‘LaPolitics’: Why committee attorneys are viewed as unsung heroes 

Three standing state Senate committees have already either hired or are on the hunt for senior attorneys, creating a new set of dynamics and personalities for the folks who make a living off of making the law.

In some respects, committee attorneys are the unsung heroes of Capitoland. That much is evident from the highly qualified applicants drawn to the positions.

“You get to write the songs that make the whole world sing, right?” Liz Mangham, managing partner with SSG, says with a laugh. “You get to write the law.”

Mangham adds, “At the end of the day, it is that Senate attorney who determines what goes in the bill. So those people are very, very important to our work and by and large they’re a very talented, really sharp group of people.”

Judiciary A Chair Greg Miller says committee attorneys can be a particularly important resource for members who are not attorneys. At times, they are asked to draft amendments without warning and on the spot during hearings.

Some of the turnover experienced in the Senate has hit Miller’s committee, with former journalist Julie Baxter Payer being hired as the new senior attorney for Judiciary A. Payer was most recently chief of staff for former Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome.

The Senate also has two similar openings on the Insurance Committee and the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.

“It’s very long hours, very quick turnarounds,” Miller says of the open positions. “It’s a stressful situation that requires a special type of person to be able to work in that environment.”

Like any other role in government, the state competes for talent with private sector employers who are able to pay more, though starting salaries for Senate attorneys were bumped up recently, Miller notes.

Additionally, the job can be a path into lobbying or association work; Payer’s predecessor, Hanna Gettys, is now general counsel for the Louisiana Municipal Association. 

—They said it: “We’re spending money around here like its pond water, like its ditch water,” –U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, on prioritizing spending cuts, on Louisiana Radio Network.