A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

16 November 2016

All questions must be asked through the committee’s chairperson

This morning, faculty at This Is How We Do It academy will instruct newly elected legislators in committee procedures and etiquette. They’ll learn that questioning a witness directly is a terrible breach of decorum.

If Mr. Wilson is testifying, Rep. Smith, upon receiving recognition to ask a question, must not look at Mr. Wilson and say, “Mr. Wilson, please explain….” That’s the straightforward, logical, approach — but it’s not the legislature’s approach.

Rep. Smith must look at Mr. Wilson, then train his eyes on Chairman Awlwyze and say, “Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask Mr. Wilson to explain…,” and then look at Mr. Wilson, who must look at Chairman Awlwyze and say “Mr. Chairman, in response to Rep. Smith…,” and quickly turn his head to make eye contact with Rep. Smith.

Some legislators, with long practice and a love of such pomposity, perform the ritual with ease and aplomb. But many forget to follow the form, or bungle it, earning a rebuke from the chairman, whose dignity the practice of direct questioning offends. These offenders then scramble, much in the manner of student senators who are trying to master Roberts Rules, to honor the ritual.

Why are questions asked through the chairman? Partly, it’s to preserve the chairman’s dignity and power. Partly, it’s to remind the witness to be properly respectful. But mostly, it’s because that’s the way it’s been done for so long that no one remembers the original rationale. Once it made sense to someone. Now, it’s Tradition.