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 National Legislative Services and Security Association
Newsletter - Winter 1/2000

Articles and Region news

Region 1 -- Region 2 -- Region 3 - Region 4

Keeping Your Office Effective: Some Tools for Managers -- Missouri's Response to Fraudulent Liens -- Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Familiarization -- What Do You Need to be Motivated? -- Making Your Point with PowerPoint -- Problem Solving -- Remarks by John Phelps, Clerk of the Florida House and Staff Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures -- California: Security Increases at VIP Parking Garage in Capitol's Basement -- California: Experts Find No Workplace 100% Safe -- Hawaii: Suspect Serviced Xerox Copiers at State Capitol -- Hawaii: Importance of Counseling Stressed by Professionals -- Kansas: Game to let Kansas youths play politics -- Kansas: Historic Statehouse Office will be Missed -- Kansas: Project to Find Senate's True Colors -- Michigan: Changes opening up Capitol Renovations make it more visitor-friendly -- Minnesota: Only a Third of Minnesotans Want Unicameral Legislature -- Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin Receives Lifesaving Device To Help Save Lives -- Wisconsin: No Time for Sergeants -- New Hampshire: Women Lead the Way in New Hampshire Politics -- Pennsylvania: Update on PA Capitol Restoration and Renovation -- Florida: Capitol is just adjusting to the times with increased security -- Sprucing Up Statehouses

NLSSA 26th Annual Training Conference Reports

Keeping Your Office Effective: Some Tools for Managers

Submitted by: Rod Welsh, House Sergeant at Arms, Texas

Brian Weberg presented NLSSA with a very informative session at the 26th Annual Training Conference in Missouri. Brian is the director of the Legislative Management Program for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) where he oversees NCSL programs and services that address the procedural, organizational, management and professional development needs and interests of state legislators and state legislative staff. This interactive session presented a controlled crash course in useful concepts, techniques, and tools that managers can use to help their organizations keep pace with change and maintain effective service to key clients. The goal of the session was for the group to write a manual for effective managers.

The beginning portion of the session focused on five assumptions:

1) Managers make a difference

2) Good management is universal

3) The world is changing fast

4) People are different

5) We know what works

Then, the session examined the question of who we are based on Meyers/Briggs testing:

Extrovert or Introvert Where do we get energy from? From others or from our self?
Sensing or Intuitive Do we need data and facts or are we more theoretical/dreamer types that go on hunches rather then fact?
Thinking or Feeling Do we use reason and logic to be fair and objective or do we make decisions based on our values and our heart?
Judging or Perceiving Do we have a plan, an organized agenda or are we wanderers, living for the moment, taking life as it comes?

Then, the group concentrated on identifying the key issues. The group was asked to identify and prioritize their ideas into two areas:

1) What defines a good manager (The Person)?

personality traits, behaviors, practices, beliefs, or skills

2) What defines a good office (The Institution)?

practices, policies, facilities, structure, or tradition

Through the use of a "snow card" exercise, the group created two lists of prioritized management practices and office characteristics that were believed to be the most important to managerial and institutional effectiveness.

Priorities for Good Managers
The group found that the three most important characteristics, behaviors, or skills of good managers are:

1) Communication Skills

2) Fairness

3) Honesty

Other important characteristics mentioned for good managers are: knowledgeable, provide vision for the organization, inspire and allow creativity, motivate and empower employees, and lead by example.

Communication Skills
The group found that good communication is critical to the success of a manager and an organization. Managers should promote and engage in communication that flows in all directions throughout the organization. Listening skills are crucial to managerial success.

Some of the key ideas for being an effective communicator:

1) Clearly convey organizational expectations and developments.

2) Clearly define and follow office rules and policies.

3) Be a good listener.

4) Have an open door policy.

Fairness
Fairness was found to be an extremely important workplace value. Most office problems stem from real or perceived claims of unfair treatment or uneven work conditions. Managers should be fair and consistent in their approach to all employees and situations. Perceptions play a big role in the issue of fairness. Employees may perceive a situation to be unfair until they have all the information. Communication, therefore, is a key tool in maintaining a sense of fairness among employees.

Honesty
Managers who demonstrate honesty are trusted by employees. Trust is a precious commodity that allows managers to make tough decisions and delegate tasks-outcomes that promote office efficiency and effectiveness.

