Newly in charge: with dozens of leaders taking charge in legislative chambers around the country, changes are happening fast.

• Author: Greenblatt, Alan

Employers still aren't much in the mood for hiring, and it's unusual to see a lot of new faces around most workplaces. But state legislatures aren't like most other places.

About a quarter of all state lawmakers are freshmen this year. Combined with the effects of term limits in 15 states and the flood of newcomers who first took office with the elections of 2008 and, especially, 2006, it quickly becomes clear that state capitols these days aren't populated by very many old hands.

For that reason--and because of the sizable number of chambers that switched party control last November, all from Democratic to Republican or to tied an astonishing number of new leaders are now in charge.

There are 24 new house speakers around the country, or 25 if you count the two co-speakers in Oregon's tied House. The numbers are similarly high in state senates, with 17 new senate majority leaders, eight new senate presidents and 16 new presidents pro tem.

Any way you slice it, going down the ranks from presiding officers to assistant floor leaders, about half the nation's legislative leaders are new to their positions this year.

Politics aside, there's some risk in losing experience. Loss of institutional memory can often lead lawmakers to spend time rehashing old arguments. Less-experienced legislators also are likely to take a back seat to governors when it comes to setting choices about important matters such as crafting the budget.

But there are also positives borne out of having so many newcomers, perhaps particularly in the leadership ranks. People who are new to the game aren't as beholden to the status quo. They certainly won't expend as much energy defending policies of the past.

That might be helpful this year, as states face what is likely to be the most challenging budget season in living memory because of still-sluggish revenues and the drop-off in federal funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It's certain states are going to rethink their priorities and quite possibly reshape much of their mission over the coming years because of budget pressures.

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"Normally, I would say that experience counts a lot," says Alan Rosenthal, an expert on state legislatures at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. "But having people who are new at leadership might not be as much of a problem as during normal times. The budget in most states is just so overwhelmingly difficult that the old way...