Sen. Downing gets committee assignments

State Senate President Therese Murray has announced her selections for leadership posts for this session, and Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D-Pittsfield) continues to hold significant committee assignments.

Downing, first elected in 2006, will once again be the Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy and chair of the Senate Committee on Bills in Third Reading.

The former is the committee that reviews legislative proposals regarding the exploration, exploitation and development of the state’s renewable and non-renewable energy sources, and the latter reviews all bills and resolves prior to their final reading in the Senate.

In addition to these chairmanships, Downing will also serve as vice-chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, and he retains his seat on the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee.

He will serve on four other committees as well and will also be the Senate chair of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus and Senate vice-chair of the Caucus on Regional Transit Authorities.

With this large number of leadership posts and committee assignments, one might assume Downing is among the most powerful state senators, with influence over a large swath of public policy and the ability to “bring home the bacon” to the district. But the reality is more complicated than that.

The state Senate is composed of 40 senators and each represents approximately 159,000 residents. There’s one vacancy right now. Among the remaining senators, 35 are Democrats and only four are Republicans.

As with Congress and the other state legislatures, the majority party gets to appoint virtually all of the leadership positions and that means that only Democrats in the Massachusetts Senate serve in such posts. Every Democratic senator gets to serve as the chair of at least one committee and some, like Downing, serve as the chair of two committees.

Republicans are locked out of all these slots, with the exception of certain leadership posts within the Republican caucus itself. But this really does no more than establish a pecking order among the four Republicans. They have very little influence over significant legislation not also supported by the Democrats.

Middle of the pack

Downing probably can be described as being in the middle of the pack of the Senate hierarchy, with the president, majority leader, whips and Ways and Means Committee chairs and vice chairs, among others, outranking him in raw influence.

Once the Democratic Caucus decided to keep Murray as president, it became her prerogative to appoint all of her leadership team. Attaining a good committee assignment depends on any given senator’s interests, ability, expertise and seniority, but the true test is if the senator has a good relationship with the Senate president.

A senator’s committee assignments and influence depend on his or her willingness to toe the “party line.” Senators who defy their leaders can expect very little in the way of good assignments.

Dividing up legislative bodies by political party makes it easier to pass legislation, since a legislature of 40 free and independent spirits can’t get much done. It takes organization and discipline and parties are the best way to achieve this. The flip side is that if you don’t play ball with your party leadership you will be marginalized and will not be able to accomplish much of your own agenda.

By appointing Downing to multiple chairmanships and committee assignments, Pres. Murray recognizes that not only is he a smart and up-and-coming legislator, but it also shows he knows how to play ball. This positions him to influence some important legislation and funding decisions.

And that’s good for both Downing and his district.

Posted by Bruce Garlow on February 6, 2013. Filed under Berkshire Beacon Hill Spotlight,Columns,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry