State’s new lawmakers have steep learning curve
State Rep. Chelsey Branham thought she’d have a day to rest and recuperate after more than a year of campaigning and working two jobs in the nonprofit sector.
The Oklahoma City Democrat snagged a seat vacated by a term-limited Republican on Nov. 6. She quickly felt the weight of her new position as lobbyists and others in the state’s political sphere began calling the same night she won.
“I was looking for at least a nap the day after the election, and I was surprised it started very quickly,” Branham said between meetings last week. “I probably don’t have a nap in my future until Christmas.”
Branham is one of 56 new lawmakers heading to the Capitol this term when the Oklahoma Legislature convenes in February. While both the House and Senate will hold orientation sessions soon, the massive influx of freshmen means that lobbyists, agency officials and advocates have a lot of teaching to do.
At the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, communication staff are preparing handouts and lengthy documents that cover its eight-year construction plan, district maps, current projects, traffic counts, procedural information, bridges, railways, waterways and transit.
“We make sure they have an encyclopedia of everything they might need in a session,” said Terri Angier, ODOT’s public relations chief.
ODOT staff will give each new lawmaker an orientation meeting, and they will also be available throughout the year as policy questions arise.
“There’s lots of questions on transportation because it can be very complex and it’s not an issue that, on a personal level, we deal with day to day,” said Angier. “We ride the highways and unless there’s a problem, it’s not something we think about very much.”
Hundreds of issues
It’s not just transportation. State legislators encounter hundreds of issues throughout session as they consider bills in committee and on the House or Senate floor.
There are more than three registered lobbyists and agency liaisons for every state lawmaker. Along with their traditional roles of advocating for their clients, lobbyists also spend time explaining issues and political scenarios at the Capitol.
Jim Dunlap, a lobbyist who once served in the Republican minority, said new lawmakers would benefit from learning how the Legislature works on a day-today basis.
“The rules were all I had, so I learned the rules of the Legislature,” said Dunlap.
Over the next two months, Dunlap expects his clients to want meetings with new lawmakers. Many of those will be arranged locally on the representative or senator’s home turf. Those kinds of meetings also happened before the election.
“We’re just trying to figure out who they are and what their goals are,” he said.
Getting past the “buzzwords”
Robert Manger, a newly elected state representative in eastern Oklahoma County, said he has a stack of mail from organizations trying to introduce themselves.
“Everybody’s got an issue they want dealt with, and there lies the rub,” said Manger, R-Oklahoma City. “You realize it’s a lot more complicated and a lot more issues out there than anybody ever dreamed of. But as you get past the buzzwords, you learn there’s a lot more to the issues out there.”
Having so many fresh faces at the Capitol means that others with a long history in the building could have greater power. The Oklahoma Policy Institute, which is also creating information packets for new lawmakers, reports that just 14 members of the Legislature will have been in office six years or more.
The Legislature has a natural turnover because of 12-year term limits imposed on every lawmaker, but last year’s exodus included many who left politics early. That means new legislators are more likely to ask for help from lobbyists and other staffers working in and around government, said Vickie White Rankin, another lobbyist who formerly served in the House.
“Lobbyists who are working with them on those specific bills will have a lot more power,” said White Rankin.
“I don’t know that the voters realized that when they elected this many new people, that they’re leaving the power in the hands of the lobbyists. And not all lobbyists are created equal.”