There has always been partisanship in the Michigan Legislature. That is a given, but if you can get past that and actually get to know legislators on the other side of the aisle you can tackle the really tough issues, both politically and substantively.
A major problem right now in our legislative system—both in Michigan and nationally—is that members are discouraged or even penalized for having conversations on issues with members of the other party. It’s hard enough to even develop solid relationships with members of your own party let alone with members of the other political party. This roadblock only heightens the divisiveness we now have.
I served just two years in the House beginning in 1980, and then was elected to the Senate. It was my privilege to serve five terms in the Michigan Senate with my last four-year term as Senate Majority Leader. All of that legislative experience and expertise is just not in the system in place now under Michigan’s term limited system.
I’ll never forget when I was first elected to the House. I was 27-years-old and just recently out of law school. I didn’t know anyone really in the House of Representatives in either political party. It is true, however, that my distant cousin, Alvin James DeGrow, R-Pigeon, was a member of the Michigan Senate. My office assignment as a freshman Republican was in the basement of the Capitol in the same corridor as all of these veteran Democrats. I wondered how I was going to get to know anyone, but then I got a big surprise. Sen. Mike Griffin, a crusty Democrat from Jackson, invited me to attend one of the famous Monday night dinners.
Back then there were Monday night legislative sessions starting at 8 p.m. Leadership thought it was a good way to get everyone in town and to show they were a full-time legislature that should be paid accordingly. Griffin said: “Let’s invite the kid along. He seems like a good sort.” The basement Dem crew had many current and future Democrat leaders. Powerful Reps. Jim O’Neill, of Saginaw, and Dick Young, of the Detroit area, Gary Owen of Ypsilanti, who would soon become Speaker, and Lew Dodak who would become House Speaker after Owen were just a few of the members of that “basement” gang.
I really liked and got along with this eclectic group. Griffin’s office staff often covered my phones since I had only one staffer. That practice would be unheard of today. I also had a great relationship with Rep. Lew Dodak, Democrat from rural Saginaw county. Dodak wasn’t much older than I am. He was a Vietnam veteran whose unit was on the front lines of the fighting for longer than any other unit. He stuck with me on several issues like snow days for schools and I helped him raise the salary of the director of the Department of Agriculture position. At the time, it was the lowest salary of any state department director.
The only other GOP House member invited to these Monday night events was Rep. Mike Busch, of Saginaw, who happened to be the Republican floor leader. Mike was a smart guy who could dish it out to these Dems and they really respected him. I remember one time we were supposed to meet for Monday night dinner at Rep. James O’Neill ‘s office. The whole crew was there when I arrived and they were discussing O’Neill’s upcoming heart surgery. But the discussion wasn’t centering on offering support to him. They were all discussing who would claim his large office if he didn’t survive his surgery.
At the beginning of this I was dumbfounded. Somebody would say,” Come on, Jim, I have served with you longer than any of these other knuckleheads.” Someone else would chime in, “But, hey, our districts are right next to each other and I give you a ride home a lot.” After a while it became very apparent that all of the group cared very much for O’Neill and were simply employing their brand of offbeat humor to cheer him up.
I learned a lot from these legislators about friendship and developing trust. As I mentioned, both Owen and Dodak went on to become House Speakers. Busch became House Republican Leader, and I ended up as Senate Majority Leader. Not bad for a few guys in the Michigan House of Representatives’ basement. Oh yes, O’Neill’s surgery was successful and he was back in action in a few weeks…. in his same office.
It was kind of weird. As a young legislator, I’m dining and hanging out with all of these Democrat veterans, and shortly thereafter I am elected to the Michigan Senate and we Republicans take the chamber majority in two critical special elections. Suddenly, I am negotiating major legislation with these same Democratic leaders who control the House. Yet because of the trust and respect I had developed with them, I was put in a much better position during these tough negotiations.
This came at a time when—if we had term limits before 1995—I would have had to leave the Senate at the end of 1990. That was just a year before we wrote and passed Proposal A, medical malpractice reform, and other substantial legislative packages. This was major league stuff that required legislative experience and knowledge. I would never have been able to contribute on any of these negotiations had I been term-limited. Neither would I have ever been Senate Majority Leader. No offense to anyone, but we wouldn’t have had the A-Team working on these issues had term limits been in effect. Probably not a good idea to have key legislation that affects all Michigan residents be a part of someone’s “on the job” training.
Leadership is about trust, knowledge of the process, and knowing that in tough situations a solid majority of your caucus will always back you up. This is not something that is developed in the short term, and good legislative leaders never take it for granted.
(Dan DeGrow is a Port Huron Republican who served one term in the state House of Representatives and five terms in the state Senate. He also served as superintendent of the St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency for more than 14 years.)
