Legislative Document Management Project.

• Position: Brief Article

State legislatures have come to a crossroads in technology. The software systems they have relied on to create and manage legislative documents are becoming outdated and, in some cases, are being discontinued. One of the automated document management systems most widely used by legislatures, Text DBMS, is no longer being enhanced and soon will not be supported by its vendor.

Members of the National Association of Legislative Information Technology, an NCSL staff section, began examining concerns about the need to update the software that legislatures use to manage bill drafting, journals and legislative calendars. The Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee began exploring the possibility of states working together to find solutions for current technology issues and to discuss ways that NCSL might support that effort. The result of those discussions was the creation of the Multi-State Legislative Document Management Project and the establishment of a Steering Committee, made up of representatives from...