When newly elected lawmakers enter the Legislature for the first time, they often find that the legislative process is not what they imagined.
Rep. Jackie Thrasher, D-10, learned that the standard textbook chapter “How a bill becomes a law” is something of a fairy tale.
“The reality on that is so much different,” she said, “it makes me laugh.”
Thrasher’s first year, 2007, also became a lesson on how a bill doesn’t become a law – have a Democrat’s name on it in a Republican-led House.
“The speaker rules the roost, and the committee chairs decide what bills they will hear,” Thrasher said. “If they don’t want to hear your bill, you’re out of luck.”
The Glendale lawmaker said she believes her own bills had a big target on them because she unseated an incumbent Republican, Doug Quelland, seatmate to Speaker Jim Weiers.
But the same minority-party frustration was shared by another first-year House Democrat, Theresa Ulmer of District 24.
Ulmer of Yuma and Thrasher were among 10 new Democrats elected to the House in 2006 — not counting Tempe Rep. Ed Ableser, D-17, who came over from the Senate.
Ulmer said the partisanship was more intense than she expected and said bills were judged not by their merit but by whose name appeared on them.
“I went in a little idealistic,” she said. “I know and understand partisan politics by all means, but once again you hope for the best.”
But they’ve learned to adjust, making acquaintances across the aisle and finding someone who will carry a bill for them.
“You learn to be creative,” Ulmer said.
On the Republican side, all six new GOP House members experienced frustration over the battle of the budget. As the wrangling over the fiscal year 2008 budget dragged on, the House eventually accepted the Senate’s version, which allowed more spending and fewer tax cuts.
The House passed it with the help of Democrats, over the objections of fiscally conservative Republicans, including Rich Crandall, R-19.
Crandall of Mesa said the budget ducked tough choices on spending, even as some members predicted revenue problems as far as back as March. A majority of the House Republicans agreed with him on the budget, he said, including the newcomers.
“The six of us freshmen all voted ‘no’ on the budget, and so our experience with the budget is we had no say in it,” Crandall said.
Rep. Andy Tobin, R-1, said the budget battle taught him to be more “proactive” in pressing for what he regards as right. At the same time, he said, working in the Legislature calls for working with members on both sides of the aisle.
“You got 90 CEOs out there,” the Paulden lawmaker said. “I respect that everyone has a viewpoint.”
If the new GOP representatives found themselves on the losing side of last session’s budget battle, they fared better than freshmen Democrats when it came to bills they sponsored. In part, it’s a simple matter of arithmetic. The party that controls the House controls the flow of legislation.
“I think I proposed 12 bills, and six of them got signed by governor,” Crandall said.
Some legislation dealt with the minor agency issues. One bill (H2390) allows the Department of Weights and Measures to sell instruments seized in enforcement actions, instead of having to destroy them. The governor signed the measure into law.
For Crandall, shepherding through bills short on substance provides good experience. But this session the training wheels come off.
“It was learning the process so that this year, we can really start digging into the bigger issues,” he said, singling out health care and education.
Over in the Senate, Charlene Pesquiera, D-26, had her own disappointments when it came to her bills. Not counting lawmakers who came from the House, Pesquiera was the only true freshman legislator in the Senate.
She wasn’t surprised when bills she sponsored hit a dead end. The Oro Valley senator was told Democratic-sponsored measures had a short life.
“In fact, I was told don’t even bother,” she said.
But the senator introduced measures anyway, because she wanted to make a point about what she thought was important. And it was what her constituents expected of her, she said.
“I didn’t get elected to office to sit on my duff,” she said.
Just the same, Pesquiera said, this year she’ll be more ready to take her ideas to somebody who shares her outlook, somebody whose name and party affiliation won’t sink the legislation.
Beyond party politics, first-year members said they saw a few institutional shortcomings. Crandall and Tobin, both businessmen, thought the Legislature could be more businesslike.
“The surprising part to me … is the inefficiency,” Crandall said. “Whether it’s inherent in the process or not, decisions are made much faster at my company.”
Tobin agreed, saying the workings of the Legislature often runs counter to the understanding of the average businessman.
Ulmer is irritated by the failure of lawmakers to show up for committee work. She comes from Yuma to take part in committee functions.
“I live 180 miles from the Capitol,” she said. “If can do it, I expect that everyone else can do it.”
Republican or Democrat, all of the freshman talk about the difficulties of learning the ropes in an institution built on complex rules and personal give and take. Crossing party lines, freshman lawmakers of both parties met several times over lunch to hash out their experiences and frustrations.
They have lot in common, Ulmer said.
“The freshmen are tight,” Ulmer said. “Obviously, we’re not going to agree on all of the issues, but I think … we all feel that things can be done differently, and we want to be part of that.”