Leading lawmakers: this year's leadership award winners exemplify integrity and bipartisanship.

• Author: Smith, Edward
• Position: Richard Codey and Steve Sviggum

Leaders come in a lot of different packages.

This year s recipients of the Excellence in State Legislative Leadership Award--the nation's top legislative honor--are certainly a demonstration of that.

Richard Codey, president of the New Jersey Senate, is a former governor who has more than survived that state's often bruising politics, including plenty of clashes with those in his own party.

Steve Sviggum, former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and now the commissioner of the Minnesota Department Labor and Industry, spent 29 years in the Legislature, much of it in the minority.

But each--Codey, a Democrat, and Sviggum, a Republican--get praise from both sides of the aisle for their ability to craft bipartisan deals and for their integrity.

The award is presented annually by NCSL and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation to honor leaders whose careers embody the highest principles of leadership and have shown a commitment to protecting and strengthening the institution of the state legislature. Last year's recipient was Joe Hackney, speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and incoming president of NCSL.

William T. Pound, executive director of NCSL, says the two "demonstrate a deep loyalty to the legislative institution and exemplify the varieties of legislative leadership that we have in this country."

Foundation President Stephen G. Lakis echoed the sentiment, saying the committee was "pleased to have two highly qualified legislative leaders to confer the award on this year. Both were recognized because of their strengths in working in a bipartisan fashion The committee was impressed with their spirit of cooperation."

RICHARD CODEY

Codey, 61, is currently New Jersey's longest serving legislator. He was elected to the Assembly in 1973 at 26, the youngest person at that time ever elected to the Legislature.

His stint as governor came unexpectedly after former Governor Jim McGreevey resigned amid a sex scandal in 2004. New Jersey does not have a lieutenant governor, and the Senate president assumes the governor's post in the event of resignation or incapacitation.

"Dick Codey has gone through just about every leadership position you can go through, and then for 14 months was Senate president and concurrently acting governor," says Alan Rosenthal, a professor of public policy and political science at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University and a member of the selection committee. "In terms of...