Strengthening State Legislatures

Declining prestige of legislative bodies has recently prompted inquiries looking to self-appraisal and reform in Congress and in legislatures of a number of the states. Dissatisfaction with the traditional organization and procedure of state legislatures has grown among legislators, who undertake the perplexities of present-day law-making with inadequate assistance and ineffective machinery. Legislation was seldom a simple problem, but it is today more difficult than at any time in our national history. As the responsibilities thrust upon legislatures are increased, so must the tools and processes of legislation be improved if the quality of legislation is to meet the needs which call it forth.To assist in the reappraisal and review of state legislative organization and procedure, twelve general suggestions for strengthening state legislatures have been reported to the Council of State Governments by a committee of state officials. Appointed in November, 1945, by the Board of Managers of the Council, the Committee on Legislative Processes and Procedures developed its report after broadly surveying legislative theory and practice and selecting for recommendation to the states those measures of most general application. Dealing with the problems of state legislatures generally, the committee decided at an early date to direct its attention to the strengthening of state legislatures as presently constituted. Questions of reapportionment, of representation in the legislature, proportional representation, unicameralism, and certain mechanics of procedure such as electrical voting were not treated in the final report.