May 2012 "What do Legislators do the Rest of the Year?"

This is from an article I submitted to the Spectrum Newspaper in May of 2012. After the Legislature adjourns in March each year, I’m often asked what legislators do the rest of the year. Most people are aware that legislators only serve part-time, but many are unaware that the part-time service continues throughout the year. From April through November the House and Senate resolve into joint committees co-chaired by a senator and a representative. The committees meet once a month to study issues, review potential bills and receive budget updates from State departments. We call this time period “the Interim.” Our State has one of the shortest annual sessions in the nation at only 45-days. In addition, many states separate budget and issues sessions into separate years or sessions. We do both budgets and issues in the same session. The only way to accomplish all of the States business in 45-days is to lay all the groundwork in advance. I often think of annual session as the 4th quarter of a football game. Right now we are starting the 1st quarter of a new game that will conclude in March of 2013. During our first interim meetings held last Wednesday, the committees received the annual training required by the Open and Public Meeting Act, reviewed the list of statutorily required reports and sunset reviews by each committee, reviewed the list of Master Study Resolution items, and heard reports on various issues. The Master Study Resolution is an important guide as to what items will be studied. Legislators add items to this list throughout the annual session and then the resolution is passed as one of the final bills of the session. It almost serves as a “to do list” of items that might have needed more review, study or input before final action could be taken. The first interim meetings also offer opportunities for legislators to suggest new items for committees to study. If you have an idea for a bill or an issue that you want to be studied by the Legislature, now is the time to contact your legislator. Bills take time to be drafted and often a bill needs to be considered from multiple angles to ensure there are no unintended consequences by a change in policy. Groups that will be impacted need time to review and offer input on how to improve the bill or mitigate negative impacts. Often when someone brings up a new idea during the annual session, there just isn’t time in the 45-days to draft, study, gather input, and complete the committee hearing and voting process before the final gavel. On a more personal level, this is also the time of year where legislators might personally dig into an issue that they want to understand better and that might lead to legislation later in the year. For instance, I’m working with a small group of legislators on the issue of restaurant liquor licenses. Our license system has created license shortages that have stymied economic development in some cases. No one wants to make any changes that might increase DUIs or over consumption, but other states handle liquor licenses in different ways and perhaps we can learn from their licensing systems. There maybe be a better way to manage this issue for all parties involved. It is an ambitious course of study and I’m excited to see what we learn and what conclusions we can draw. Please feel free to contact your State Legislator if you have an idea, a question or would like to know how to engage more in the interim process. Many good bills are the result of ideas from constituents suggesting something that could be done differently for a better outcome.