On behalf of staff: legislative staff may not always get the respect they deserve, but in Ohio, the institution would grind to a halt without them.

• Author: Leonard, Lee
• Position: STRONG STAFF, STRONG INSTITUTION - Ohio Legislative Service Commission

Late one night in April 2005, the door to the compound of the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (LSC) swung open and Speaker Jon A. Husted and his fellow Republican leaders paid a visit to the "boiler room."

It was close to midnight. The House Finance Committee had just recommended the $50 billion state budget for passage the next day. The staff attorneys and bill-drafting personnel were facing an all-nighter to get the budget in shape for debate by the 99-member House and prepare amendments for individual legislators. They had been on hand since 7:30 that morning and would be there at the same hour the next day.

Husted, just starting his third term, led his contingent through the hive of worker-bee cubicles littered with piles of paper, soda cans and empty pizza boxes, thanking the weary staffers for their hard work on the budget.

A small gesture, perhaps, but meaningful to an overworked nonpartisan staff that often feels treated like "doormats" in the "gotta-have-it-yesterday" atmosphere of a big-state legislature.

"They took time to thank people for what they were doing," says James W. Burley, director of the commission. "It meant a lot to the staff to see the legislators."

Not that they don't ever see the legislators. But, especially in recent years, inexperienced members don't always show their appreciation for the behind-the-scenes work that gets done, even in the crunch of a big budget or the rush to adjournment.

It isn't often that any House members, let alone leaders, take the elevator down five floors to deliver pats on the back to those who make the train run, as close to on-time as is possible in a legislature.

Ohio is one of a handful of states with nearly equal nonpartisan and partisan staff. Staffing varies widely from state to state. About a third have little or no partisan staff and almost half have more partisan than nonpartisan staff.

Ohio's strong nonpartisan central staff provides the full-time, term-limited legislature with research, bill analyses, fiscal notes and bill-drafting. The Legislative Service Commission serves both the House and the Senate. It's staffed with old-timers, many who are at or approaching retirement age. In contrast, the partisan staff is younger, a phenomenon of term limits. Together they are 536 strong, serving 132 lawmakers. They battle overt partisanship, job instability and feelings of not being appreciated. Leaders recognize the negative undercurrent and are trying to change it.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS

Burley's staff of 160 remains fairly constant, operating on a budget of $14 million. They seem to love their work and are in it for the long haul. Seven had retired, but like staff in California, Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey, they were coaxed...