The group found that managers can promote a sense of honesty and trust through the following ideas:

1) Never lie to an employee.

2) Do not promise things that you cannot deliver.

Priorities for Good Offices

The group found that the three most important characteristics of a good office are:

1) Good Communication

2) Teamwork

3) Clear Policies

Other important characteristics mentioned for a good office include: effective tools and facilities, training and professional development opportunities, and an atmosphere that fosters respect, loyalty, pride, and fairness.

Good Communication
The promotion of frequent, useful, honest, and rich communication should be the first concern of managers and employees. Effective offices are characterized by open lines of communication that get used on a routine basis.

Some key ideas about how an office can foster effective communications:

1) Provide an orientation program for new employees.

2) Hold routine, useful staff meetings.

3) Conduct Performance Evaluations.

4) Provide effective communication equipment.

5) Keep employees informed about issues that affect them.

6) Clearly articulate the office mission, values, and goals.

Teamwork
As work becomes more integrated in terms of the skills necessary to accomplish key tasks, teams and the sense of teamwork in an office take on a more important role. Teamwork is an important value in the workplace. An office that demonstrates teamwork probably also has good communication, a shared sense of mission, and a high level of trust and respect among employees.

Some key ideas about how to promote teamwork:

1) Cross train employees.

2) Use staff meetings to share info about office projects and involve employees in new decisions and activities.

3) Use focus groups or task force techniques.

4) Promote interpersonal understanding through various assessment techniques.

Clear Policies
An effective office has clearly articulated workplace policies that all employees understand and follow. Managers promote this condition by their own demonstrated adherence to office policies and through their fair and consistent application of these policies.

Some key ideas for making office policies clear and understood:

1) Develop an office mission statement.

2) Maintain an up-to-date employee manual.

3) Establish job descriptions and clear work expectations.

In conclusion, the group found that the most important characteristic in both categories (good managers and good offices) was communication. As a result of the discussions during this interactive session, a manual was prepared by NCSL and sent to all NLSSA session participants. The manual summarizes in more detail the conclusions and recommendations of the NLSSA session participants.

Some key ideas about how an office can foster effective communications:

1) Provide an orientation program for new employees.

2) Hold routine, useful staff meetings.

3) Conduct Performance Evaluations.

4) Provide effective communication equipment.

5) Keep employees informed about issues that affect them.

6) Clearly articulate the office mission, values, and goals.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the aforementioned manual please contact-

Kae Warnock
NCSL Liaison to NLSSA
National Conference of State Legislatures
1560 Broadway, Suite 700
Denver, CO 80202

Missouri's Response to Fraudulent Liens

Submitted by Jimmy L. Branson, Lieutenant, Legislative Police, Nevada

During the luncheon on Friday, October 1^st, Mr. Edward Ardini, Chief Counsel, Missouri Public Safety Division of the Missouri's Attorney General's Office, gave a very interesting briefing on the way Missouri is handling fraudulent liens from anti-government organizations such as the Freeman Group.

The Freeman Group in Missouri began harassing public officials in Pike County, Missouri. The seventeen-year-old daughter of a Freeman was stopped for speeding and the group used her case to go into action. Members of the Freeman Group believe other courts have no authority over them. The Pike County judge and others were ordered to report to the Freeman's court. The officials did not abide by this order and the Freeman filed a ten million dollar lien against them. In April of 1996, the State Attorney General was appointed to investigate the claim. By Missouri law, the county recorder had to file the document without question.

The Attorney General was successful in removing the liens. When the Freeman admitted the then million-dollar liens were threats to get the traffic ticket removed, the Attorney General had reason to prosecute. Since these people hate lawyers, they acted as their own attorneys. The trial lasted two weeks for 15 defendants who submitted over 400 objections during the trial. One member even faked a heart attack to slow down the proceedings. The jury gave two Freeman seven years and the rest of the defendants received two years. Those who received two years asked for a retrial with a different judge and were subsequently given four-year sentences. The Attorney General wanted to come down hard on these people to hopefully send a message that this practice would not be tolerated. The Freeman no longer file fraudulent liens, but now are doing bogus trusts in another part of the state.

During the latter part of 1996, the Missouri Legislature passed a law granting the county recorders the authority to reject questionable liens. Additionally, it is now a crime to file a fraudulent lien. If a lien is found to be fraudulently filed, the affected person can go to court, at no cost to them, and have the lien removed.

