STAFF AND SUPPORT AGENCIES

Congressional Staff Role

Lawmakers rely on their staffs to help them:
handle the growing workload of Congress, communicate with voters, help run committee hearings and floor sessions, draft new bills, write committee reports, attend committee meetings, help lawmakers get reelected, help Congress get publicity, keep an eye on the political developments back home, write speeches and newsletters, raise funds for election campaigns, and meet with lobbyist and visitors from home.

CONGRESSIONAL STAFF GROWTH

• CONGRESS HAD 2,000 STAFF MEMBERS IN 1947.
• MORE THAN 11,500 STAFF MEMBERS in 1990.
• CONGRESS STAFF GREW AS LAWMAKING BECAME MORE COMPLEX.
• A large staff became one way of getting expert help.
• Voters have often turned to lawmakers for help in solving problems, requiring more staff.

PERSONAL STAFF

• Congress includes two types of staff: personal staff & committee staff
• Personal staff- members work directly for individual senators and representative.
• Committee staff- work for the many House and Senate committees.
• The size of senators' staff members varied do to allowances.
• Senates allowance is based on state population and distance from the capital

PERSONAL STAFF CONTINUED

• One-third of personal staff members work in the legislators' home states.
• Two-thirds work in Washington, DC.
• The House and Senate employ thousands of personal staff members
• Lawmakers can hire and fire people at will.

THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF PERSONAL STAFF:

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS (AA)

• Good Administrative Assistants:
• Run the lawmakers' office
• Supervise the lawmakers schedule
• Give advise on political matters.
• Deal with influential people from the lawmakers district.

LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANTS (LA)

• Make certain that the lawmaker is well informed about any bills they must deal.
• The LA must research, draft bills, study bills, and write speeches for the Lawmaker
• They must assist or stand in for the lawmaker in committee meetings.
• LAs also keep track of work taking place in Congress.
• The lawmaker relies on the LAs judgement for most of his work in the committee meeting.

CASEWORKERS

• They handle the many requests for help from people in the lawmakers district.
• Caseworkers usually staff the lawmakers office in their state or district.

COMMITTEE STAFF

• Every committee has staff members that work for that committee.
• The committee chairperson is in charge of these staff members.
• Staffers draft bills, study issues, collect information, prepare committee reports, write memos.
• They are largely responsible for the work involved in making laws.
• Senior committee staff members are cery experienced and are experts in the area it covers.

TO MUCH POWER?

• The people don't select congress staffers.
• Staffers pay a key role in lawmaking.
• Some lawmakers think they have to much influence.
• Some think they really collect information,
• and develop alternative courses of action for the lawmakers.

SUPPORT AGENCIES

• Several agencies provide services to help Congress carry out its power.
• Some of these services are available to other branches of government and private citizens
• Congress has created four important support agencies.

IMPORTANT SUPPORT AGENCIES

• The Library of Congress
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
• General Accounting Office (GAO)
• Government Printing Office (GPO)

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

• Congress created it to purchase books for Congress.
• One of the largest libraries in the world.
• Contains more that 100 million items (music, journals, books, etc.)
• It has a Congressional Research Service (CRS) with hundreds of employees.
• Congress uses CRS to answer requests for info. from voters.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE (CBO)

• Was est. to coordinate the budget making work of congress,
• study the budget proposals put forward by the President,
• make cost projections of proposed new programs.
• Staff members study economic trends, prepare a report on budget each April,
• Keep track of how much congressional committees are spending, & calculate budget decisions.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO)

• Nation's watchdog over spending funds.
• Review the financial management of government programs.
• Collect gov. debts, settle claims, and provide legal services.
• Many staff members answer requests for info about programs from lawmakers.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE (GPO)

• The largest multipurpose printing plant in the world.
• Prints for entire federal gov.
• Prints daily record of all bills introduced in both houses.
• All support agencies provide a vital function for Congress.