An admiring look at Speaker Hackney

Governing magazine, a monthly publication in Washington, D.C. written for state and local officials, usually writes about issues, trends and problems state and local governments face. A notable exception is its current issue, which includes an admiring portrait of N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney, D-Orange, who will be serving his 15th term when the General Assembly convenes Jan. 28. The profile, written by Alan Greenblatt, is in several ways pretty perceptive about the way Hackney works. He's a good listener. He's hard to read. He has opened the House to more input from Republicans. And while he has not pushed a broad policy agenda in the House, preferring to work on key items he feels strongly about and letting other issues rise or fall on their merits, he has also quietly seen to it that bills he thought would not be good public policy have gone to committees where they would not emerge. Here's a link to the article, headlined, "Reformer in Power."