RACSS Newsletter

Transcription

1 RACSS Newsletter R A C S S Fall 2007 Chair s Column: The Challenge of Change By: E.M. Miller, Jr., Director Virginia Division of Legislative Research RACSS Chair Change is all around me. Virginia s November election results showed the D s in charge of the Senate and the R s maintaining control in the House. Change is in the air. My goal is that RACSS will be no exception. Throughout the next year, I plan to utilize our wealth of innovative resources to expand the way we operate and enhance our ability to think outside the box. Advisory Council To build on these ideas, I will be appointing 12 individuals to an advisory council for RACSS who will assist the board, especially with developing agendas for future meetings. The council will consist of past chairs and other RACSS leaders, who will serve as a resource, provide historical insight, and springboard for new ideas. This inclusion will also help keep some of our prior talent in the fold and, hopefully, active in RACSS meetings. In addition, I will also be appointing to the advisory council individuals new to the legislative research scene who will be able to provide energy, a fresh perspective on ideas, and a new outlook on how we function. The advisory council will also be called upon to actively participate on panels and as presenters when appropriate. By combining the thoughts of the so-called veterans, boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y, we should get an interesting mix of ideas that will expand our base and energize our membership. Santa Fe - For those of you who missed Santa Fe, the conference was very successful. A summary of the evaluations included positive comments for the speakers and presenters and those in attendance felt the conference was well planned and informative. There were 95 RACSS members at Santa Fe and they found some of the most valuable aspects of the conference were the opportunity to share ideas and network. On another note, there were also some suggestions about offering a range of tracks based on level of experience in legislative research. Overall, the evaluations were positive and will be helpful in planning upcoming meetings. Meetings - The 2008 NCSL Legislative Summit will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana on July The executive committee has also begun the initial planning for the Professional Development Seminar to be held next fall. While we are still in the planning stage, the conference will highlight top notch educational programs and presentations in a location still to be determined but one that is desirable and will attract your attention. Since we met in a southwestern venue last, we are looking at the east coast this year; maybe a New York City locale, Miami, or possibly Atlanta. Details about the conference will follow in the subsequent months. I look forward to working with each of you throughout the next year and to sharing the experience and knowledge we have accumulated over the years in the legislative arena. National Conference of State Legislatures Tel: Fax: East First Place Denver, CO 80230

2 Meet the RACSS Executive Committee for Officers Chair: E.M. Miller, Jr. Director Division of Legislative Services Virginia phone: (804) Immediate Past Chair: Patrick O Grady Executive Director Legislative Research Unit Illinois phone: (217) patricko@ilga.gov Vice-Chair: Phil Price Committee Staff Administrator Legislative Committee Staff Bureau of Legislative Research Arkansas phone: (501) PhilP@arkleg.state.ar.us RACSS Secretary: Jeanne Mejeur, Program Director Legislative Information Services NCSL, Denver Office phone: (303) (direct) jeanne.mejeur@ncsl.org Directors Marti Harkness (*2009) Staff Director Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) Florida phone: (850) harkness.marti@oppaga.fl.gov Mark Mitchell (* 2009) Legislative Analyst Local Government Committee Legislative Research Commission Kentucky phone (502) ext mark.mitchell@lrc.ky.gov Kirk Mlinek (* 2008) Director Legislative Council Colorado phone: (303) kirk.mlinek@state.co.us John Rappa (* 2009) Principal Research Analyst Office of Legislative Research Connecticut phone: (860) John.Rappa@cga.ct.gov Dan Schmidt (* 2008) Senior Analyst Legislative Council Staff Wisconsin phone: (608) dan.schmidt@legis.state.wi.us Pepper Sturm (* 2008) Chief Deputy Research Director Legislative Counsel Bureau Nevada phone: (775) sturm@lcb.state.nv.us * term expires 2 RACSS Newsletter Fall 2007

