. They did the traditional end-of-page-term skit about their time in the legislature. A new crop will be arriving soon. I'll miss some of these. There are some good genes in the Moyle and Lake families.
    Funny though this year for the what feels like the first time, not a single Democrat appeared in the skit. It is kind of like what is happening with our legislation this year. If it is at all substantial and has a Democrat's name on it, it seems to be vanishing, typically for "technical" reasons. I've not checked with all my colleagues to see if this is universally true, but normally good bi-partisan efforts have a chance. I think the looming election year is taking its toll on the legislative process. I hope I'm wrong. That is the ugliest of partisanship -- important policy being killed simply because the legislator belongs to the wrong party.

    Today while we were at ease we also had the Marriage Ambassador award which recognizes a married couple who exemplify traditional marriage. It went to Rep. Donna Boe and her husband Roger for their amazing work locally and internationally and for their fifty year plus marriage. Roger came from Pocatello to be here with Donna and accept the award. 
    It is Valentines day, and someone in the award presentation used the words "those who choose marriage." I have watched this award presented every year for the past four years. This year was the first year I got teary. Something about the words "choose marriage" really got me. It seemed cruel even if it was not intended to be so.
    It is Valentines day and I send love to my partner Carol as a legislative spouse, for all she endures in long hours, stress and putting up with my months of pre-occupation with policy and strategy and the daily drama of the legislature. To Carol who doesn't get to attend the legis-ladies meetings and outings or have the camaraderie of others who live so close to the periphery of this often all-consuming place. 
    It is valentines day and I wish for all couples who, like Carol and I, can't get married -- I wish for you all a more compassionate world, a more compassionate state and a day when all our families will be as respected and valued as others.

Home Working

I know I am not the only legislator home working late on this Sunday night. In little apartments in basements and condos, in high rises and simple hotels we work or sleep tonight. Outside it is dark and in my neighborhood the air smells of wood smoke. Like me, some legislators labor now over bills, researching, gathering co-sponsors, pulling in agencies and opposition to create consensus or compromise. Some come ready with years of experience debating legislation, they vote, work gently on their own strategies and issues and go home after the receptions and dinners at night to sleep. Look at the bills we sponsor and you can tell a great deal about us. As Democrats our bills may have other ambitions than just passage. We may have to use them to educate for a year or two, but already in my two terms I've seen several good ideas that were politically unpopular work their way to passage.
    Tonight as the ground warms and thaws and the capitol stands like a broken shell across the street from our temporary quarters, the wheels of the process are turning faster, starting to grind in doing the real work. This is the week the debates begin.

Suspended

We have suspended debate and have an ambulance here for Rev & Tax committee chair Dennis Lake who collapsed in the heat of debate. He is conscious and fine, but headed to the hospital. There has been a collective intake of breath and a somber nodding of heads as we pass in the hallway. Dennis is the fearless leader of the committee which once was run by Rep. Delores Crow of Nampa. Lake has made his mark on the place with his fair hearings, level head and the half smile he slides into sharp debate.

Torturing Freshmen

The Idaho legislature has a very mild form of hazing. No wedgies, no dunking anyone in anything. We keep a good distance in fact and, from the comfort of our seats on the floor, just vote a Freshman legislator's first bill down. Of course we wait until the speaker says "Does anyone whish to change their vote?" and we do change our votes. You might call it a charming rite of passage. Even after the years and long ranks of new law makers, it seems to make us laugh every time. Today, to set up Rep. Thomas from Emmett, there was some debate about what the meaning of "is" is in the bill she presented. If you watch on IPTV live at 11ish each day you'll see our antics. We are typically as lively as slime mold but on occasion get moving. This is the time of year where we are actually beginning to debate issues so it might be worthwhile.

IPTV Live aprox 11 AM, Mon-Fri House and Senate. The schedule will vary more and provide for longer debate as the session progresses. http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/

Levity

Crystal White, Stacy Falkner my Interns with Democratic Staff Member, Cathy Downs in the Snow

Les Bock Watches as Our Chairman Gets Gaveled by His Co-Chair

Lenore Watches the Mayors Sing

Kassie, Carol and Barack Obama Speechless

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When it is tense, how do we survive?

