Appraising the Legislatures

No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.

Since Judge Gideon J. Tucker of New York approvingly cited that hyperbolic appraisal 105 years ago, state legislatures in the U.S. have improved. The director of a new study released last week concluded that "corruption is less widespread than we had thought; not many votes are bought for cash." Otherwise, the most comprehensive inquiry ever made of the lawmaking process at state level was bearish. Though considerable differences turned up between the best and worst bodies, many were judged to be inept, understaffed, poorly paid and in "disarray." The study has special relevance now because of the Administration's revenue-sharing plan. Much of the debate about the merits of that plan already centers on the quality of state and local governments --including legislatures--which would spend a significant part of the new dollars from Washington.

Ambitious Task. The 14-month study, financed by a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, was conducted by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Citizens Conference on State Legislatures. From its Kansas City base, the group has been working for legislative reform since 1965, but it had never before undertaken the ambitious task of examining all 50 legislatures, then ranking each in descending order of quality (see box).

No attempt was made to evaluate the legislation the state lawmakers produce, since there is no objective basis for comparison. Instead, 15 investigators, headed by the conference's executive director Larry Margolis, employed a 156-part questionnaire to get information on the quality of each legislature. The questions went to legislators and their staff members in each of the states. The basis for rating was the degree to which legislatures "function effectively, account to the public for their actions, gather and use information, avoid undue influence and represent the interests of their people."

Alabama, No. 50, underscored the inadequacies most dramatically. Its legislature meets for only 36 days, yet divides into 52 separate committees. Each state senator serves on at least four committees, leaving little time to become familiar with that many specialties. The only staff help the legislature gets is from four elderly women who run a legislative reference service. No legislator has an office; much of the business is transacted in the corridors or the cafeteria. Other states that provide no office space: Iowa, Ohio, Utah and Indiana.

Secret Votes. The Alabama legislature is also under what the investigators call "incredible executive domination" by the Governor. By practice, he even appoints the Speaker of the House. Roll-call votes in committees, where the real decisions are made, are never published. A legislator thus can shape and push a bill in committee to please a special interest group, or for any other reason, without his constituents knowing what he has done.

Alabama, at least, is aware of its shortcomings and is trying to overcome them. The legislature created a study committee in 1969 that has made 68 recommendations for reform, which are now under consideration for approval. That is not true of Wyoming, which ranks 49th and seems unconcerned. Its legislature is allowed to meet only 40 days (including Sundays and holidays) every other year and does not even have the power to extend its session if business is incomplete. It is forbidden to take any action between sessions; it cannot even conduct studies. Not one employee is engaged in research to help members understand pending legislation. The Wyoming legislators earn only $1,640 for the two years (although the pay per day is high). '

Lunch-Hour Reading. While Alabama and Wyoming have the weakest overall legislative systems, other states have even worse specific shortcomings. New Hampshire pays its lawmakers the least: $100 each per year. With 424 seats, it also has the largest and most unwieldy membership. Mississippi has the most committees, 90. In three states--Kansas, Arizona and Nebraska--the law requires that pending bills be read aloud in their entirety to the chambers; few legislators listen and the reading is sometimes done during lunch-hour recesses. The separation of powers is seriously blurred in Georgia, where the lieutenant-governor is a powerful figure in the state legislature.

Legislatures are also hamstrung in other ways through no fault of their own. In 33 states they cannot call themselves into special session when the need arises, but are dependent upon Governors, who often can limit the agenda. In Utah, the state supreme court has ruled that the legislature does not even exist for legal purposes except when it is sitting--nor does it have the power to hire any attorneys of its own.

The net effect of such failings is that legislators are forced to cram much work into few days. Without staff help, they often have to rely on lobbyists to analyze what a bill might accomplish, to supply basic facts and often to write the very legislation. There is rarely any way to discourage a legislator from voting on measures that affect his own business or profession. The low pay makes lawmaking a part-time job in which the member's private interests may be his main reason for running.

California's top ranking results partly from the fact that the state has made the legislator's job nearly full time. California pays its members $19,200 a year (highest in the nation; the average is $13,733 for two years). They meet about nine months annually. Its 80-man Assembly can call on the help of 600 researchers, administrative assistants and secretaries to help prepare bills. It commonly pays outside consultants up to $100 a day to study issues facing the legislature. Not every state can afford that kind of support, but many could be more openhanded than they now are. The average state spends only one-fifth of 1% of its annual budget to operate its legislature.

Why is the general quality of legislatures so low? The report contends that too many citizens are simply "unaware of their legislatures and unconcerned about them." The nation's 7,800 state legislators are the lawmakers whom no one seems to know. Yet, as the report points out, the legislatures are "the keystone of the American federal system." and "the state has life and death powers over its cities." Because of the way federal grants and programs must be put into effect at state levels, "federal policies succeed or fail largely on the basis of state action or inaction."

How They Rate

1. California

2. New York

3. Illinois

4. Florida

5. Wisconson

6. Iowa

7. Hawaii

8. Michigan

9. Nebraska

10. Minnesota

11. New Mexico

12. Alaska

13. Nevada

14. Oklahoma

15. Utah

16. Ohio

17. South Dakota

18. Idaho

19. Washington

20. Maryland

21.Pennsylvania

22. North Dakota

23. Kansas

24. Connecticut

25. West Virginia

26. Tennessee

27. Oregon

28. Colorado

29. Massachusetts

30. Maine

31. Kentucky

32. Mew Jersey

33. Lousiana

34. Virginia

35. Missouri

36. Rhode Island

37. Vermont

38. Texas

39. New Hampshire

40. Indiana

41. Montana

42. Mississippi

43. Arizona

44. South Carolina

45. Georgia

46. Arkansas

47. North Carolina

48. Delaware

49. Wyoming

50. Alabama

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