The man who dares to defy Speaker Finneran

Part 6

by Michael Crowley

Muted partisanship, though, is part of Finneran's grand design. It is true that a cruising economy and overflowing tax revenues tend to ease political tensions. But critics say the real story is that Finneran, to a degree that rivals his most domineering predecessors, has bought allies with power and pay raises, and silenced opponents with intimidation and retribution.

What's more, the traditional partisan dynamic has been warped by Finneran's strange alliance with the GOP. The House's smattering of Republicans could once be counted on to raise hell, especially in the days of storied firebrands like Royall Switzler. But their affiliation with Finneran has left the watchdogs awfully tame.

The result: Finneran's legislative agenda -- from charter-school expansion to a fiscally conservative budget -- has sailed through with barely a peep of debate.

One veteran Democrat who supported Voke describes the House as split into three parties, roughly equal in numbers: Democrats, Republicans, and "Finnecrats." "The Republicans find it easier to make common cause with the Finnecrats and exclude the liberal Democrats," says the rep. That way, they have greater influence over legislative issues such as tax cuts "and the dividing of the spoils." (Symbolic evidence, say some Democrats, is the unprecedented extent to which Republicans are welcome at the Speaker's rostrum, and can be seen whispering into the ears of Finneran and his lieutenants during key legislative sessions.)

"They are so pathetic," Hodgkins says of the GOP leadership, which refused even the urgings of state Republican Party officials to take a stand against the pay raises last month. "Finneran's thrown them their 30 pieces of silver."

Republicans reject those charges. "It is not the Republicans' role, no matter what some Democrat may think, to oppose everything done by Democrats," says Republican whip Francis Marini, of Hanson). "We are not here to be knee-jerk, Chicken Little, the-sky-is-falling types."

Fair enough. But lately they've been going to the opposite extreme, leaving Finneran with almost no opposition. The House has become a one-man show to a degree that several Democrats call unprecedented, even in a state with a rich history of megalomaniacs. For instance, though Finneran vowed in January to follow an orderly schedule, members have rarely known in advance when the House will be in session, or what bills will be considered. Virtually no legislation gets near the House floor without Finneran's approval, and on key votes, Finneran has all but demanded support from his membership. Committee chairmen are reportedly required to clear all their bills with the Speaker, right down to routine minutiae like home-rule petitions.

Says one Democratic rep: "With Charlie Flaherty, the chairmen and other members did whatever they wanted, until they got a call" saying otherwise. "With Tommy they won't do anything until they get the call."

Finneran has created a culture of fear in the State House. When representatives see offices shrunk, paperwork "lost," and bills killed off, they're reluctant to cause a scene on the floor.

"We're dealing with the master of retribution here," says Hodgkins, noting Finneran's demotion of virtually all Voke supporters from their committee chairmanships -- often to replace them with less-qualified supporters. "It used to be you could get up and debate and say, `This is wrong,' " he says. "Now if you stand up and say, `This is wrong,' it's like, `How dare you?' Everything's personal now."

"This place used to work on reward and punishment," says one former Voke supporter. "Now it's punishment and more punishment."

"I guess the implication is that I'm some type of tyrant," responds Finneran. But, he says, "there is no comparison between historical transitions and the most recent transition" in the House. "There has been literally no punishment," he insists.

"I much prefer to be judged on the quality of the work product of the legislature rather than the politics of personality that seems to be the topic du jour," the Speaker adds.

And it is true that, even if Finneran has gorged himself on power and control, his tenure has so far been a legislative success. The House has pursued a sensible agenda of budget-balancing and spending discipline. During this spring's budget process, the Speaker won high marks for listening to the membership while maintaining order, and he resisted many of the tax cuts some expected him to give to the Republicans as a payoff for their support.

But Finneran has opened himself to criticism by setting high standards. After his election as Speaker last year, he asked the membership to "reflect on our public image, and the need to bring about the diligent rehabilitation of that image." Needless to say, that agenda isn't advanced when he's accused of smothering democracy, or when Chris Hodgkins publicly likens the beneficiaries of his pay-raise package to "pigs at the trough."

Part 7

Michael Crowley can be reached at mcrowley[a]phx.com.