Institute of Legislative Procedure gets novice lawmakers ready to legislate

Institute of Legislative Procedure gets novice lawmakers ready to legislate

Although a person's business or professional life and previous political experience provide a helpful start, state legislators benefit when they have additional training to help prepare them for difficult duties ahead. Being a state legislator means having to make hard decisions on spending, policy and constituent problems.

The Arkansas House wants to make sure its members are prepared. That is why the Institute of Legislative Procedure is held for new and returning members a month before session begins.

This year the Institute of Legislative Procedure will be held Dec. 5-9 with most of the training taking place in the House chamber. While this serves as a great orientation for Freshman, it also gives us returning members a great refresher on a variety of topics.

Understanding the legislative process has been the cornerstone of new member orientations in state legislatures nationwide, and it continues to be a critical topic. The orientation almost always covers the bill enactment process, legislative rules (parliamentary procedure), the role of staff, the committee system and administrative details. The House also includes detailed sessions on the budget process, media relations, and constituent services.

The 2017 Regular Session begins on Jan. 9.

Members have already selected which committees they will be serving on for the 91st General Assembly. Those lists have been posted on our website.

I will be serving on the committee for Public Health, Welfare and Labor and the committee for Insurance and Commerce. I will also be serving on the Joint Budget Committee.

The Speaker of the House will announce the chairs for all committees on the first day of the session.

Some members have already started the process of pre-filing bills for the next session. More than 20 have been filed in the House so far. You can read those bills and those filed in the coming days and weeks ahead on our website www.arkansashouse.org.

From State Representative Deborah Ferguson