My Brain is Full!
December 17th and 18th were two of the most “learning days” I’ve had in quite a while! Thirty three new legislators gathered in Room 414 on the fourth floor of the Capitol building to learn how to be legislators. We learned of all the resources available, committee structure and rules, parliamentary procedure, order and conduct of floor debate, duties of pages and interns, and how we are reimbursed.
The LRC, Legislative Research Council, was created in 1951 for on-site, year around support for legislators and to be “memory.” With term limits, there are few who know the history of laws—why this happened or didn’t happen. This bipartisan office group knows everything and plays a vital role in our government. The staff is available to answer any question a legislator may have concerning anything. It’s not an exaggeration to say that they know it all.
The 73 member House and 35 member Senate are two very different cultures. The House is referred to as a rock band, while the Senate is the orchestra. Guess I’m in the right spot! If you visit any session, I think you’ll see hints of why the nicknames.
One-third of the bills introduced are agency bills—bills introduced by one of the government agencies, Ag, Education, etc. Another third are from the legislators, and the last third come from constituents. Please note that last number….those are bills whose ideas came from you.
The history of any law passed or not passed since 1997 is available on the Internet. South Dakota Public Broadcasting started recording and broadcasting committee meetings and floor sessions in 2001. Those recordings are available also. All of this is available at http://legis.state.sd.us/.
On the second day, we received our new laptops and received training on the email program, research sites and techniques, and the ACT system—software designed to allow us to see the bills on the computer and make comments on the screen….an effort to go paperless. It’s quite fascinating.
That is just a tip of the iceberg. I was tired at the end of the day, but so appreciative of the LRC staff and the training.
It was great to get to know the legislators—a great group of people. We had our first social function sponsored by various organizations at the South Dakota Retailers Plaza—I can see where the term ‘freshman ten (or fifteen)’ came from!
And I need to correct a mistake I made in an earlier post. The number of legislative days does not alternate between 35 and 40. That practice was replaced about four years ago. Now a session can be up to 40 days long. The 2013 session is 38 days starting on January 8th.
Hints for proposed legislation are popping up in the news media. It’s going to be an interesting time. I’ve added my legislative email to my contact list. Please contact me with any issues that you may have.
Thanks and take care.
Kathy Tyler
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