I applaud Senate President Stanley Rosenberg for his message of shared leadership, and think the new Senate Rules he drafted are a good symbol of that message. They provide much more transparency in the legislative process. Unfortunately, the new rules don’t go much further than that. In order for shared leadership to happen, there needs to be more than just cooperation between members, but a structural change in how the Senate works.
The Senate rules should be changed so that Democratic Leadership positons are nominated and elected by the Democratic Caucus and not by the Senate President. Committee positons should be decided by a “Committee on Committees” with it’s members chosen by lot or another method of proportional representation. The Chairs of the Senate Committees should be elected by their fellow committee members, and not by the Senate President. Only through decentralizing the hierarchy in the Senate can leadership truly be shared.
