Some lawmakers too busy to vote

ATLANTA --- One of the chief duties of a state lawmaker is to represent the folks back home by casting votes on issues that affect their lives. Some legislators miss more votes than others.

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Morris News Service

Ben Harbin: Legislator from Evans missed one-fourth of the contested roll-call votes in the House during the 2008 session.

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According to records, Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Evans, missed a fourth of the contested roll-call votes in the House during the 2008 session. On the other hand, Rep. Quincy Murphy, D-Augusta, missed only 4 percent.

Mr. Harbin, though, is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which must craft a $21 billion budget each year and negotiate details with its Senate counterpart. Those negotiations often take Mr. Harbin away from the floor, where he could vote.

Two of every three votes were officially recorded as excused, and Mr. Harbin said he thought more were supposed to be excused, including the two days he was out with the flu.

"I can assure you, if I'm missing votes, I'm there," he said. "I don't like it any more than anyone else, but the speaker said I had to get the budget negotiated."

Legislators try to miss as few votes as they can to prevent their opponents from making an issue of it, according to Daniel P. Franklin, an associate professor of political science at Georgia State University.

"It's probably the easiest attack that you can make in a campaign -- that he didn't vote," said Dr. Franklin, who has done opposition research for political candidates in the past.

Rep. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, is one lawmaker who doesn't feel tied to his desk. He's missed 24 percent of the votes as a result.

"If someone took the time to drive in a car from Savannah, Ga., to Atlanta, Ga., I'm going to take the time to talk to them," he said.

Many legislators don't feel obligated to cast a vote on every bill and every amendment. Instead, they might be pressing colleagues to co-sponsor a bill or persuading a committee chairman to schedule a hearing, or they might be out in the hallway meeting with a lobbyist or constituent.

Dr. Franklin said Mr. Harbin's situation is unique.

"I think he has an excuse, but you would think that the leadership would accommodate him by having the votes when he was available," the professor said. "The chair of the Appropriations Committee can easily argue ... 'What would you rather him do, be on the floor voting or be negotiating?' "

During the session that ended April 4, lawmakers were called to vote hundreds of times. Roughly one in three recorded roll-call votes resulted in a unanimous decision. There were 358 that didn't, yet even the majority of those were decided by an overwhelming margin.

During most days, the House met just an hour or two so committees would have more time to consider legislation in detail. As the session approached the final days, its sessions grew lengthier, with votes as often as every 10 minutes the last three or four days.