Richard Strong has worked every Utah legislative session for 30 years. He's had enough.
"I'm worn out," jokes Strong, 53.
Next January and February, while the 2001 general session is chugging along, the retiring executive director of Legislative Research and General Counsel will be "breathing fresh air, not dealing with the trauma here."
Strong retires the end of the year after three decades of working for the 104-member, part-time Legislature.
The father of 10, grandfather of eight "will be spending more time with my family." While Leo Memmott, who retired as the Legislature's chief budget officer two years ago only to return to state government this summer as Gov. Mike Leavitt's deputy Olympic officer, is back, Strong says you won't see him around the Capitol any time soon. "I'm gone."
It's not that he hasn't enjoyed it. He has.
But sometimes it's tough having "104 bosses who have to have everything right now. That's the nature" of an intense 45-day legislative session, Strong says.
Strong has been a fixture in the Capitol since July 1971 when the then-24-year-old Brigham Young University grad came to work in the Legislature's research office with 11 other employees.
Since 1985 he's overseen the Legislature's now-combined research and legal department grow to 56 full-time employees and a budget of $4.2 million a year.
Each session his staff drafts some 1,000 bills and countless amendments and substitute bills. On top of that his research staff oversees dozens of standing committees during the session and the study committee meetings held from April through November.
Utah has a nonpartisan legislative staff. Unlike Congress and many other states, the Republicans and Democrats here share the same professional staff. There is not one group of employees for the majority party, another for the minority party.
"I'd hate to see separate, partisan staffs," says Strong, who leaves what he calls one of the most professional and long-tenured staffs of any state legislature. "That would just throw partisan politics into everything we do.
"We work around politics. But we are not of politics," Strong likes to say.
The toughest part of his job, he says, is when by law "I'm the chief staff person for ethics investigations" of House and Senate members. Only once, however, in the half dozen investigations over the years has a member actually been found guilty of an infraction and forced from office.
Another tough time for Strong came in 1987 when then-Attorney General David Wilkinson sued the House over two state employees who also were representatives. "It was so tense" when the 75-member House debated and then voted to seat then-Reps. Mont Evans and Janet Rose, Strong recalled.
The good times were many, Strong said from his fourth-floor Capitol office.
The other day, Strong said, his eyes watering a bit, he was looking over legislative rosters from years gone by, recalling all the people with whom he served.
"I'm proud to say I could put a face and a good remembrance with every name of every legislator" over the last 30 years. "Some — many — have passed away. I remember Sens. Warren Pugh and Moroni Jensen. Moroni and Warren, what good men and friends."
"Look," he said swiveling around in his chair and looking out a south-facing window. "I have a great view of the city — a better view than even the governor has" from his office.
Strong has seen politics from the elected officials' point of view, as well. He served several terms on the North Salt Lake City Council. And he has often been quoted in the media when asked to speak on legal and/or research matters for the Legislature.
Strong is proud that on a number of occasions lawmakers have called his office and asked him to come down to the floor of the House or Senate to mitigate procedural disputes.
"On the last night of one session the Senate majority leader called and asked if I could come down and help the president" of the Senate. "It was late, an hour left" until the midnight adjournment. "The president was tired. He was having trouble" conducting votes and last-minute amendments. "I sat next to him for that hour and helped out. He trusted me."
Sometimes the heat of political battle gets the best of lawmakers. Several years ago the official copy — called a "blue-back" because of the paper used — of a controversial abortion bill went missing during its House debate. You have to physically have the copy for it to be debated on the floor. "We let it be known that we'd just create, from scratch, another blue-back. And the bill showed up. We do what we have to to keep the process moving," Strong said.
In 1998 Strong's office won the Utah Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' Roy B. Gibson Freedom of Information Award. "We've always tried to be as open as we can be. I've seen my job as not only serving the Legislature, but the people of Utah as well."
Strong said he hopes lawmakers will continue moving forward with using the Internet to make every floor debate, every committee hearing, available "live time" on the Web.
But such work will be left to Mike Christensen, Strong's replacement. Christensen was recently picked by a bipartisan legislative committee to head the office. For the past several years he's headed the Utah Foundation, a nonprofit group that examines state and local government policies and procedures.
E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com