The Missouri Attorney General's Office is working with other states to stop the practice of fraudulent liens nationwide.

Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Familiarization

On Friday, October 1, 1999, members of the 26th NLSSA Annual Training Conference were treated to a course on the AED given by Sgt. Stacy Skiles Minze and Cheryl Morgan, both members of the Missouri State Capitol Police.

The AED is a relatively new tool to the Public Safety communities. Basically it is an automated device and, as its name describes, a defibrillator. Although such devices have been used in hospitals and mobile paramedic units for years, the cost per unit and training have been prohibitive to all but medical providers.

The realization that AED's can be made widely available and affordable came after an airline passenger died of a heart attack before the plane could land. The victim's wife successfully argued that an AED aboard the flight would have probably saved her husband's life.

Today, trained personnel at such diverse locations as casinos, major hotels, fire and police departments and even doctors' offices use AED's. The cost of a single unit starts at around $2,000. The units are manufactured by many different companies and can be equipped with various options to suit the using authority.

In a medical emergency there is a brief window of time when the actions of the person responding to the call for help can influence the outcome. These actions can literally mean the difference between life and death. In an effort to widen that four-minute window of time, AED's are saving many lives. The AED's can be used in cases of sudden cardiac arrest, like a drowning or an electrocution.

A pad is placed on either side of the victim's chest while the vital signs are being checked. The AED tells the first responder what to do. The machine monitors the patient's condition and based upon its findings tells the responder that there is no pulse or to stand clear. The AED jump-starts the heart; shocking it back into rhythm. After the heart stops beating, damage begins to occur in the nerve tissue of the brain after the first four minutes. When the ambulance arrives, the patient is hooked up to a defibrillator in the ambulance that will regulate the beating of his heart. While the patient is en route to the hospital, first responders can return to headquarters where they can download the information that was recorded by their AED's monitor during those first crucial minutes. That information can be forwarded to the hospital afterwards providing the medical personnel there additional information that can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of the victim.

Training is essential. An effective first responder needs to be certified and then required to attend a refresher per policy of his/her department and/or the EMS authority having jurisdiction. An important point to remember is that a first responder need not be a Police Officer, Firefighter, Paramedic or any type of a professional within the medical field. This first responder can be a teacher, a grocery clerk, bank teller...etc. The point is, get trained and practice, practice, practice. The person next to you is counting on you, but then again, you better hope that they trained with an AED!

Thank you to St. Mary's Hospital of Jefferson City, MO. for their generous participation in letting the Missouri Capitol Police use seven of their practice dummies in this presentation.

Special Event Planning

Submitted by Monte G. Walters, Media Services Supervisor, Nevada

A presentation on Special Event Planning was given on October 1^st by Sgt. Vincent Stehlin of the St. Louis Police Department (phone (314) 444-5804, e-mail vrsemmgt@aol.com.)

Special event planning takes cooperation of all parties involved. All parties must follow through with their duties; otherwise Murphy's Law will change the outcome.

There should be an emergency planning guide. Information such as names and numbers contacts, and the order of the operations taking place should be noted. Everyone should be trained in case of an emergency to handle whatever problem may arise.

Some things to consider would be-

· Where would the emergency operation center be located?

· What security will be provided for the event? Security for the event should include easy identification of all parties involved.

· Where will the command post be located? Who will be in charge of the post?

· What staff is on hand? What staff is on call?

· Who will and how will the news media be handled?

· How will the bad guys be able to be detected, deterred and delayed?

· What organizations could prove a threat to your event?

· Are there political consequences if an emergency takes place and what are they?

· What surveillance equipment is already in place? What needs to be installed?

Blueprints need to be studied and site pictures should be taken to help in the planning of evacuation routes. Barrier placement must be discussed. Each individual involved must understand his/her role in case of an emergency. Once you have planned the event, practice and testing must take place.

What Do You Need to be Motivated?

Submitted by Nancy Young, House Purchasing/Property Manager, Louisiana

"I'm just not motivated" is a statement I've made many times. Others can motivate me and I seem especially motivated if I'm doing something I enjoy. But what does it take to be motivated every day? According to Dr. Gene Rooney, guest speaker at the 26^th Annual Training Conference, motivation comes in two forms, external and internal.

An example of external motivation- Adolph Hitler was motivated by an external source when he was told he should go into politics. Never having previously been elected to office, he nonetheless became one of the most powerful, forceful and recognized men of the century. Allowing someone else to motivate you seems quite simple and Dr. Rooney explained that internal motivation could also be easily achieved.

Internal motivation starts with a look in your mirror. Who do you see? According to Dr. Rooney that person should be your friend. Without a friend in your mirror, internal motivation may be difficult to achieve. A renowned author, Jane Adams, was asked how she stayed motivated everyday. According to Ms. Adams she looked in her mirror each morning and asked these four questions.

· Where if not here?

· What with if not with what I have?

· When if not now?

· Who if not me?

Often it's easy to blame our problems on someone else, or outside circumstances, or to make excuses for ourselves. By remembering what's truly important, being true to yourself and having a good sense of perspective- achieving internal motivation is possible.

Making Your Point with PowerPoint

Submitted by: Kevin Ebata, House Sergeant at Arms, Hawaii

View the slides at: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/nlssa/sld001.htm

During the 26^th Annual NLSSA Training Conference held in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, Mr. Edward T. Kingston, Director of Information Technology Services for the Connecticut General Assembly, gave a very informative presentation on "Making Your Point With PowerPoint". Mr. Kingston has served as the IT Director for over two and one-half years and has led the effort to modernize the Assembly's information and technology services. He and his staff are responsible for all computer system applications used by Connecticut's General Assembly in the legislative process, including the development of its Internet web page which allows public access to virtually all legislative materials.

Mr. Kingston provided conference participants with hands-on instruction using laptop computers supplied by the Missouri Capitol Police, on the practical and powerful use of computer and video technology to enhance meeting presentations. His instruction focused on simple tips, shortcuts and proper protocol when using the PowerPoint program to make effective and informative presentations. A few examples of his tips include:

Don't use all capital letters and use a minimum 24 point font for titles and 18 point font for text;

Use "serif" fonts for titles and "sans serif" fonts for text;

Screens should be short and concise with bullets or markers to highlight major points, but don't use markers that are too fancy;

Pay attention to color schemes that will set the mood of your presentation and use only background color screens that will enhance your text or graphics display;

Clip art, charts, slides, full motion video and audio can be used to greatly enhance your presentation to stress or emphasize major points, but make sure to use good quality video images and audio recordings and don't use too much of these enhancements. Have fun, but don't overdo; and

Last and most important, review and test your presentation to make sure it works and always have a backup (printed handout) plan in the event your system crashes or if a power outage should occur.

These are only a few examples of the excellent instruction we received, but the bottom-line is, if you want to make a well organized and productive presentation, the PowerPoint program provides a simple, easy-to-use and powerful tool to help you accomplish this task. And, while I wouldn't toss that "ole" overhead just yet, I strongly recommend using PowerPoint to get your message across in your next presentation. I'm certain you'll achieve positive results.

Mr. Kingston has offered to make the PowerPoint training session he presented in Missouri available to NLSSA members via our Web site. We thank him for his generous offer and for sharing his knowledge and expertise with us.

Problem Solving

Submitted by Maureen Hill, Administrative & Communications Supervisor, Missouri Capitol Police

Problem solving is defined by involving those closest to the problem in finding a solution. As explained by Major John Hamilton, Kansas City Police Department, problem solving is a continuous ongoing process:

Underlying Condition < Problem Solving Process

Problem > Incident > Response

A problem starts out with underlying conditions. If not correctly addressed, the conditions snowball into a problem that is brought to light through some kind of incident, which demands a response for a satisfactory resolution. To best solve a problem, one needs to determine what the underlying conditions are that created the problem and how best to address them.

There is a nationally accepted problem solving model called the SARA Model. The four basic steps to problem solving are (S)canning, (A)nalysis, (R)esponse and (A)ssessment.

Step 1 _ Scanning _ Identifying the Problem:

Several important questions must be answered in this step. What is causing the problem? What are the specific problem behaviors involved and are they linked? Where is the problem occurring? What is the goal to be achieved?

Step 2 _ Analysis _ Understanding:

There are several areas of the problem you must be able to understand, such as the nature, scope, cause, person(s) involved, social and physical components.

Major Hamilton stated that one needs to identify patterns and learn how multiple incidents are related: location, behavior (both suspect and victim), time and what evidence is identified with such patterns. The standard questions of Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? Should be asked. According to the Billings Principle of Informed Ignorance, "It's not what I don't know that gets me in trouble, it's what I do know that ain't so."

