Patrick O’Donnell protects and guards Nebraska’s Unicameral for more than four decades
By Charlyne Berens (’05, ’10)
If George Norris is the first name that comes to mind when someone mentions the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature, Patrick O’Donnell may well be the second. Norris lit the flame that became Nebraska’s one-house, nonpartisan legislature in 1937, and O’Donnell has been the keeper of that flame for more than half the time it’s burned. He has been Clerk of the Legislature since 1978. That’s 43 years. He is only the third clerk in the Unicameral’s history.
“He is the clerk,” said Kermit Brashear, who served in the Unicameral from 1994 to 2006 and was speaker during his last two years. “His very being defines the position.”
If the one-house nonpartisan institution devoted to openness and accessibility is the foundation for legislative action, O’Donnell is the foundation of the institution. “I see myself as the protector and guardian of the institution,” O’Donnell said.
The Lincoln native graduated from UNL in 1971 with majors in history and political science. He went on to the NU College of Law largely because his father had suggested it. O’Donnell said his parents owned and operated several small businesses during their lives and “lived the American dream of helping their kids live a better life than they did.” They also cared about politics and the community.
So did their son. During his last year in law school, a research project for a course led to his being hired as an aide to the Unicameral’s Judiciary Committee. “I started working here, and I never left,” O’Donnell said.
After graduation, O’Donnell was hired as legal counsel to the Judiciary Committee. He was elected assistant clerk in 1977 and, when Vince Brown resigned from the position the next year, he was elected interim clerk. In 1978 he became the official clerk, and he’s been reelected by the senators every two years ever since.
It was exciting from the start but also scary at first, O’Donnell said. But then Lt. Gov. Jerry Whelan told him, “You’re doing a good job. You know what you’re talking about. Just start acting like you know what you’re talking about.”
That helped. “I kind of grew into the job,” O’Donnell said.
From the start, his goal has been to be true to the institution’s structure and rules and use them to make the Legislature work as well as it can. “Process is more important than policy outcomes,” O’Donnell said. “Policy outcomes change. They’re cyclical. But having a process that’s predictable means we’re fulfilling our responsibilities to be sure the legislature is sensitive to the public’s needs.”
O’Donnell supervises a staff of more than 70 full- and part-time employees who support the Legislature. He himself is probably most visible when he speed reads the bills being considered on final reading, something required by the Nebraska Constitution.
But senators know him best as a source of information and advice about rules and procedures. He cares about keeping legislative processes on track, said Doug Kristensen, now chancellor at the University of Nebraska Kearney, and a member of the Legislature from 1988-2002 and speaker from 1997 to 2002. “He makes sure games don’t get played to circumvent the rules or the process.”
O’Donnell works closely with the speaker and with committee chairs, who oversee public hearings on every single bill. He expects the chairs to produce sound legislative bills out of committee “even if they don’t believe in the policy,” Kristensen said.
O’Donnell said his job is not to get involved in making policy, and Brashear said he lives up to that principle. “He knows his role and follows it,” Brashear said. “But if you asked him for help regarding procedure, he had it to offer.”
That and the institutional memory he has accumulated over more than 40 years — with no firm plans to retire — make O’Donnell invaluable to the senators he works with. Senators “trust and rely on his judgment when they have questions,” said Carol Koranda, the index clerk in O’Donnell’s office for the past 33 years.
“He is the number one defender of the Legis-lature,” she said.
Walt Radcliffe, a fraternity brother of O’Donnell’s at UNL and longtime Lincoln lobbyist, said the same: “He is really an institutionalist. He always puts the interests of the institution above any issue or any member.”
O’Donnell said he tries to get to know all the legislators and to listen to their concerns whether or not he agrees with their policy positions or ideology. “I respect the senators’ title,” he said. “I respect the fact that they will run for office and submit themselves to the voters. They have earned the right to be here.”
O’Donnell recognizes that he has developed a persona over the decades. “I have a presence,” he admitted.
Kathy Campbell, senator from 2008 to 2016, tells a story that illustrates that presence. During her freshman year as senator, she was in her chair on the floor of the Norris Chamber during final reading of a bill she had helped to sponsor.
Senators are required to stay seated during final reading, and staff are barred from the floor. So Campbell was using her time to talk by phone with one of her aides.
“All of a sudden, Patrick was at my desk,” she said. “You have to realize he doesn’t come to talk to you about the weather. If he’s coming to talk to you, it’s serious. … Sort of like when the principal shows up. You’re suddenly paying very close attention.”
O’Donnell said, “You might want to vote on your own bill, senator.”
Campbell had been so busy working on the next issue that she wasn’t aware the current bill had come to a vote. “Then he just quietly walked away,” she said. “And I pushed the green button.”
Other senators also talk about the O’Donnell presence. The O’Donnell look. “Honestly, it’s just like the look you’d get when you knew you pushed your mom too far — times 10,” said Annette Dubas, a senator from 2006 to 2014.
Kristensen added to the picture. “Pat would not be a good poker player,” he said. “That Irish complexion will turn bright red” if he sees a senator or staff member breaching legislative decorum.
That persona along with his diligence and experience have helped O’Donnell fulfill his commitment to protect the integrity of the institution. And the fact that he’s been able to do it for 45 years “tells me I’ve done something right,” O’Donnell said. “I’m kind of proud of that.”