3 LSSS, RACSS & LRL Joint Fall Seminar More than 200 legislative staff attended the Joint Fall Seminar presented by RACSS, Legal Services (LSSS) and the Legislative Research Librarians (LRL) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That s an even bigger turnout than for the previous joint meeting of the three staff sections, when 175 attended our first joint seminar in Chicago in The three groups have a lot in common in their jobs, so there were quite a few programs that were designed to appeal to members of all the staff sections. But there were also a number of programs that were focused specifically for researchers, drafters or librarians, as each of the three staff sections took responsibility for planning a track of concurrent sessions that would interest their members. In addition, there was a fourth track, just for new bill drafters. The Roundhouse New Mexico s State Capitol Santa Fe is a great place for a meeting, with historic sites, restaurants and shops all within easy walking distance. Our headquarters hotel was right on the historic plaza and only a few blocks from The Roundhouse, as the New Mexico State Capitol building is known. The New Mexico staff were wonderful hosts, who worked hard on planning the meeting, hosting the event and really going the extra mile by providing gifts and information packets for all attendees. Special thanks to Pam Ray, Tracey Kimball, and Roxanne Knight, who took the lead in helping plan the event, as well as to Legislative Council Director Paula Tackett and all the New Mexico staff who worked so hard in making it a successful meeting. A big thank-you also goes to the planning committee for the joint seminar. Representatives of each of the three staff sections worked together to plan the agenda, find speakers and serve as moderators and faculty. RACSS was well represented by Pat O Grady, chair for ; E.M. Miller, current chair, and Pepper Sturm and John Rappa, members of the RACSS Executive Committee. Great job! Thanks to all of you who attended and for your input on the evaluation of the meeting. There were lots of programs that staff found valuable, particularly the opening plenary on communications and the concurrent sessions on new managers and avoiding research bias. There were also helpful suggestions on improving future meetings. Based on comments on the evaluations, we ll be planning more management training for next year s meeting, along with more skills-based sessions, such as the research bias program. RACSS will be meeting solo in 2008 and all programs will be designed around the interests of research and committee staff. Q: What did attendees think about the Joint Fall Seminar? Turn the page for comments from your colleagues who attended the meeting. Q: Do you have ideas for programs at future RACSS seminars? Let us know! Just contact any of the members of the RACSS Executive Committee. Their phone numbers and addresses are listed on page 2. RACSS Newsletter Fall

4 Thanks for Sharing!! Below are comments from the evaluations of the Joint Fall Seminar. What was the most valuable aspect of the seminar? Communications sessions and the session on underperforming employees. John Daly s presentation because his content applied to many things we do. New technology and online information. Daly communicating message; can apply directly and immediately. Sharing ideas and solutions with experienced staff from other states there was plenty of this. Thanks! Meeting and getting to know people from other states. Exchanging information with colleagues. Opening plenary and seminar about the Colorado Smoking Ban. The opening plenary, Conveying Your Message Effectively. Session on bias. Opening session was excellent and extremely useful. Sources of new ideas to take home. I thought the Legislative Intent and Statutory Construction sections the most informative. What was the least valuable aspect of the seminar? Legal Writing seminar because it was not as advertised. Scant info customized for researchers. Seminars on Native American and Tribal Law I don t practice in this area of law. The section on legal writing could have been stronger. Indian law sessions were interesting but not valuable to me. Overview of Supreme Court Action although very much enjoyed presentation. More than necessary Native American law. What topics should be included for future seminars? Organizational development in legislative setting. More for committee staffing. Management of own files and s: how to organize and archive. Recodification issues. Special purpose districts. Hiring process how to screen and get good people. Writing; advanced skills in staffing committees. I would appreciate a more academic presentation on management theory applied to state setting to compliment the war story approach from experienced legislative staff. Real management training is hard to find for government staff. More on management issues. More sessions on basic function of our work in staffing committees and doing research. More sessions for research staffers perhaps actual members discussing what they want from research staffers. Election and campaign finance; labor and employment. More focus on committee work. Continue with national level speakers and innovations around the country. Policies re: constituent services and ways that legislative staff respond to legislators constituents. Progressive methods of research. More on underperformers and new managers. Also negativity, conflict resolution. 4 RACSS Newsletter Fall 2007