Some problems require the Kepner-Tregoe method of questioning as means of analysis. Who is not involved? What is not occurring? When is it NOT occurring?

Step 3 _ Response:

From the information obtained during the analysis stage, one can generate a wide variety of possible responses. Determine which responses are the best and how best to implement them. Design actions to displace the problem with either or both short term and long term solutions.

Step 4 _ Assessment:

Finally, evaluate the effectiveness of the responses that are chosen. Use statistics, conversational feedback and other forms of feedback that document the results. If necessary, revise the actions taken.

Remarks by John Phelps, Clerk of the Florida House and
Staff Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures

A former Florida legislator once told me that a good speech had a strong beginning, a strong ending, and very little in between. In keeping with his advice, I will be brief.

NCSL was created in 1975, a time when state legislatures were minor players in the fabric of American government. Over the past 30 years this has changed dramatically. Today state legislatures are much more influential both at home and in Washington and our system of government is now closer to the balance intended by our federal constitution.

I believe NCSL is due considerable credit for this transformation. It worked hard to bring together the resources state legislatures needed if they were to reassert their proper constitutional authority.

At the very beginning NCSL recognized that effective legislative staff would be a key to state legislatures' realizing their potential. It was at that moment that legislative staff work began to assume the properties of a profession. What are some of these properties?

· A defined mission

· A set of core values

· A code of ethics

· Self-imposed standards of performance, and

· Continuing education

Let me give you an example of how this works in practice. Those of us in term limited states have heard for years that staff and lobbyists will soon be running our legislatures. That is nonsense and everyone in this room knows it. Staff today know where the line is drawn for us. We honor it because doing so conveys respect for the legislature itself and our role in it. That doesn't mean we are passive; it just means we know when and under what circumstances to be assertive. It is one of our key professional values. We don't even think about it; we just do it.

We learned this skill from someone, a veteran colleague who cared enough to teach us. That is what professionals do. They pass along their skills and values to the next generation because they recognize that they represent the future. If we think our jobs are important enough to do well, then we should be similarly concerned that our successors do well. If you care about the future of the legislature you have to care about future legislative staff.

Many of the "old fossils" like me who got in on the early ramping up of legislative staff are approaching retirement age, and, folks, much of this work isn't learned at the university. It is learned in the trenches, under fire from a veteran.

We need to begin devising programs at home so the young people joining our ranks are given the benefit of our experience and do not become discouraged or overwhelmed. We need to look out for them during those early skirmishes that we all know are bound to come.

The first step is to acknowledge that what new staff know about the legislature they have learned from the media. This can be dangerous for you and for them. They need a more factual perspective. They need to understand a number of things about this work. They need to know the following:

1. That legislatures are made up of many fine and decent people, members, staff and lobbyists alike who often look upon what they do with a kind of reverence, as much a commitment as a job. This attitude takes root when lawmaking is experienced as a player, in a first-hand, personal way a revelation occurs. People so engaged come to realize that for all its complexities and frustrations, there is a certain majesty to the democratic process. They develop an appreciation for the reality that there is something larger than their narrow interest at stake. They come to accept the process itself as a thing to be cherished and preserved.

It would be naïve to say that all the participants hold this view, but that so many have over the years is remarkable. These people, more than constitutions, have been the foundation on which the legislative institution has been built.

2. New staff need to know the legislative process is fairer than they have been led to believe, but not perfect and that conflicts over deeply held beliefs always get personal. Lawmaking is not an Oxford-style debate; it has real consequences for real people. It will be noisy and there will be an ocassional fistfight. But when the dust settles the "process" will right itself as it has done for over 200 years.

3. They need to know legislatures do a much better job than the media would admit and that, for most issues, very responsible policies are developed. Legislatures were never expected to produce perfect laws; they were only expected to achieve the possible.

4. They need to believe in the power of ideas. Obviously, influence matters in politics, but so does solid factual analysis. If it didn't a lot of staff would be out of work. Legislatures make their worst decisions when they act with inadequate information.

5. They need to know lawmaking is not about winning or losing, it is about best guesses. It involves taking the facts at hand and making a decision, in the full knowledge that history will likely judge you wrong. That is how our government was intended to work. It is not founded upon fixed ideas; it is based instead on the common sense notion that policies must change when experience requires them to. There is no such thing as the "final word" in lawmaking.

