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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — State Senator Dr. Mark Steffen joined Representatives Paul Waggoner and Michael Murphy as part of the April legislative forum at the Fox Theater in Hutchinson Saturday. Steffen was asked about what he learned in his first session in the legislature thus far."The information was coming at us so fast," Steffen said Saturday. "As a doctor, I deal with volumes of information in one way, I try to learn every bit of it and that is next to impossible in the legislature and incredibly frustrating for somebody who spent their life trying to master volumes of information."Representative Murphy echoed Steffen's sentiments."I'm not used to it either," Murphy said. "Early on, it was really pretty good. You had a lot of time to look at stuff and kind of go over it and all, but when you get into this last few days, by rules you get 30 minutes to look at something. Sometimes, it's three bills have been put into one. You get 30 minutes to look at them and maybe two of them, you were in favor of and you voted for and one of them, you weren't in favor of and you voted no before. You've got to weigh that out and decide what's in the best interest for your constituents."Having a part-time legislature served by full-time lobbyists and politically motivated leadership makes it difficult to use the same type of decision making that legislators would normally use when running their own businesses."As a businessman, my successes hinged on giving things time, thinking things through, not rushing decisions," Steffen said. "If they went while I was thinking about them, if they disappeared, it wasn't meant to be. Who cares? But, the bills come at you so fast. They do not give you adequate time to ruminate on them and really come to the right decision a lot of the times, that's a real, real big flaw in government."The legislature has reached first adjournment. They will reconvene for the veto session next month.
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New legislators learn, lament how little time they have at forum