WHAT I WISH I KNEW: Veteran lawmakers tell us what they wish someone had told them when they were new to the job.

AuthorRose, Gene
PositionLEGISLATURES - Discussion

If you could write a letter to your younger self before you started your career, what would you say?

That's the question we put to two current and two former state legislators. We asked them what they wish they'd known when they walked into their legislative chamber for the first time. And, considering that more than 20 percent of the nation's 7,383 state lawmakers are new to the job, we wondered what advice the veterans might have for those who are just getting started.

Our panel includes: Illinois Senator and current NCSL President Toi Hutchinson (D); Utah Senator and former NCSL President Curt Bramble (R); former Indiana Senate Pro Tern David Long (R); and former New Hampshire House Speaker and NCSL President Terie Norelli (D).

NCSL: What surprised you when you first joined your legislature?

Hutchinson: The most surprising thing was how much time you have to dedicate to this and how little the public sees of it. There's a big disconnect between what people think legislators do and what legislators actually do. I was probably more surprised by all of the stuff that's not sexy, the things that don't make the papers, the meetings you go to that nobody knows of.

Bramble: I thought that I needed to come out of the starting gates being very aggressive and establish some boundaries, not recognizing the process. You can be overbearing; you can be overly aggressive; you can be perceived as a bulldog or a bully or whatever. I thought politics was all rough-and-tumble, and so I came out swinging, basically.

And what I very quickly learned is building consensus is not steamrolling. It's not based on political muscle. But it's based on the power of ideas. And when you learn that it's the power of ideas and you need to build consensus, it takes a constitutional majority, and you can't do it alone.

Long: It's a similar experience for everyone, which is the sheer volume of information and issues with which you're confronted. I was a city councilman for eight years before I became a state senator, so I was used to working on local government issues. But you're confronted with so much more as a legislator, just the fiscal issues alone, dealing with a budget and trying to understand all the permutations there: education, corrections, transportation, environment and so forth.

The key is to work hard and learn your trade and it will come to you; it will become more familiar in time. But it's a whole lot out of that fire hose at first and everyone goes through that.

Did you ever struggle with your committee assignments?

Bramble: Committee assignments generally are handed down by the powers on high and no matter what committee assignment you're given, pursue it with a passion and learn all you can. To quote a commercial, "Be the best you can be." Take whatever you're given and magnify it. In doing that, you'll also do your own agenda wonders.

Norelli: When I was a freshman, I was put on a committee about which I knew zero. It was science, technology and energy, and they told me they put me there because I used to be a math teacher.

I did a lot of learning, building relationships on the committee, both with...

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