Posted on: Wednesday, April 7, 2004

EDITORIAL
Conference committee rule good for public

Legislative leaders Calvin Say in the House and Robert Bunda in the Senate are to be congratulated for finally agreeing to end an anti-democratic legislative rule that has twisted the Legislature's work.

The rule, while not often imposed, allowed the chairs of all-important House-Senate conference committees to hold veto power over the work of the entire committee.

Thus, even if all conferees but the chair wanted to see a measure passed out for final reading, the chair could unilaterally hold it.

Now, conference matters will be decided by majority vote of the entire committee.

The change came in response to pressure from "reformers" within the Legislature as well as from citizen activists. A column by Sen. Les Ihara on this page outlines some of that history.

In the real world of practical legislative politics, the conference chairs will still wield extra authority. They schedule meetings, decide agendas and control much of the information that goes into decision-making.

To paraphrase Orwell, some legislators will still be more equal than others.

Still, this is an important change. It gives citizens confidence in their Legislature and lessens the opportunity for autocratic lawmakers to control the process.

The next step will be to further instill this culture of equality into all committee work, not just conference committees.