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By Senator Richard T. Moore

January 22, 2008 ... Sometimes people, especially students, ask me what I do as a member of the Massachusetts legislature. At times, people even mistake my role for that of our United States Senators, Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, or members of Congress, like our Congressman Richard Neal. While our roles are very similar, we represent different groups of constituents and have different areas of responsibility. For example, as a state legislator, I don’t get to vote to declare war, approve a treaty, block immigration, impeach a president, or how much money to print.

As a legislative branch of government, a legislature represents people from different regions of the state to advocate that region as well vote in the best interests of the state as a whole. Similarly, United States Congress represents people from different states and regions and is supposed to put the national interest above al. As a general rule, the same types of checks and balances essential for democratic government at the national level apply between the state legislature, the state executive officer (a governor) and the state judiciary. Of course, the degree to which this is the case varies from one state to the next. 

Both our federal legislature (often called the Congress) and state legislatures (except Nebraska) have a Senate and a House of Representatives. Our founding fathers favored the concept of checks and balances between and among parts of government in order to protect democracy. 

During a legislative session, the state legislature considers matters introduced by its members or submitted by the governor. In Massachusetts, residents also enjoy the “right of free petition,” so any citizen can propose a new law or change in an existing law. Consequently, it’s not unusual for us to consider as many as 7,000 proposals in a two-year legislative session, although only a fraction of them become law. 

Businesses, unions, and other special interest organizations often lobby the legislature to obtain beneficial legislation, defeat unfavorably perceived measures, or influence other legislative action. It’s the duty of legislators to try to sort out the facts and determine how best to represent their constituents on a given issue. Legislators, collectively, also approve the state’s operating and capital budgets, which may begin as a legislative proposal or a submission by the governor. When we take pleasure and pride in announcing a program that we’ve helped to fund, it should be understood that we did not gain funding on our own, but with the help of those in the other branch and with the support of our colleagues in our own branch of the legislature. None of us can truthfully take sole credit for anything passed by the legislature, because a majority must always agree for anything to pass.

In most states, a new state legislature convenes in January of the odd-numbered year after the election of members. The period during which the legislature remains in session varies. In states where the legislature is considered part-time, a session may last several months; where the legislature is considered full-time, as in Massachusetts, the session may last all year, with periodic breaks for district work. 

Currently, there are 7,382 state legislators in the United States. They are usually assisted by staff aides to help prepare and analyze legislation, to review and amend submitted budgets, and to help solve constituent’s problems with state government. 

State legislatures and their members have generally grown in importance over time. The biggest change during my tenure in the legislature has been the growing role of state legislatures and their members to develop solutions to problems that seem unsolvable by the federal government. Time and again, legislators in the various states have shown that they can find answers for pressing problems that command the support needed to become law. 

Many state legislators meet every year at the annual meeting, and other meetings, of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and has a lobbying office in Washington, D.C. Invariably, I have learned how to be a better state legislator and gained new ideas from other states to help solve long-standing problems here at home.

At the end of each year, newspapers often publish the “roll call” attendance records of state legislators. Such “report cards” don’t fully represent the level of service provided or present a complete picture of the work of a legislator. While important, in that they represent the number of times that legislative votes were taken and recorded, they are still only a fraction of the many voice votes cast. 

Furthermore, voting in a session of the Senate or House is only part, important as it is, of the several duties of elected representatives and senators. Even the length of a legislative session – whether in hours, days, weeks or months – doesn’t reflect the amount of work completed. The real work of representative democracy is done during the hours of committee hearings, committee meetings, drafting legislation, or working with colleagues to fine tune and pass complex bills that become laws.

Another critical part of the job of representing the people of a state involves many hours of meetings with individuals and groups of voters in the districts or with interest groups that can help or hinder the passage of important bills or budget items.

More important in measuring the effectiveness of a state senator or representative than the number of roll call votes or the length of individual sessions, is how well the legislator reflects the will of the majority of voters and how effective the legislator may be on gaining passage of laws or budget items that benefit the public or by preventing unwise legislation from reaching final enactment that could prove harmful. 

Massachusetts residents who want to learn more about the operations of the legislature and the role of their elected representatives should contact Shawn Collins in my office for information about the Citizens’ Legislative Seminar, starting Wednesday, March 12th, and a variety of other programs available.

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