Party leaders talk about their roles and their goals

By PAULA BARR / Daily Journal Staff Writer

Monday, March 5, 2007 11:22 AM CST

Editor's Note: This is the second day of a five-day series that takes a glimpse at life in the three branches of Missouri government. Today's story features the legislative branch, focuses on the legislators in our surrounding counties and the men and women who have powerful positions within the legislature. Tuesday's story goes inside the executive branch of our state government.

Although Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, Rep. Brad Robinson, D-Bonne Terre, and Rep. Steven Tilley, R-Perryville are the three legislators who directly represent Parkland residents, others in the Senate and House have control over their actions.

Other readers in the area are represented by Rep. Belinda Harris, D-Hillsboro, and Rep. J.C. Kuessner, D-Eminence.

Harris and Kuessner, along with majority and minority party leaders, talked about their roles and goals recently with the Daily Journal.

President Pro Tem

Sen. Michael Gibbons steps off the Senate floor into a side lounge and invites a visitor into the private chamber. The room has small tables, easy chairs and couches. Voices from the debate on the other side of the door flow from speakers inside the room. Gibbons sits at one of the tables to talk about his role as President Pro Tem, the highest elected leadership role in the Senate and the only one elected by the entire body. Only the Lieutenant Governor has a higher role in the Senate. Gibbons, a Republican from Kirkwood, is the one who assigns senators to committees and appoints the chairmen. He also decides which bills are discussed in the senate.

Gibbons said he has sole discretion over his choices.

“I could pick anyone I want, so I suppose I could choose a Democrat,” he explained. “All the chairmen are Republicans, however.”

Gibbons said Missouri HealthNet and education are among the top issues this year.

School districts must focus on retaining students through graduation, he said.

“If you do not read by second grade, statistics say you are a candidate for prison,” Gibbons said. “If you drop out of high school, there are three things waiting for you - poverty, prison and early death.”

Gibbons said he welcomes bills from both parties.

“I want people to bring ideas, put them all in the hopper and see which ones might make a difference,” he said.

Senate majority floor leader

When Missouri senators have something to say on the Senate Floor, they need Sen. Charlie Shields' permission to do so.

Shields, a Republican from Buchanan County, is the Senate's majority floor leader.

“The floor leader decides which issues get debated for how long,” Shields said. “I'm sort of the traffic cop of legislation in the Senate.”

The floor leader establishes the “floor time” senators have to debate. The position comes up for election by the majority caucus every two years.

“What I ultimately try to do is make the majority of senators successful in moving their legislation forward,” he explained.

There is no set time limit for debate in the Senate, but toward the end of the legislative session, the hectic schedule may lead Shields to move discussion along. He also has the authority to end a filibuster.

“I prefer to let them run their course, but at the same time, I prefer them to be unsuccessful,” he said. “If you always let the filibuster win, people will overuse that tool.”

Shields also represents about 165,000 people in his district.

“It's probably a little additional responsibility, but I think we're still able to accommodate constituents,” he said. “I think we're going to have a good session.”

Senate minority floor leader

The stiff formality of the Senate is left behind when you enter Sen. Maida Coleman's office. Coleman, a native of the Bootheel who now lives in and represents St. Louis, is warm and welcoming and instantly makes you feel at home.

Coleman's easy manner and hearty laughter complement the toughness she needs in order to be an effective minority floor leader. As leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Coleman's role is to make sure that the voices of the minority - and the people they represent - are heard.

“That requires a lot of negotiating, diplomacy, and trust,” she explains. That's something I do think I have built between me and the majority party here in the state house. My role is to bridge the gap between the two parties and help make it work.”

Coleman describes herself as an urban girl who grew up in the country. She says that it important for rural and urban Missourians to understand each others concerns and problems if they are going to be able to work together effectively. She is a spokesman for those who have little or no voice, including prisoners, members of minorities and citizens who don't have rich backing or lobbyists speaking on their behalf.

Coleman's days often run until 1 a.m. Appointments run back to back, Senators stop by to ask for help in getting their bills heard, and school groups stop by to say hello. She might have to stop what she is doing to handle a crisis during negotiations over a bill, or go to a speaking engagement. In between, people see her and ask if they can walk with her to discuss a concern.

“We do a lot of that here, walking and talking,” Coleman explains.

On this day, the senator's car has died and she must find time to get it checked.

“The one thing that gets the least attention is my personal life,” she said. “It's a lot of work but I love my job and I think it's a great honor to be able to serve people and to work in this beautiful building every day.”

Speaker of the House

Rod Jetton eases into his chair. He is not sure what he did to his back, but he's in a lot of pain. Even so, it barely slows the current Speaker of the House.

“When I showed up here in the minority (party), I never dreamed I'd have a chance to be in this office,” Jetton says. “It's a powerful position. Sometimes, you have to pray for wisdom to do the right thing.”

As the elected leader of the house, Jetton decides which bills go to committee and which bills are heard on the floor. If he doesn't refer a bill, or refuses to send it to the floor, it dies. Jetton says he often sends bills he doesn't like to committee.

“While they elect me speaker, they don't elect me king,” he explains. “You have to be a little open minded to let the debate take place and see if they can get enough reps to pass it.”

