Legislative Leaders, Our Real American Superheroes.

• Author: Zoch, Amanda
• Position: NCSL Base Camp 2020

In a year unlike any other, legislative leaders have been thrust into the spotlight--guiding their chambers through a global pandemic's myriad challenges.

At the recent NCSL Base Camp 2020, five legislative leaders shared what they learned about leading and legislating beyond crisis. The speakers were:

* J. Stuart Adams (R), president, Utah Senate

* Leroy Garcia (D), president, Colorado Senate

* Elijah Haahr (R), speaker, Missouri House of Representatives

* Othni Lathram, director, Alabama Legislative Services Agency

* Megan Martin, secretary, Pennsylvania Senate

Each panelist shared the unique hardships they faced and their often creative responses. As Garcia put it, "there's not a manual that says this is how it should be done."

When the pandemic hit, lawmakers sprang into action to preserve the health of their constituents and states, but they also needed to figure out just how they could do the essential work of governing. The traditional workplace needed to change, and that, according to Martin, required "innovative thinking." Chambers adapted by integrating remote voting, convening new committees and responding to emergency orders all the while grappling with constitutional and statutory requirements that could run counter to present needs.

"We put together a committee on disease essentially for this issue and were doing meetings before we had a single case in Missouri," noted Haahr. Although it felt like over-preparing, that advance planning paid off.

And though each chamber and...