Freshman legislators face challenges

HELENA - Serving in the Montana Legislature for the first time can seem like baptism by fire, but the Flathead Valley's freshman legislators say they've found it to be challenging and rewarding.

All of the first-year legislators say it has mostly been a test for communication skills and building relationships with other legislators, regardless of their party affiliation.

While media accounts often focus on the conflicts between Democrats and Republicans, they don't reflect the bipartisan support that typically unfolds behind the vast majority of bills.

Rep. Bill Jones, R-Bigfork, was somewhat surprised with that.

"What amazed me is the lack of animosity and the cordial relationships" between Democrats and Republicans, Jones said.

While Jones actively campaigned against Rep. Tim Dowell, D-Kalispell, last year, Jones worked closely with Dowell to support the Democrat's bill to establish a statewide ban on smoking in public places.

Jones said he has "crossed over" to back up other Democratic bills that match his principles or his constituents' interests. First-year legislators must learn how to build support for their own legislation, he said.

"When you first get here you don't have a lot of push," he said."You become effective by building trust, not by ambushing people."

Rep. Jon Sonju, R-Kalispell, said his first term in the Legislature has mostly been a learning process that has required an attentiveness to detail along with diplomacy.

"It's been interesting being in a 50-50 House," he said. "You definitely have to work with the other side of the aisle."

But along with give-and-take, Sonju said he has relied on his personal principles and his business experience.

He recalls spotting a glossy brochure of a State Workers Compensation Fund annual report and wondering if it might be excessive. He inquired with a fund official and learned that each copy of the eight-page report cost $12. Just the 150 copies that were distributed to legislators cost $1,800.

Contending the fund should have produced a simpler, less expensive version and passed the savings along to businesses that support the workers compensation fund, Sonju made an issue of it with the House and Senate leadership as well as the governor's office.

"I'd say that the next annual report won't cost $12," he said.

Although it may be a relatively small savings, Sonju said it's those kinds of changes where even freshman legislators can make a difference.

Sonju said he has mostly exercised restraint this session, listening and learning and limiting his legislation to a single minor administrative bill.

Sen. Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish, and Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, have both taken an opposite approach, pursuing numerous bills that are largely aimed at growth and development and other issues particular to Whitefish.

Jopek started with 22 bills but canceled five at the start of the session. Only four of his bills are still alive, Jopek said.

While Jopek said he has been familiar and comfortable with many of the issues his legislation addresses, he said the legislative session has been eye-opening in many respects.

"I've never been here before, even visiting when the session is in play, so it has been a pretty steep learning curve," he said. "And I'm not used to sitting on my duff for eight hours a day. I'm a farmer."

Jopek said certain aspects of legislative politics are not appealing to him.

"Vote swapping, that is a reality up here, but I'm not comfortable at all with it," he said. "I believe in considering a bill on its merits."

The legislative process is enlightening, he said, largely because lawmakers learn about "different worlds of issues faced by other towns." Representing Whitefish, where there has been $87 million in taxable valuation growth in just the last year, is far different from being a representative from an eastern Montana town where taxable valuation has been decreasing.

Learning about those contrasts sheds light on the different political agendas in Helena, Jopek said.

Weinberg said serving in the Senate has been "enormously interesting" and demanding.

"To be effective here, it depends on your ability to work with other people," Weinberg said. "It requires an ability to think on your feet and to move quickly."

Recently, it has demanded exhaustive committee work for Weinberg.

"Over the last two weeks, I've testified in four hearings" to defend his own legislation, Weinberg said. "I've faced some very challenging hearings."

Just last week, Weinberg stood before the House Natural Resources Committee for three hours defending a bill that would allow for conservation easements on state school trust lands. To advance that bill, Weinberg lined up four of the five state Land Board members to testify, along with the director of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The bill has cleared the Senate and has a strong chance for becoming law, Weinberg said.

The bill will make a difference for the Whitefish area, where there are state lands that may be suitable for conservation easements. The state faces pressure to sell increasingly valuable lands to maximize economic returns for school trusts, or the state can earn only marginal returns on those lands with current uses.

The bill will provide another option that will retain traditional uses and provide a higher return through easement purchases, said Weinberg, who thinks the bill will make a difference for Whitefish.

"If you want to help the state and your community, this is a good place to do it," Weinberg said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com