Curtis S. Bramble: Utah Senator and NCSL President.

• Author: Householder, Stacy
• Position: National Conference of State Legislators - The Final Word - Interview

Curt Bramble (R) is in his fourth term in the Utah Senate, where he serves as president pro tempore. He took the reins as NCSL president last month at the Legislative Summit in Seattle and will serve until next year's Summit in Chicago. Bramble is a CPA who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University.

What is your vision for NCSL?

NCSL needs to set the example of how we can come together to solve problems without compromising our principles. That's why we're all elected to state legislatures and that is our mandate--to govern.

Why is NCSL important today?

Individually, we may be elected by a partisan organization called the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, but our mandate is to all the citizens, not just the team we play for. That's the strength of NCSL. It brings everyone together to share ideas and solutions so they don't have to reinvent the wheel. NCSL represents the collective voice of the states in working with the federal government and with members of Congress on policies. Our mandate is not partisan. It is to strengthen federalism, to generally oppose unfunded mandates and pre-emption.

Are there lessons from the past that apply today?

The Founding Fathers figured out how to stay in the room till they could work out their differences and put forward something that they could all agree to. How did those men--men of passion, men of compassion, men who in many ways were ideologues with entirely different views--sit in a room in Philadelphia from May through September and hammer out something they could all sign off on? They committed to stay in the room until they got it done.

What is your proudest accomplishment as a lawmaker?

I'm proud of what Utah has done on immigration, energy policy, on discrimination, tax reform, on limiting government and strengthening individual freedoms. Who would have thought that Utah could pass a law against discrimination of the LGBT community in housing and employment that also strengthened religious liberties in the workplace? We've helped the far-left environmentalists and the far-right industrialists to find common ground, and the banks and credit unions to...