Missouri lawmaker tries to pioneer use of technology

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Stepping into Rep. Rob Schaaf's small, out-of-the way office in the stately old Missouri Capitol is like crossing a threshold into the future.

There are none of the trappings of most legislative offices -- no secretary to greet visitors and handle the typing, no filing cabinet overflowing with documents. But if Schaaf, a freshman Republican from St. Joseph, has stepped out, his legislative assistant invites visitors to have a seat in front of a digital camera -- and leave a message on video disc.

Business cards, meeting notices and other documents delivered to the office are promptly scanned into a computer. And wherever he may be, Schaaf checks messages and committee schedules by tapping his personal digital assistant -- a wireless hand-held computer.

In a building where thousands of pounds of documents are generated weekly during the legislative session and lawmakers lug oversized binders from meeting to meeting, Schaaf and his office are virtually paperless.

And that's exactly how Schaaf, a physician from St. Joseph with a fondness for digital technology, prefers it.

"My goal is to be a pioneer," said Schaaf, who holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics. "My goal is to allow the people to see more deeply into the legislative process by making myself more available and trying to give them more opportunity to have input."

Too much paperwork

Schaaf, 46, created his virtual office with his own high-powered computer, his legislative assistant's video technology and some equipment provided by the state.

"My calendar is completely unmanageable without it," Schaaf said.

As a freshman lawmaker, Schaaf said, he has an advantage over colleagues because he can sift through information quickly on a computer and doesn't need to go mining in a mountain of paperwork.

"The thing is, there is too much work to do and get it all done, so we had to figure out a way to be more efficient, and we are more efficient this way," Schaaf said. "And I think this brings me closer to people because they have greater access to me."

The Missouri Legislature has grappled for years with technology.

Members of the Missouri House have been allowed to use personal laptop computers in the chamber since 1997. But the tradition-conscious Senate has repeatedly rejected the idea -- even though live debate of both chambers is available over the Internet.

Charlie Kreitzberg, chief executive officer of the Princeton, N.J.-based technology firm Cognetics, has spent the last 30 years studying the relationship between people and technology.

"It's important that people in the legislature have more than a superficial knowledge of technology, " he said. "They need a real working knowledge of what technology is."

Wave of the future

Schaaf seems to be in the vanguard of a rising number of technology-savvy lawmakers around the country, Kreitzberg said.

"It absolutely is the wave of the future," Kreitzberg said. "Technology allows us to move ideas more rapidly. Lawmakers can communicate better with their constituents and their constituents with them."

One of the reasons for Schaaf's bold approach is his legislative assistant Ray Griggs, who runs a video production company when he's not working in Jefferson City. Griggs also created several of Schaaf's campaign advertisements using computer graphics.

Schaaf, who had not previously held elective office, said Missouri lawmakers should embrace technology to better serve the public.

"Ultimately, my colleagues will realize that they waste a tremendous amount of time, that they waste a tremendous amount of paper and that there will be a great cost saving by doing things digitally," Schaaf said.