By Matt Caldwell
You knocked on thousands of doors, shook hundreds of hands, and kissed countless babies, and now, you are elected. Congratulations! Now what? For many of us, being elected to legislative office was a novel experience. We came from our grassroots political backgrounds, inspired by the classic American civic spirit, and with little real understanding of the mechanics behind the legislative process. But here is the good news: if you apply that same determination and work ethic to your legislative career that you applied to the election process, then you will be successful.
My experience was in a term-limited legislature, so many of the lessons I learned may only partially apply for those serving alongside 40-year incumbents. In Florida, we have an 8-year term limit, which means from the day you are sworn in as a freshman, you are in a sprint to be effective before the end of your senior term. This starts with choosing your goals in the committee structure. While the committees may change slightly from term to term, the overall sweep is fairly stable. Education, Healthcare, Transportation, Environment, Government Operations, Judiciary, Appropriations; these are the buckets that we all recognize. Taking for granted that having a real, lasting impact on policymaking requires you to be in a position to determine the outcome, then setting a goal of finishing your senior term as the chair of a full committee or higher (Rules, Majority Leader, Speaker, etc.) is a must.
But how do you get there? To start with, you invest in some timely thoughtfulness about where you want to end your time in the legislature, then lay out a course and work to impress upon those ahead of you that you can be trusted to succeed them in the leadership of your chamber.
In the Florida House, the fast-track is to earn a vice-chair slot in your second freshman year. Next, you shoot for a subcommittee chair during your sophomore term, followed by a full chair as a junior (and a role on the informal leadership team). At this point, the opportunities for advancement have narrowed, with only a handful of chamber leading positions and likely too many mouths for the Speaker to feed. For myself, I chose to make my full chair a four-year run, with the addition of a fourth subcommittee under our jurisdiction. This success came from applying three key lessons.
The first item I always ask the inquisitive freshman member is – what are your passions? Sitting on a committee with an important, but personally boring topic is excruciating, and the public will see that, no matter how hard you may try to hide it. Pick topics you love and it will never be a chore.
Next, consider what topics are most popular with your colleagues. Competing with 100 other requests for the same committee will likely leave out the new freshman. But by picking the committee that the Speaker needs filled, not only are you more likely to be picked, but you will have an opportunity to demonstrate your leadership abilities much sooner than your fellow freshmen.
Lastly, find time to socialize with your colleagues outside of the official and/or political events. Getting to know those members ahead of you in the process will pay dividends in the knowledge they will share, pitfalls to avoid, and friendships that are built. At times, there can be a fine line between brown-nosing and genuine relationship building. But if you can excel in the latter, then your strategic planning will have the greatest chance for success.
With that, good luck and don’t forget perhaps the most important tip of all – enjoy this time. It always moves by quicker than you expect!