Capitol diary: You can’t predict what will rile our legislators

During my first session in the House everything was new, awesome and sometimes overwhelming. At times I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. Now, in my fifth session, the awe remains, but the process has become familiar.

What continues to amaze me is the variety of issues and the unpredictable responses of members to them and the level of concern that various issues create.

Sometimes the issues are momentous, sometimes lighthearted, and you cannot always tell how the body will react to them. I recall a two-hour debate on the issue of raising the 911 fee by $1 a month, and a 10-minute debate on a resolution supporting the president’s action in going to war in Iraq.

Floor debate can also vary from the very intense and personal to the mundane and technical. Members’ individual passions may press the bounds of parliamentary protocol on some issues and make their attention span and interest level hard to maintain on others.

There are some occasions when everyone is more attuned and the atmosphere is more alive. Ceremonial occasions or votes on big issues come to mind. The State of the State speech by the governor or a vote on a major tax bill will have everyone’s full attention, as will a resolution commending the Boise State University football team’s victory in the Fiesta Bowl, or a proclamation honoring Hudson’s Hamburgers’ 100-year history in Coeur d’Alene.

The other impression I have is that almost all of what happens here is important because it contributes to the community that is the great state of Idaho. Whether it is a personal issue, a major state issue or a ceremonial occasion, our deliberations here contribute to our common life as Idahoans, and that, it seems, is never dull.