“We were best friends and then we started voting differently, and we all broke apart,” Clayton says. Just as it seemed the freshmen had pulled apart for good, a news story popped up. Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce made a comment to a reporter that some interpreted as pinning the blame for an extended session and budget impasse on inexperienced freshman lawmakers.
BEYOND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY Becker says the comment didn’t represent how the freshman class was treated overall. “There’s a certain camaraderie among all of the representatives, and I think we freshmen were so welcomed and accepted that we weren’t treated like ‘sit down and shut up,’” Becker says.
"Most of them spent half of the session trying to find where the bathrooms are," Bruce told The Topeka Capital-Journal. "And we're asking them to change state policy for a generation. That's an intimidating task.”
Some freshman lawmakers had spent months, even years in the Statehouse working in other capacities. “They knew where to go. They knew who was who. They knew the little secrets,” Clayton says. “I didn’t know any of those secrets. I actually had not stepped foot in the Capitol since my fourth-grade field trip.”
The words reverberated across the state. Some lawmakers laughed it off, but others felt insulted. “Talk about drawing the freshman class together,” says Rep. Steve Becker, a Republican from Buhler. “All of a sudden we’re all on the same team.”
But Clayton walked in knowing several faces. She was one of 30 lawmakers – including one senator, Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth – who attended KLC’s Leadership and Legacy in the Statehouse. The program brought freshman lawmakers together for a series of retreats and workshops before, during and after the session.
The freshman GOP caucus chair, Ottawa Republican Rep. Blaine Finch, wrote a response defending his chamber’s newcomers. He noted that the group included military officials, former mayors, sitting city council and school board members, successful entrepreneurs, farmers, ranchers and “people with excellent analytical skills who are more than capable of understanding state tax policy.”
Several participants say the training helped strip ideologies and open dialogue for pragmatic conversations. Rep. Charles Macheers, a Republican from Shawnee, says the relationship building set a strong foundation. “You got to establish professional relationships with [other legislators] earlier, and it’s very important to have a rapport and relationships when you’re doing business,” Macheers says.
The moment didn’t last long though. The senator’s comment “brought us all together again albeit for a brief and fleeting moment,” Clayton says. “I think that was the last time that the freshman class of 2012 will all be together again.” 31.