During session, Jetton makes rules on motions and recognizes who may speak on the floor. A Republican, he tries to encourage people to get along, work together on issues, and have good honest debates about the differences of opinions.

“When I changed the rules to allow equal times for both parties two years ago, oh, some of my own Republicans were upset about that,” he said. “But I'd sat there when I was in the minority and would never get recognized to speak on a bill and I thought that was unfair. The minority should have a chance to articulate why it's a bad idea or why it should be done better.”

As the speaker, Jetton sometimes is torn between his district and his responsibility to the entire state. That could mean putting a bill on the floor then voting against it.

Jetton says he wants the representatives to get along better so they can work better together on issues. That can be challenging.

“As Speaker, you've got all these little cats and you're trying to keep them all herded to get them all to go in the right direction,” he explains, then chuckles. “Cats are hard to herd!”

Representatives file 2,000 or so bills filed each year, and most want to pitch their proposals to him. In Jetton's first year, he stayed at work until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., then was back at the Capitol by 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. - a schedule that was harmful to his health. Now, he tries to be in bed by midnight and schedules appointments to give himself time to run in the morning.

“It's the hardest job I think I've ever had,” Jetton said. “But it's the most satisfying job I've ever had.”

House minority floor leader

As House minority floor leader, Rep. Jeff Harris says he leads his fellow Democrats with passion and a strong voice.

“When I weigh in or speak on an issue, I am wearing not only the hat of a representative of Boone County, but the hat of a minority leader in the House,” he explains. “Regardless of which party is in the majority, it is important that the minority party has a strong voice in the legislative process. No single party and no single person have a monopoly on good ideas.”

Relations between the parties sometimes are strained, he says. Harris is upset about a change Jetton made after the November elections, when Democrats gained seats in the House.

“It was really unfortunate that the Speaker of the House decided to break a 20-year-long agreement ... to allow the minority leader of the House to appoint minority party members to committees,” Harris contends. “Taxpayers deserve more input from both parties in a two-party system.”

Harris says his father, a pediatrician, is his professional role model because he makes the world a better place each day by helping sick children.

“I'm in public service to make the world and our state a better place. That may sound cliché, but I really believe in the nobility and the value of public service,” he explains. “I want to make sure our kids get a world class public education, I want to make sure that folks who have disabilities, senior citizens, kids, moms and dads who are working as hard as they can and who are playing by the rules have access to health care.”

Harris also wants tuition for public colleges and universities to be tax deductible and believes legislators need to bring, create and keep good jobs in Missouri “so children who grow up in places like Farmington or Park Hills can afford to raise their own families there.”

Rep. Belinda Harris

As a member of the minority party, Rep. Belinda Harris says part of her job is to identify bad legislation and try to persuade others to vote against those bills.

“Legislators just introduce way too much legislation,” she explained. “There are already a lot of laws on the books that aren't enforced. Why keep creating more and more? A lot of it is a political way of getting more kudos, not because it's in the best interest of the people of Missouri.”

Harris is a Democrat from Jefferson County whose district includes the northern half of Washington County. She and her husband are full-time farmers, which helps her be a good spokesman for the working class and small businesses, she believes.

“The mood of the government up here now is to benefit the corporate businesses,” Harris said. “In doing so, they're putting small businesses and small farmers at a disadvantage.”

As a pro-life Democrat and Chairman of Democrats for Life, Harris seeks options to abortion and opposes the death penalty. She also works to find a better way for communities to dispose of trash.

In her office, Harris keeps a large, heavy object that resembles obsidian. The shiny black material is a solution to landfills, and is the product of trash turned into rock through plasma arc technology. The process generates electricity and recycles refuse efficiently, she explains.

“It is just primitive to keep burying out trash,” Harris insisted. “We are leaving a legacy for future generations that is a time bomb.”

Rep. J.C. Kuessner

Rep. J.C. Kuessner picks up a glossy 14-page booklet titled, “Missouri, Where The Civil War Began 1854-1865.” The booklet briefly chronicles fighting in Missouri before and during the Civil War and includes information about the efforts of women during wartime.

One of Kuessner's goals as representative of the second largest district in the House is to help build tourism in his area and throughout the state.

“We have a heck of a story to tell,” he said. “This is where brother fought against brother.”

Kuessner, a Democrat whose district includes southern Washington County, Iron and Reynolds counties, wants to set up Civil War history “loops” across Missouri to attract visitors and encourage them to travel throughout sections of the state when the country observes the 150th anniversary of the war.

Another goal is to support efforts to increase jobs in his district, which is 135 air miles long from the extreme corners and is a third smaller than the country of Ireland.

“We are very proud of what we do have,” he pointed out. “But we have lost a lot of manufacturing because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and we've lost all of our garment manufacturers.”

In Jefferson City, Kuessner works to ensure the district receives its rightful portion of state monies and fights legislation that would be detrimental to his district. He opposes the cutting of state taxes on Social Security, saying it will benefit only the rich, because most middle and lower class citizens do not make enough money during retirement for state taxes to kick in on Social Security.

This year, Kuessner hopes to help formulate funding for work on Missouri's major highways and bridges.

“Improving 70 and 44 would help my district, because it would take away our maintenance costs,” he said. “As a state, we have an opportunity to be the hub for the Midwest with better roads and bridges.”

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