Reporting on the news pages the other day examined how Northwest Arkansas' delegation to the state Capitol is less experienced than it has been in some time. Eleven of 16 House members who represent some part of Benton or Washington counties have served less than two years.
In a way, that's exactly how the Legislature should be. Fresh blood brings fresh perspective, citizen legislators and all that. Really, the only people with a vested interest in keeping lawmakers in power indefinitely are the lawmakers themselves.
But, seniority has its privileges in the Legislature. Longtime members can often wield influence a little more handily than newcomers, who spend a lot of time just learning the ropes.
Still, longevity doesn't guarantee sound representation, and new lawmakers have to start somewhere. Our word of advice to newbies: Learn from your elders (as measured by seniority), but beware giving them too much sway. Each lawmaker serves as a duly elected representative of the people. Lawmakers, old and new, owe it to their constituents to faithfully preserve the power of their votes by refusing to turn them over to a party or an entrenched colleague.
Voters deserve at least that from all lawmakers.
Commentary on 02/26/2020