Reinhart at least had some experience participating in legislative meetings and hearings prior to running for office last November.
But even that previous experience wasn’t enough to offset totally the feeling of being somewhat overwhelmed by the work load at the State Capitol.
The added effectiveness helped her get seven bills passed, which she said was a high number for a freshman legislator. She said only one other freshman member got more bills through. Looking at the contentiousness that was covered so highly during the 2007 session Reinhart said the rhetoric was particularly harsh this time around, especially from the Republican House leadership.
Reinhart chided Scott Sales and John Sinrud in particular for not appointing Democrats to committees and refusing to schedule consideration of certain bills.
Despite that, Reinhart said Democrats were able to work with moderate Republicans to get things done for the state.
“We were able to spend a little money, particularly on health care, education and jobs,” Reinhart noted, with job training, micro-business loans, and increases for mental health care, children’s health care and the University System plus caps on university tuition as some of the highlights.
She added that the Legislature was able to pass hundreds of bills without much fanfare that are good-government measures, improving efficiency and service from Helena in areas that citizens rely on every day.
One of the biggest surprises for Reinhart was how easy it was for one person to make a difference, especially through committee work when the opportunities to ask questions and learn presented themselves regularly.
Another surprise was the lack of polarization on many issues.
“People aren’t locked in to a certain way of thinking or certain position,” Reinhart noted, “and really rose to the occasion to sit down and work to draft amendments and make things happen. And that was very rewarding for me to be able to bring people to the table and craft amendments.”
Reinhart went into the session thinking being both young and a woman might cause difficulties, but generally she found she was treated fairly and as an equal. “Blasting” bills out of committee that had been tabled also gave her a feeling of pride as did being able to get amendments passed on the House floor.
She also believes that, overall, the Legislature did good work for the people of the state, even though a special session was needed to finish.
Her biggest disappointment came at the end of the session when the Legislature was unable to get a basic balanced budget bill completed. She put the blame for that squarely on the shoulders of the House Republican leadership.
“We need to have leaders who are willing to compromise and … problem solve, not … dig their heels in,” Reinhart said. “That’s very expensive and … time consuming and it can break down relationships.”
Reinhart served on House Business and Labor, Human Services and Rules committees, having sought a seat on Business and Labor because it dealt with consumer protections, small businesses and health insurance bills. Many of those dovetailed with activities on the Human Services Committee.
Between sessions Reinhart will serve on the Economic Affairs Committee that will look at some of the health care struggles faced by the state, including quality and access to insurance.
The volume of paperwork and reading is overwhelming during the session, Reinhart said, making it necessary to rely on colleagues sitting on other committees to help with voting decisions.
“You’re asked to make so many decisions on so many issues, much of which you may not be familiar with,” Reinhart explained. “You have to really listen and learn and then take all that information into account and make a good decision.”
The hours are long and Reinhart said it’s a challenge to stay healthy under the mounting stress and fatigue. It’s also a challenge to stay in touch with constituents who bombard legislators with hundreds of phone calls and e-mails.
“It’s collective suffering,” Reinhart said of the Legislature. “You go through the trauma together. You build really great, lasting friendships. And you miss the people that you meet when you’re not in session.”
Reinhart felt extremely good about the Legislature’s freshman class, saying it was filled with people with a lot of energy and intelligence who “brought a lot of great ideas to the table for consideration.”
For the most part, she said, the freshman class displayed consistent bipartisanship, although there were some she described as ideological and not very good at working together.
Reinhart thought Gov. Brian Schweitzer did the job he was supposed to do by presenting the Legislature with a balanced budget after weeks of presession hearings on various budget-related issues.
On the other hand she said the House and Senate had very different views about how to address the budget. She found it strange that Sinrud wound up with the budget bill he wanted and then refused to vote for it.
“I felt that was frustrating and disingenuous to work to amend a bill and then work to vote against it,” Reinhart said. “We really need to see people who will be problem-solving oriented and not throw wrenches in the system.”
In line with that, she said if the Republican leadership wanted to split the budget bill that should have been done at the very beginning of the session through a more open process.
Despite some major bumps, Reinhart felt the session was productive.
“I feel really good about the legislation that I personally passed for increased parks and space, for managing noxious weeds, for water conservation and for just some basic good-government measures for people,” Reinhart said.
She still sees a need for better collaboration from both sides of the aisle and a decrease in “the harsh rhetoric.”
“People don’t want to see us fight,” Reinhart said. “They want to see us deliver results.”
As for the possibility of annual sessions, Reinhart likes the fact that the current setup forces legislators to get their work done within a tight time frame rather than deferring difficult issues to the next session.
She did acknowledge the possibility of having the Legislature deal with budget issues during one annual session and policy issues during the next.
The most difficult part with a citizen legislature is asking legislators to give up so much time every year as opposed to every two years.
In addition to committee work during the interim Reinhart and other legislators will be tracking bills they passed during the 2007 session to make sure they are being implemented properly or determine if bills need to be “tweaked” to make them better.
They also need to track related court decisions and see how those might impact legislation passed in 2007. And there will be meetings dealing with study resolutions passed during the session that will lead to decisions that will need to be made in 2009.
Individual legislators also need to readdress bills that failed to pass to determine if they can be improved for resubmission during the next session.
They also attend conferences of various types to build their knowledge and skills for the work ahead.
“So you take a lot out of your own life even when you’re not in Helena,” Reinhart said.
Calling the Legislature a “rollercoaster of ups and downs,” Reinhart said the 2007 experience definitely was bittersweet for her.
“You have to realize that you have to separate … your ideas and not get too attached to your own legislation,” Reinhart added, “because many things change and you operate in a melting pot.”
Despite being emotionally and physically taxing Reinhart said if you don’t go forward someone else will just have to learn the hard way.
“You kind of make an investment in yourself and a commitment to your constituents to give this a try for as long as you can,” she said. “As long as you feel like you’re making a difference and you’re able to get some things done, I feel like there are still things that I would like to try in the next session and there are a lot of good bills that died that I would like to continue to work on.”
Her bottom line? Even though serving in the Legislature can be somewhat painful, Reinhart said it’s very important to have good people there.
To listen to the entire interview with Michele Reinhart click here.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)