By Senator Tom Brewer
Under the category of the unfinished business of termed-out senators, I wanted to offer some coaching to the new freshman class of Senators.
In your first session, I would introduce five bills and I would make sure they went to five different committees. You need to experience bill hearings in as many committees as you can the first year in office. Understanding the jurisdiction of all 14 standing committees is very important and should be experienced firsthand.
Before you drop a bill in the clerk’s wicker basket, I strongly encourage you to go talk to the chairman of the committee it will be referenced to first. It is important to remember that the chairman decides which bills will advance from their committee to the general-file, the first stage of debate. If the Chairman does not like your bill, then a committee hearing is all you will get because the bill will be essentially dead. And along with it, quite a bit of work and lost time.
When a senator introduces a Bill, remember that you have signed-up your staff for hundreds of man hours of work. Decide right then and there the division of labor among your full-time staff. Most of the problems new senators encounter with staff are caused by new Senators. I strongly recommend explaining very clearly the duties and responsibilities of the legislative aid and the administrative assistant. Have them written down.
Everyone’s leadership style is different and you have to find what works with all the personalities involved. I treated my AA and my LA as peers with distinctly different duties and responsibilities. One did not supervise the other, the Senator supervises both. They were cross-trained so they could do the others job if need be.
Being an old Army Colonel, I have been trained since my early twenties to follow the “mission-command” leadership style. It has three parts: key tasks, purpose in the correct context, and end-state (what “your work is finished” looks like) I think this leadership style fits well in the Legislature. When your staff understands their roles and responsibilities, and these three things, they understand the “commanders intent.” The benefit of this philosophy is now your staff can exercise judgment, and demonstrate initiative. They don’t need to wait to be told what to do. There is the shortcoming that good people, empowered by their Senator, trying their best will make mistakes. When that happens, the brand-new Senator needs to look in the mirror and not be too hard on an eager new staff member who is just as green at his job as the Senator is. I promise you that your staff feel much worse about the mistake than you do.
Some of my colleagues from the class of 2017 held the record for the most bills introduced in a session. I myself flirted with that record and worked my staff like a rented mule. Several senators follow this “quantity has its own quality” bill introduction philosophy.
The very first reason to introduce a bill will be the new Senator likes the idea and is interested in trying to make something better. The second year the new Senators will realize there are a lot of reasons to introduce bills. For example, a bill held in committee could be made into an amendment to another bill being debated on the floor. Senators introduce bills they know will never leave the committee. Having bill language that has had a hearing you can amend into a bill on the floor is why they do this. It’s important to understand this skill.
I will close with some advice on designating your Priority Bill. Find a subject that you are so interested in you are willing to make it your – real – priority bill. This means regardless of the political odds of getting it out of committee and getting it passed, you will keep introducing and prioritizing it every year thereafter until it passes. The day you introduce it you send the speaker your priority bill designation letter (many weeks early) and then announce your intentions on the mic so it is part of the transcript. This shows you are devoted to making this topic better and you’re not going to stop until you do. Being known for persistence and determination is a good reputation to have as a Nebraska state senator.
Please contact my office with any comments, questions, or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov, mail a letter to Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1423, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, or call us at (402) 471-2628.