In The Works Assoc. Just as the 1997-98 Legislative session winds down, our Association's legislative team is gearing up for the new session set to convene in January. Any legislation that the Association wishes to file for the 1999-2000 Legislative session must be submitted to the House or Senate Clerk no later than December 2, 1998. Along with drafting the prospective legislation, Association lobbyists will be meeting with legislative leaders to seek sponsorship of the bills. We will be meeting with various Reps. and Senators throughout November to gather sponsors.
Sponsorship is very important to the future success of the bill.
The drafting of the Association's legislative package is a process that evolves over the course of many months. Association officers, who have gathered input from members, sit down with General Counsel Bill Rehrey, who drafts the legislation. Under rules that were adopted by the legislature in 1995, the session runs concurrent with the legislators' two-year term of office. This has proved to be a tremendous benefit to the Association over the past two sessions. Several key pieces of legislation have been approved during the second year of the session.