Loren Lippincott
As always, the opening days of this current Nebraska Legislative session were spent getting organized and laying out plans for the most efficient way to conduct the people’s business. The first day of the session we elected committee chairs and on day two the 49 senators were assigned to the various committees. The 17 new senators were divided up among the 14 standing committees, which include Agriculture, Appropriations, Education and others. When this reorganization takes place, if the veteran senators want to keep their current committee assignments, they can. Two years ago as a freshman senator, I was assigned to the nine-member Appropriations Committee which decides how your tax dollars are spent. I chose to remain on that committee this year and next. In addition to the standing committees there are also several select committees. They include the Committee on Committees (they do the committee assignments) and the Rules Committee. This year I ran for chair of that committee and was elected. It’s an important committee because it establishes the rules of engagement for how we do business in the Legislature.
Poet Robert Frost wrote, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down.” He was referring to the fact that people often look at walls, fences, guardrails (and rules) as negative things. However, just as a fence keeps things where they ought to be and a guardrail can keep a car from plunging over a cliff, rules are necessary things.
Every organization must have rules. The objective is to conduct business with optimum efficiency and fairness. In the Legislature we need and desire to hear from all sides of the issues brought before us. We must in order to arrive at the best solution to the problems confronting us.
The filibuster rule which has been used so aggressively by one party the last several years here in Nebraska, has its origins in the U.S. Senate. The filibuster rule, which began in 1917 to end debate on the Treaty of Versailles, was first used two years later in 1919. Over the next 51 years (1919-1970) a cloture vote to end a filibuster was used only 49 times – less than once a year. In 1970 a two-track system was adopted allowing a filibuster to be set aside to conduct other business. Before that, all legislative activity ended except for the filibuster, which obviously slowed the process of lawmaking considerably. This resulted in an explosion in the use of the filibusters. For instance, from 1957 to 1959, 25 percent of all bills introduced were enacted, but in 2005 only 12.5 percent of bills were enacted and by 2010 that number had dropped to 2.8 percent. Efficiency has suffered greatly!
The filibuster can be a useful tool to ensure all sides are clearly heard, but guardrails are needed to ensure balance. Thus, the need for ever-changing rules in an effort to strike that balance.
With the increasing use of the filibuster here in Nebraska, the result has been reduced debate on important bills and the “Christmas Tree” effect in which many issues end up attached to a single bill to get them passed. The effect of all of that is less scrutiny of individual bills that deserve their “moment in the sun.”
In the legislature and in all of life, transparency and accountability are needed for peak efficiency. This results in a clear and open process which fosters trust with both the public and other legislators. While we’re never going to agree on all the issues, we must ensure that all perspectives are heard in respectful debate. It takes maturity and wisdom to be able to hear out an opposing view, even if one vehemently disagrees with it. As Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” My goal for the Rules Committee is to streamline our processes, so that all sides are respectfully heard, gridlock can be reduced and the integrity of the institution safeguarded.
When we are spending more than $13,000 a day to hold a legislative session, we need to make sure the voters get the most bang for their buck.
Loren Lippincott represents Legislative District 34 in the Nebraska State Senate. Read his column in the Nance County Journal.