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Behind the Bills |
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| Corridor Inc. staff writer
Originally published March 2007  Karl Aro, executive director of the Department of Legislative Services. Photo by Marilyn DiMarco
The documents are requests from legislators, all waiting to be drafted into full-fledged bills.
That job falls on the staff of the Department of Legislative Services (DLS), a 382-employee, non-partisan state office tasked with providing a spin-free look at the budget and policy issues politicians want to tackle.
Staffers are responsible for drafting bills, providing an analysis of each bill and generally assisting legislators with any requests they might have.
By the end of Maryland’s 90-day legislative session in April, more than 3,000 bills will pass through the department’s five-story brick building, though only 2,500 or so are likely to ever see the floor of the House or Senate.
“We give legislators — regardless of the letter after their name — an organization they can trust,” said Karl Aro, executive director of the department.
In 1997, the General Assembly consolidated various arms of governmental support into one central resource. Today, the department is the home of budget and policy analysis, legislative audits and information systems.
“Our mission is to facilitate the legislative process,” said Aro.
The department is primarily reactive to the needs of legislators, though the staff tries to anticipate possible front-burner issues, he explained.
That preparation is critical due to the influx of requests that occur once members return to the Capitol each year, Aro said of the deadline-heavy work. During the session, policy staff can work 14-hour days, sometimes six to seven days a week.
“Name the issue and we’ve probably done something on it,” said Aro, who anticipates the office gets “several hundred” general inquiries from members each year.
The policy office is responsible for drafting all legislation. While requests come directly from legislators, the actual bill is written by department staffers. At the beginning of the process, some members supply staff with very detailed bill requests, others are vague and require some back-and-forth discussion with legislators, said Aro.
 Staff members rely on these discussions with the sponsoring legislator, as well as independent research, to draft the final product. They look at previous laws and legislation and legal and constitutional issues, Aro said.
Sometimes analysts are given inaccurate data from special interest sources, said Dennis F. Rasmussen, a lobbyist and former U.S. Senate candidate. That is the challenge of gathering so much information in such a short time, he said, though he noted he has never noticed an intentional bias.
Bills are drafted by one staff member, then reviewed and edited before being processed for the legislator to introduce in the House or Senate. There’s no rule for how long the process takes, it all depends on the bill, Aro explained.
But the final call on bill content rests with the legislator who was elected by the people, he emphasized.
“We do not advocate,” said Aro. “We just try and give them a product that will pass muster.”
State Sen. James C. Rosapepe, a democrat representing Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, wouldn’t mind if there was some party politics involved.
“I actually favor a partisan staffing approach because it’s fairer to the minority if they have their own staff,” said Rosapepe, a 10-year veteran of the House of Delegates who returned to the legislature this year after resigning in 1997. “Secondly, it’s easier for staff to be more helpful and to support debate if they’re not having to walk the line.”
Partisan staffing wouldn’t change the quality of the work, it would just make it more focused, Rosapepe said, acknowledging the experience and professionalism of the current staff.
In addition to providing bill language, the policy team analyzes each bill introduced — exploring current law, the bill’s background and the potential impact on small businesses and state revenue.
The policy office also provides committee support. Thirty staff members work with the 10 standing committees in the legislature, providing guidance where needed.
“It’s a big operation,” said Aro, of the department’s vast reach into the halls of the General Assembly.
“If it were not for these people, the trains wouldn’t run on time,” he said.
Working in such a low-visibility and demanding position does have some rewards.
“I feel that the better we do our job, the better the legislative process is,” said Susan G. Phelps, who manages bill drafting and code revision for the department.
“What happens here is going to affect the lives of 5 million people in some form,” said Aro. “It’s a thrill to see the process.”
As for all those wasted man-hours on bills that never see the light of day, Aro said it’s “like baseball or any sport — there’s always next year.” <
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