6. New staff need to respect a person's right to hold his or her own views. Lobbyists represent people asserting their constitutional right to petition their government. Their motives or anyone else's should not be questioned. Doing so is a waste of time and energy. Staff should accept that it is fundamental to our process that all ideas must survive the twin cauldrons of analysis and debate.

7. They need to know they don't have to be experts in politics. For most of us, that is not what we were hired to do. That doesn't mean they should ignore politics. It just means, unless you are partisan staff, it should not become at obsession.

8. They need to know there is a line past which staff should not carry an issue. It is the point at which they have to hand the ball to a member and let them run with it. It is important to know where that line is drawn and not to step over it. It takes the hand of a veteran to help them understand where that line is.

9. They need to know a good idea is a good idea, even if it comes from a scoundrel. There is, of course, the corollary that a bad idea is still a bad idea even if it comes from a statesman.

10. They need to know not to personalize outcomes. Their ideas will not always prevail. That doesn't mean they were wrong. It just means they need to go on to the next issue. They should be inspired by the knowledge that some of them will one day be able to point with pride to the statute books and say they had a hand in writing some of those laws.

11. They need to know the votes are not always as certain as one may think. It is now a truism that special interests control every action of the legislatures. I don't believe it. I think everyone in this room has seen powerful interests faced down and defeated by the simple testimony of an ordinary citizen.

12. They need to respect the process. It is more important than any bill or any member. All of us are asked, "how do I get around this or that rule or procedure." Usually, there is a way within the rules to address the problem, the questioner just isn't aware of it. If it is plainly against procedure, we just need to say so.

13. We should encourage new staff to take pride in what they do and to do the best they can within the time they have to do it. One day a person affected by a law will be grateful someone took the time to do a good job crafting it, even though they will never know who that staffer was.

14. They need to be prepared for the fact that they will not be immediately trusted. They should not become discouraged when their advice and recommendations are not immediately accepted. They have not failed. It just takes time in this business to build relationships and establish a reputation for good work.

15. Perhaps the most important thing is they need to be encouraged to speak up for the legislature, not to be silent when it is maligned. They are "insiders" now with a special knowledge of how our system works. That knowledge carries with it a special responsibility to speak up for the legislative institution. They need to understand that whatever they say about the legislature has a real impact on people. They need to just tell the truth. Democracy can handle that.

I would like to close with a final observation.

We hear a lot about the "legislative institution." This institution is not bricks and mortar, nor is it some abstract or ambiguous idea. It is very real. It surrounds us like the grandeur of our chambers.

It is you and the person sitting next to you.

It is the honor we pay our rules and traditions.

It is the courtesy and respect we pay to one another.

It is preserving our chambers and keeping them safe.

It is our special ceremonies.

It is the well-written bill.

It is the record kept and verified with such care that it is beyond legal challenge.

It is information so vital to the decisions of our members.

It is these and many other things, but most of all,

It is the love that each of us holds for our precious democracy and the understanding that our conduct has real consequences for its future.

Over the past thirty years the people in this room and your colleagues in other staff sections have become one of the great pillars upholding the legislative institution. We must welcome this obligation and bear it with pride.

Each day to the extent that we recommit ourselves to this responsibility, our legislatures, our states and our nation are made stronger.

Thank you.

 Pennsylvania

Update on PA Capitol
Restoration and Renovation

By Ruthann Hubbert-Kemper, Executive Director
PA Capitol Preservation Committee
October 13, 1999

The Capitol Rotunda, House and Senate Chambers along with all the statues, murals, marble and bronze throughout the building have been completed. What remains of the fine art restoration is in approximately 50% of the public corridors.

Legislative interior private offices are undergoing safety, mechanical, electrical and other associated utility upgrades. These offices are located on the North and South wings, the Center East and West and hyphen 5^th Floor and are nearing completion by years end. Work can only be performed on a floor by floor basis due to limited swing space provisions. This increases the time for the renovation upgrades unlike other capitols where the entire legislative body relocates from the state house.

It is hopeful that the building renovations will be completed in time for the 100^th Anniversary of the dedication of the Pennsylvania Capitol in the year 2006.

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AND SECURITY ASSOCIATION
E- MAIL: kae.warnock@ncsl.org | | NLSSA HOME| NCSL HOME