Keeping in touch: responding to constituents' requests and concerns is time-consuming but key to representative democracy.

• Author: Andrade, Jane Carroll

After 17 years of serving in local government--as county supervisor, mayor and school board president--Joe Simitian looked forward to serving an even broader constituency when he was elected to the California Assembly in November 2000. At the end of his first year in office, however, Simitian felt a void. He missed the contact with his constituents.

"I was struck by the contrast between the interaction with constituents that I used to have, and the steady stream of lobbyists and professional activists who take up my time at the Capitol," he recalls.

"I said, I've got to find a way to reach out to my constituents and make them a part of this process."

So he started a "There Oughta Be A Law," contest, in which he invites constituents to submit ideas for a new law, or to take an existing law off the books.

Now a state senator, Simitian has received more than SOO proposals in the four years since he started the contest. He's turned 13 of those ideas into bills. Of those, eight have been signed into law, and two are pending.

CONSTITUENT CONTACT

Although they may not all hold contests, legislators and staff from states large and small spend the better part of their days listening to, responding to, learning from and educating their constituents.

"That's what we're here for," says Senator Laura M. Toy of Michigan.

Bruce Cotton, former chief legislative assistant to Representative Leslie Waters, speaker pro tem of the Florida House, agrees. "Constituent services are our main priority," he says. "That's the core of why we're here--the driving force for our office."

Responding to constituents' requests and concerns is time-consuming work. In larger states like Michigan, legislators tend to have staff to help with casework, but they also represent more people. In smaller states, legislators do the job themselves. Either way, demand is great, but time and resources are limited.

In sparsely populated states like Wyoming, the nonpartisan Legislative Service Office does not provide constituent casework services, so constituents deal directly with their legislators.

"When someone approaches me, the buck stops here," says Wyoming Representative Rosie Berger. "I pretty much have to do it all."

Although she serves only about 7,800 constituents, they are spread out over a wide area that is more than 350 miles from the state Capitol in Cheyenne. "It's difficult to go door to door," she says. "I put over 20,000 miles a year on my vehicle just doing constituent legislative services."

A large portion of that work comes in the form of responding to constituents' problems, requests or concerns. Legislative offices are inundated with phone calls, letters, faxes and e-mails, particularly during session...