Dan Lawlor: Rhode Island Needs a Larger General Assembly
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
“Even when everything seems rotten you can't trust that judgement,' Gloria had said. 'It's the sum of all your judgements that counts.” - F Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and the Damned
Forgive me for taking a line from Fitzgerald. Here's the idea though – we the people, all of us, have a right to have a say in government.
We do believe in government by the people, right?
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWell, here's the thing. In New England, for better or worse, the state that seems to have a legislature most designed to respond to the needs of the people – the beautiful and the damned as we are - is New Hampshire.
New Hampshire's General Court- the House of Representatives and State Senate – totals 424 people. The House of Representatives in New Hampshire is 400 people- one of the largest legislative bodies in the entire world.
I think we should have a similar, gigantic legislature.
I can already hear the yelling.
There are two possible schools of objections.
A Progressive critique is that the issue is that more people are not running for office because they can't afford to. Many people who would consider running are turned off by the low pay, long hours, constant fundraising, and slimy insider network that runs this state. From this view, we get what we pay for – a part time legislature breeds conflicts of interests, partly because many people who have time to run and go to meetings are well-connected or aspiring to be connected lawyers.Until we pay more, we'll miss out on talented people.
A Conservative critique is that we have an inefficient, clunky government, stuck in parochial issues. This view would argue we need a smaller legislature. From this view, more state-wide legislative positions and fewer representatives would create a more business-like environment, resulting in big picture thinking that benefits the whole. The less participants, the better the decisions. The more restricted political access is, the more professional and efficient government becomes, concerned with "public good" instead of "special interests."
I will point out that in the not too distant past, Rhode Islanders voted to reduce the size of the legislature – the House from 100 to 75, the Senate from 50 to 38.Not that it is a cause and effect, but since that time our economy has tanked and our smaller, leaner legislative leaders gambled away $75 million dollars on a bet with a baseball player.
I feel there are three general problems
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The legislature is not transparent
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The legslature is not reflective of the people in the state
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The legislature is hobbled by patronage in key staff positions
I want to focus on the second one today.
Some say the legislature is not reflective because the pay is so low for the amount of work involved, so we have a small talent pool. Others say the legislature is not reflective because special interests fund and support candidates, manipulating the results of elections.
I say eliminate both problems by having an enormous legislature with small districts. Why? It's easier and less expensive to run for office in a small neighborhood district. It's harder for outside interests to influence small scale elections, where a person's character can really make or break a person.
In New Hampshire, according to Heffernan and Stecker, there is one legislator for every 1800 people.
The New Hampshire system has costs and benefits. It can be “inefficient” - or difficult to reach consensus. New Hampshire has had some especially contentious struggles over state-wide financing for public schools, especially for poor rural areas. It's not perfect. Neither is what we have. For more on "rightsizing" legislatures, and the controversies around it, check out this great article by Alan Ehrenhalt
Democracy does not mean dictatorship, it does not mean fast paced decisions by a small group of insiders. Democracy means more voices and more connections from and with the community.Change can be slow, but comes from the community.
In a participatory democracy, to promote change people need to change the minds of the people at large – not just a few deal makers or insiders. It's hard to imagine 38 Studios happening in such an environment. In NH recently, a socially conservative caucus tried to repeal same-sex marriage. Despite their passion and organization, they failed to convince their colleagues and the people in the state that such a reactionary measure made sense. The common sense of people won out. You can't just change the mind of the insiders- you have to change the mind of the people at large.
Lastly, it seems to me, New Hampshire's larger legislature has approved and designed budgets that have resulted in a successful economy and lower unemployment rates going on for two decades. Our smaller, stronger income tax cutting, property tax raising, high sales tax maintaining, college tuition raising, court job receiving, gambling addicted legislature has not.
So here's my pitch – a giant legislature for a little state. Why? So that we can actually practice this whole democracy idea. Dump the bosses. All power to the people, imperfect as we all are.
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