It should be no shock to anyone that the legislature has dealt with an increasing load of legislation each session. In 2003, there were 1360 bills and resolutions introduced. In 2005, 1441 bills and resolutions were introduced. This session, approximately 1510 bills and resolutions have been introduced. That represents a 5-6% increase each session.
The problem with the increased workload is that our legislative sessions are limited by law to 90 days. Therefore, we expect lawmakers to deal with more issues and more bills during a static amount of time. This could spell trouble in years to come because less time will be spent on the larger issues facing the state.
Two "solutions" have been presented, but not seriously acted on this session. One fix is to limit the amount of bills a legislator may introduce. Some legislators had over 100 bill draft requests before the 2007 session even started. If a legislator was limited in the number of bills he/she could bring forward, perhaps he/she would be less likely to bring bills that have no chance of passing and only serve to clog up the system.
The other proposed fix is extending the number of days of the legislative session. As our state grows, some ask whether we can really expect legislators to put together a budget for two years in such a short time.
Both proposals have their drawbacks. If a legislator has a lot of good ideas, why should they be limited in the number of ideas they can bring forward? Also, many Montanans would have deep reservations about extending the number of days of the session past 90 days. Neither "fix" is really a perfect solution to the increasing workload at the legislature. What ideas do you have to deal with the problem? Or is it even a problem?
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