Legislative staff chair Chuck Truesdell.

• Author: Berlin, Olivia
• Position: NEW OFFICERS - Interview

Chuck Truesdell began his career in journalism at a newspaper an hour from where he was working on his political science degree at the University of Kentucky. Soon the exhausting commute began to weigh on him, and he started searching for a job closer to home.

"As it happened, one of my coworkers at the newspaper was the daughter of our state representative," Truesdell says. Eventually, the representative invited him to come work for the legislature. Truesdell accepted the offer, and after a couple of months had a permanent position with the public information office, where he worked for eight years.

In a Bit of a Rut

With the Kentucky Legislature split between Democrats and Republicans, bills were introduced year after year in one chamber only to die in the other, and Truesdell found himself writing the same speeches and press releases over and over. "I got into a bit of a rut. ... I couldn't think of new words to say. I couldn't rephrase things anymore." He adds, "And, to be honest, I don't think I was the best speech writer."

So he went back to the University of Kentucky, got a master's in public financial management and made the transition to the budget office. "I fell in love with the idea of working for the budget office, partly because I enjoy spreadsheets and numbers," he says, "but also because that's where the action is. " And his communications experience was part of why he was hired. "You need to know not just numbers, but how to communicate what those numbers mean."

The Challenges

The most challenging part of his job is explaining it to people. "My parents still think I work for the governor," he says, laughing. "I have never worked in the executive branch."

He has found that many people don't realize the complex network that exists within the legislative branch. "I think a lot of people think of the legislature as the elected officials and that's it, and there's a lot of support network behind the legislators to get them the information they need." Truesdell doesn 't mind working behind the scenes, however.

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"I think there are very few legislative staffers who would even entertain the idea of running for the legislature. It's happened, but most of us really enjoy the policy details and a lot of us are uncomfortable with the spotlight. ... And it takes both actually to make a strong legislative institution."

One of Truesdell 's core missions as NCSL's legislative staff chair is to spread the word about...