Our beleaguered institution.

• Author: Hansen, Karen
• Position: Negative public perception of state legislatures - Includes related articles - Cover Story

Reeling from voter anger and public distrust, can the legislative institution ever regain respect?

In this era of political discontent, reality differs substantially from perception. State legislatures are stronger and more effective than at any time in history. Yet, according to public opinion polls, they are widely viewed as unresponsive and incapable. Changing that perception is one of the critical legislative challenges of the 1990s.

On the credit side of the legislative ledger are progressive and creative social policy and institutional accomplishments that rival the very best of federal legislation.

* Oregon convinced the federal government to give it a free hand to overhaul its health care system to cover 450,000 uninsured poor people; Florida enacted a managed competition approach, and at least seven other states have passed significant health care reform.

* Michigan is attempting to start from ground zero to reinvent and refinance K-12 education, Kentucky revamped its entire education system, and Oregon pioneered programs to better prepare kids for the workforce.

* In a special session that was the first of its kind in the nation, Colorado passed a tough new ban on kids possessing guns, and created a new penal system for hard-core juvenile offenders. Utah and Florida rewrote their laws covering kids and guns and dozens of other states are considering doing the same.

* Florida and Michigan leaders cast aside bitter partisan differences and worked out historic and surprisingly successful shared-leadership arrangements when the Florida Senate and the Michigan House became tied after the 1992 elections. * Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency modeled the 1993 Clean Air Act Amendments on California's innovative air quality program that allows emissions trading in polluted areas and encourages the use of electric cars.

But despite these accomplishments, legislatures in the last few years have confronted a series of legal and ethical problems that cast a pall of corruption and distrust over the institution.

* The former Kentucky speaker and two other legislators were convicted in 1992 of extortion and racketeering in an FBI examination of gambling corruption.

* A New Mexico legislator was convicted of corruption in 1992.

* Seven Arizona legislators were indicted on charges of bribery, money laundering, conspiring to extort votes and other illegal acts in an FBI sting in 1991. Three went to prison, two did jail time and two got probation.

* In the worst Michigan scandal in 50 years, the director of the House Fiscal Agency was indicted this year in connection with allegedly siphoning off nearly $2 million of tax money for himself, his staff and his friends.

* In South Carolina, five lawmakers pleaded guilty or were convicted on bribery charges in connection with a phony gambling and dog racing bill, and 14 others were indicted.

Legislatures increasingly deal with complex problems that once were administered or financed by the federal government. With a huge demand for services and bitter taxpayer resistance to more state spending during this most recent recession, lawmakers have taken it on the chin from the public and the press. "The irony," says Alan Rosenthal of Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, "is that legislatures are doing a better job of handling bigger issues than ever, but getting less and less credit for it."

There is also "an incredible increase in lobbying and pressures at the state level," according to Rosenthal. Bribes from lobbyists have been at the root of ethics scandals in legislatures from California to South Carolina. And interest groups, by promising campaign help to individual legislators, can hobble the consensus building efforts of leaders. The public sees corruption and stagnation.

The Olden Days

It wasn't always like this. In the 1960s, under the powerful late Speaker Jesse Unruh, California set a new standard of professionalism. Legislatures up to that point were understaffed, paid a pittance and met only a few months every couple of years. They were, for the most part, the weakest branch of government. But Unruh ushered in a new, energized era. The California Legislature expanded its staff, increased its pay, lengthened its session, enlarged its research and budget analysis capacity, and became the model for many states. New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and New Jersey followed suit as highly professional, well-paid, full-time legislatures. Many...