NCSL reviews Kansas legislative operations and staff services.

• Position: National Conference of State Legislatures - NCSL Inside

A team of NCSL staff recently completed a thorough review of legislative operations and staff services for the Kansas Legislature. The report was presented in March to the Legislative Coordinating Council, chaired by House Speaker Tim Shallenburger.

The study found that costs for staffing and operating the Kansas Legislature were very low by national and regional standards. This is primarily due to low legislative salaries, short legislative sessions, and the small, central, nonpartisan staff structure used by the Legislature. A survey of legislators revealed widespread satisfaction with the four central staff agencies: Administrative Services, Legislative Research, the Revisor of Statutes, and Post Audit. All agencies received high marks for the quality and timeliness of their work.

The study also found that Kansas prints larger volumes of legislative documents than its neighboring states and that the Legislature lacks an integrated computer network to facilitate bill drafting, bill processing, and internal and external communications. The report recommends that the Legislature upgrade its computer...