About NLPES

NLPES History

The National Legislative Program Evaluation Society (NLPES) traces its beginnings to the early 1970s, when many states began forming legislative units charged with evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs. In 1974, representatives from Illinois, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Montana, and Virginia formed the Legislative Program Evaluation Section, which was initially affiliated with the Government Research Association. The Section put out a regular newsletter, published a report on the status of program evaluation in the states, and met at the Government Research Association's annual meetings.

NLPES joined the National Conference of State Legislatures as one of the initial staff sections when NCSL was formed in 1975. Bill Pound served as the first NCSL staff liaison for NLPES. The section continued to publish a newsletter and meet at the NCSL Annual Meetings. NLPES also worked with the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University in the late 1970s to create a national clearinghouse of legislative program evaluation reports.

NLPES membership grew dramatically in the 1980s as states expanded their program evaluation and performance auditing units. To help bring these units together and meet their training needs, NLPES held its first training conference in 1987 hosted by the Minnesota Legislative Auditor's Office. This conference was very successful and has grown over the years to attract about 150 participants annually. While the topics covered in these annual conferences vary over time, regular areas of interest have included tips on writing reports, innovative research methods, technology innovations, and making effective legislative presentations.

NLPES offers many research and training services to its members. Through its website, NLPES provides a variety of tools that help legislative staff conduct policy research, including a nationwide database of published legislative program evaluation reports and a comprehensive set of Internet links. NLPES also offers a listserve that enables members to readily contact other legislative program evaluation staff nationwide. The website also includes copies of NLPES News, the Society's regular newsletter as well as job listings. To help meet member training needs, NLPES maintains a catalog of training providers that members have found useful, its annual training conference, sessions at the NCSL Legislative Summit. Finally, NLPES maintains active contacts with other nationwide research groups, including the American Evaluation Association, the American Society for Public Administration, and the U.S.General Accountability Office.

Current and Past Chairs of NLPES