5 Welcome, Citizen: Hawaii s Public Access Room By Suzanne Marinelli Coordinator, Public Access Room Hawaii Legislature When I moved to Hawaii in the early 1980s, I had the good fortune to live in a beautiful rural village on the island of Kauai. I knew that my addition to the island state with limited resources could either be a drain, or a boost, to Hawaii, so I determined to make positive contributions to the place I loved. That led to a degree of political activism that involved advocacy at both the county and federal levels of government. A decade after my arrival, Kauai was devastated by a huge and powerful hurricane. Having lost my home and having no employment prospects, I moved to Honolulu in 1994 to take a 4-month, half-time job as a lobbyist for an organization that wanted to establish a presence at the State Capitol. I was absolutely clueless as to the workings of state government. But with few options available to me, I jumped at the chance to take the position, even though I didn t know how to use a computer. Having arrived at the Capitol, I wandered into a place called the Public Access Room. There I found a knowledgeable staff, disconcertingly willing to answer the hundreds thousands! of questions that came to mind. The folks in the Public Access Room, the PAR, showed me the two big binders they maintained that held hearing notices, arranged by dates. Thus I discovered that the Hawaii State Legislature had two chambers, a Senate and a House of Representatives. Those patient people would even start up one of the public computers for me, open a blank word-processing document, and say, Okay Suzanne. You can write your testimony now. Let us know when you re finished, and we ll print it for you. Wow. So with the help of the PAR I made it through that legislative session and learned an enormous amount along the way (even, to a limited extent, how to cope with a computer). By the end of that session I was hooked. I wanted to work in state government. During the next session I was hired as a committee clerk. That was great fun and another tremendous learning opportunity. Economic reality being what it is, though, I had to take a full-time job outside the Capitol when the session ended. Then the next session rolled around, and I knew where I wanted to be. So I took an evening/ weekend job at you guessed it the Public Access Room. Some years later I, was appointed as PAR s Coordinator and became the Queen Bee of that particular division of the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau (the LRB ). PAR PROVIDES: Computers for drafting testimony on legislative issues Internet Access as a resource for legislative and State government information Photocopying Services for testimony Distribution of testimony submitted via fax or Legislative Documents: Hearing Notices, Referral Sheets, Journals, Orders-of-the Day, and Governor s Messages Reference Materials: Hawaii Revised Statutes, Auditor s Reports, LRB Reports, Informational Handouts, and Books and Pamphlets on Effective Lobbying Workshops on Legislative Process, Useful Internet Sites, and Reading and Understanding Legislative Documents Expert Staff to provide answers and information regarding legislative matters and government affairs Seven years later, I m still humbled and satisfied by the contributions our office continues to make to Hawaii by educating and assisting the people who wish to participate in their own governance. When the PAR got started as a nonpartisan public resource seventeen years ago, it was managed by the RACSS Newsletter Fall

6 House of Representatives and consisted of volunteers working in what had been an unused room in the basement of the Capitol. Over time, some furniture was provided. A couple of years later, the PAR got some paid employees. Its management was transferred to the Senate. Incrementally, improvements were made; staffing was bolstered, and more equipment and furnishings were added. Then in 1994, the Public Access Room became a permanent part of the Legislature and was made a division of the Legislative Reference Bureau. The services and resources the PAR provides have continued to expand ever since. These are many and varied, and always free to the public. We provide, among other things, Knowledgeable staff two year-round employees and three additional session hires. A complete set of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and various other reference materials. Public computers which can be used for research and writing testimony (one of which is ADA compliant). A public telephone, also ADA compliant. A fax machine. Workspace. Workshops, presented at the Capitol and in the community at large, including on the Neighbor Islands. We currently offer three workshops: 1) understanding of, and participation in, the legislative process, 2) reading and understanding legislative documents, and 3) researching legislative issues via useful Internet sites. These are offered two to three times weekly during the session at the Capitol, including evenings, and less regularly during the interim. Processing and distribution of testimony for legislative committees. Testimony photocopies as required by committees for patrons who develop their remarks at our public computers or hand-carry them to our office. A website, maintained by the LRB s webmaster, Newsletters, published monthly during session, which give detailed information on various topics related to the Legislature (see the series, archived at the PAR website). WIFI access (now available throughout most of the Capitol). And whatever else is required of us, to the extent that we are able. Now in our seventeenth year of operation, we know that we need to continue to evolve and expand as the public s needs and expectations of us grow. I have no doubt that we will do so. The wording of the 1994 Act that made the PAR a permanent part of Hawaii s Legislature included this important observation: Opening up government processes to public scrutiny and participation is the most viable and reasonable method of protecting democracy and the public interest. For people who contract the political virus, for which no known cure exists, the only possible treatment is active participation in their own governance. Fortunately, Hawaii s Legislature remains committed to our citizens, our process, and our representative democracy. I take great comfort and satisfaction in knowing that commitment is real. Because someone is sure to wander in and ask about those two big binders on the desk. RACSS Newsletter, Fall 2007 The RACSS Newsletter is published two to three times per year and is free to all members of the staff section. Current and past issues are available on the RACSS home page at For more information, contact RACSS Secretary Jeanne Mejeur at jeanne.mejeur@ncsl.org or (303) In This Issue: Chair s Column... 1 New Officers for Fall Seminar... 3 Seminar Feedback... 4 Hawaii Public Access Room RACSS Newsletter Fall 2007