In the 2007-2008 Wyoming House, freshmen held about a quarter -  17 of the 60 - of the seats. This year, 16 of them are running for re-election. Another 12 House races this year have no incumbent, so they will be won by freshmen. Republican Colin Simpson of Cody, the presumptive speaker of the House in 2009-2010, could have nearly half the seats in the chamber filled with representatives with two years or fewer experience. That's a green set of lawmakers.

   An exception is Republican John Patton of Sheridan. If he wins the seat left vacant by Jerry Iekel, he will be a 78-year-old "freshman" with 10 years of service in the 1962-1972 Legislature, four years in the House and six in the Senate.

   Simpson asked Speaker Roy Cohee of Casper to run for re-election, a break with the tradition that a speaker always leaves after one term as top dog to run for the Senate, become a lobbyist or stay home. Cohee, who has a primary opponent, says he would like to come back and serve one more time as a regular member. That would bring his total House service to 12 years, which was the term limit in state law until it was overturned by the Wyoming Supreme Court in 2004.

 

   Without being critical of the large freshman class of 2007-2008, Simpson and Cohee say experience has advantages. One is having the background on debates over recurring issues. "Oftentimes, the further back you can look, the better you can view" the current subject of debate, Simpson said.

   Inexperience has drawbacks, especially when it applies to a fourth of a legislative body. The representative freshman class of 2007-2008 was not particularly deferential to either the rank or experience of other members. They did not hang back much to learn or take direction. They forged ahead with smoke free legislation and challenged committee bills, Hathaway Scholarship requirements, judgments of the Appropriations Committee and the school construction system. Sometimes knew their stuff, sometimes not.

 

   Simpson is glad to see traditions challenged once in a while. "A lot of traditions haven't led to real progress. You need all kinds of influences," he said. The Legislature is moving away from the lock-step progression of moving up to leadership based on seniority. For instance, Tom Lubnau of Gillette became speaker pro tem of the House after just one term in 2007-2008.

   The leader of the minority Democrats in the House was Marty Martin of Rock Springs, in his third term. Six of the 17 House Democrats in 2007-2008 were freshmen. (Martin is moving over to the Senate, being the lone candidate in the race for Senate District 12, so now he's gone.) The Democratic leader in the Senate was Ken Decaria of Evanston, with a combined 12 years in the House and Senate.

   Turnover is much less in the Senate, partly because the terms are twice as long (four years instead of two). Also, freshmen senators usually come with prior experience in the House. There is no tradition of sending home the outgoing presiding officer. If John Schiffer of Kaycee wins re-election in 2008, there will be four senate ex-presidents sitting in the 30-member chamber: Hank Coe of Cody, Gerald Geis of Worland, Grant Larson of Jackson and Schiffer. Coe, Geis and Larson are all committee chairmen.

   The House is a more spirited chamber anyway, regardless of the size of the freshman contingent. People generally say what's on their mind, in committee and on the floor. There's a sense of giving everyone a chance to speak up, although that doesn't always make for the most economical debate or for the most stringent scrutiny before legislation is passed over to the Senate. Simpson likes to think of the House as the "offense" and the Senate as the "defense."

 

 

   He's counting on Cohee to provide leadership on important issues. That presumes the newer members of the House are listening. Another source of informed perspective might be John Patton, who said he received several comments after he announced his candidacy that his experience is sorely needed in the House.

   Part of the problem, according to Cohee, is the growing tendency of legislators to leave just when they're getting the experience they need to be really effective. "Often it's four or six years before a member of the Legislature, in my opinion, is fully competent in what they're doing." The effect, he says, is the House has lost some of its deliberateness. Gravitas, if you will.

   "I'd like to see over time the House just as deliberate and just as respected as the Senate. Twenty years ago, people stayed longer."

 
   So why are so few people running for the Legislature and why are they leaving so soon?

   In the Senate, only six of the 16 races in 2008 are contested. There are only two contested primaries, and only four of the races will offer a choice of any kind in the general election. In the House, only one person is running in 28 of the 60 races this election. Voters have any kind of choice in only 11 primary and 29 general election House races. Some of those "byes" are for Democrats, but most are for Republicans.

   That’s abysmal, if you think choice, competition, debate and citizen involvement in government are good things. Candidates with opponents "learn issues better, learn how to respond with that kind of give-and-take of a campaign," Simpson says.

   Legislative service is daunting, requiring several months a year in Cheyenne for sessions and weeks on the road for interim work and other duties. Schiffer, who has a Republican primary opponent, says the difficulty leaving work and family is a main reason so few run for office.

   The low pay is another. Legislators get $150 a day in pay, but that doesn’t apply to all the lost time.

   One possible way to attract more candidates, says Simpson, is to offer legislators health benefits. Simpson points to city councils and county commission, where most members get health benefits and where most races are robust with candidates.

   The status quo is fine if you're independently wealthy, retired or have a very understanding employer (school districts or railroads, for instance). Otherwise, it's a hardship that keeps people from running for the Legislature and prompts them to quit after a couple of terms. "I think we need that diversity of viewpoints from all walks of life," Schiffer opined.

   Another partial solution is to encourage Senate presidents and House speakers to return, along with their considerable experience.

   Experience doesn't necessarily mean stodgy defense of the status quo. At age 77, Patton has some fairly novel ideas for Wyoming, some picked up while he served on the Citizens' Council of State Legislatures (now defunct). He thinks single-member legislative districts discourage people from running, especially against incumbents. People don’t like to go head-to-head against likable opponents. He'd like to see a return to multi-member districts. He would like advancement in leadership to be based less on seniority, more on merit, and he likes the idea of Senate and House committees meeting jointly during sessions to hear reports and public comment. He also thinks the Legislature should run the Department of Education.

   Patton knows the problem of fresh legislators who forge ahead naively, without adequate experience or knowledge, especially before they fully appreciate their role as a legislative team player. He was instrumental in the creation of the Legislative Service Office in 1972, and he chafes a bit that freshman legislators take LSO staff for granted.

   On the other hand, he obviously appreciates fresh attitudes. "Freshmen are the last bastion of optimism in this country."