•     Carol makes me laugh when things are the most difficult. She knows how to make me stop banging my head against the wall and how to help me see the humor in really anything, including having a bill die.
•     I have two hard working college interns who are researching fiscal impacts, making phone calls, keeping the e-mail from over taking my computer and reminding me to stay focused so I don't unravel in an unsightly way when I have way too many balls of legislative yarn in the air.
•      My upper house colleagues sense of humor keeps it all from spiraling down with the paper and binder clips and anything which might fall off the balcony. Someone in the back row passed around a 1955 pamphlet on keeping women in their place and called it the report from Steve Thayne's Family Task Force.
•    It is nice to be just a fan for awhile. Barack Obama coming to Boise Saturday morning fuels me to remember how big things are out there and how hopeful this state looks for Democrats this year. Maybe there will be more balance and more than 19 of us in the House in 2009. If we work hard enough, at this time next year we could have a Democrat as president, real health care reform in the making, smarter energy policy, strong, intelligent, articulate leadership to make us respected again as a nation.
•     Even Lt. Governor Risch whispered a joke about how, before Governor Otter's hip surgery, he had offered to administer Butch's anesthesia. He said was told that wouldn't really fly.
•     Chairman Clark has a wicked sense of humor but had two bills up today. He treats even defeat like a game and laughed when his Vice Chair Leon Smith gaveled him during the presentation of his highly technical supreme court retirement fund stabilization bill.
•     At one of the million receptions, lunches and functions today, two Mayors sang and even I found myself singing the star spangled banner, probably the most risky thing I could do to my re-election since I absolutely can not carry a tune.

Against Us

For two years, we, the members of the House of Representatives have given the morning invocation ourselves. We have had an occasional guest chaplain, but on most mornings we could look forward to seeing the world through the eyes of a different legislative colleague. We have Buddhists, members of the LDS Church, Christians of all kinds and some whose invocations reflected a mix of respect for different faiths, including respect for the right for members to live without religion.
    This year Speaker Denny chose to return to the practice of having the same House Chaplain give our invocation in the form of a Christian prayer each morning. Our house chaplain began prayer today with this quote from Romans: "If God is for us who can be against us?"

Because sadly there are days that that quote sums us up all too well, I would ask: Since we have at least some Legislators who are not Christian, will we misjudge which God is with us? What about the definition of "us," who do we include? Who do we exclude? And which god or gods would take sides where all mean well and have good moral intent? And what if gods differ in their assessment? What if we have asked the wrong question and believe in our hearts we are righteous when we are not? What if we are divided, who is God with then? Who is God against? Is it not possible that both sides believe God is with them? If so, does this lead to greater understanding or to greater conflict?

Night Time

The Doors to the Floor of the House

Entry to the Balcony or "Upper House" as we call it

Inside The Forbidden House Lounge. Once the only place off limits to all but legislators.
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Night time. Four hard working Democratic women left on the empty House floor as the clock ticks toward 8:30 PM. Snow is falling heavy outside and I wander down to graze at the snack table. Pretzels. Two white shirted security guards smile and say hi. I say good night to them almost every night when the windows are dark and the halls are quiet.
    The stairs are good exercise. In the day I run up and down trying to find Senator McKenzie (who is busy with his law practice right now) or my cosponsors for other bills, going to committee, collecting my mail (which appears in growing stacks all day every day.) I open letters from prisoners, answer e-mail notes on everything from dog fighting and the grocery tax to the human rights act and a bill that's trying to make it even harder for recent immigrants to hold a drivers license and car insurance.
    Each night my calendar in my auxiliary brain (pda) shows a mass of overlapping events. Receptions with the Hispanic Affairs Commission (which I serve on), dinner with water users,  disability community advocates, stem cell researchers and more. I'm back here on the floor though after just one event most nights, because I still have so much work to do finalizing drafts of legislation and getting really ready for that time soon when I will be juggling several bills at once.
    Off into the night now. Snow inches thick since I returned from enchiladas and dancers in colored dresses, statistics on Hispanics still uninsured, and warm hugs from old friends from years back or hundreds of miles away.

Missing Sali

View of the Speaker from the "Upper House" where 20 lawmakers sit

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So if you are looking for an update on Congressman Sali's visit to the Idaho legislature today. I wasn't here. I spoke to the Telephone Pioneers over lunch and this cool retired group of telephone company workers mostly seemed to feel I had made a good choice. I talked to them about taxes. No one fell asleep in their tasty potatoes and gravy (that I could see.)