History
NALFO's Mission
The National Association of Legislative Fiscal Officesi was formed to serve as the professional organization for the staff directors of Legislative Budget and Finance Offices in the 50 states. Its purposes are to foster and improve the general quality of legislative fiscal staff assistance to state legislatures. The association provides training programs to fiscal staff and promotes the professional image of the association's membership. Additionally, the association aids the interaction and information exchange among association members on a national and regional basis.
Origins
NALFO was an outgrowth of another organization, the Western States Legislative Fiscal Officers Association, according to long time NALFO member and former NCSL Staff Chairman, Dale Cattanach of Wisconsin. That organization was formed in 1967 in Phoenix to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among Western fiscal officers.
Fiscal officers from several western states participated in its creation, including Maralyn Budke of New Mexico, Joe Kyle of Colorado, Tom Keel of Texas and Leo Memmott of Utah. This organization was run informally with each president of the organization providing the staff and secretarial support during their term of office.
Over the next few years, the association's annual meeting was attended by fiscal officers from the Midwest region and these fiscal officers decided to create a Midwestern Legislative Fiscal Officers Association. These members included Eugene Farnum of Michigan and Dale Cattanach of Wisconsin.
During this same period a group of fiscal officers from the northeastern part of the country began to meet to discuss problems common to their profession. This group was known as the Association of New England Fiscal Officers. Al Roberts, then director of the New York State Assembly Ways & Means Committee staff and an early NALFO participant, was active in this group. The organization eventually expanded to become the Eastern States Legislative Fiscal Officers Association.
Development of a regional organization of legislative fiscal officers in the southern states grew along different lines. Traditionally, the southern fiscal officers have met as a group with the Fiscal Affairs and Government Operations group of the Council of State Governments Southern Legislative Conference. This group differs significantly from the other regional organizations in that it consists of both staff members and legislators.
Creation of a National Organization
By 1975 each of these groups was becoming aware of the others' existence and there was a move to create a national organization for legislative fiscal officers with regional sub-units. The Western Association was instrumental in this merger and many of NALFO's organizational characteristics were drawn from it.
On Sept. 21, 1976, at NCSL's Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Mo., formal discussions about the creation of a national legislative fiscal officer's organization took place. Dale Cattanach, fiscal officer from Wisconsin, presided over that meeting.
Discussions centered around several issues. Should a national organization be created? Should such an organization be formally affiliated with NCSL as a staff section? What relationship would the regional organizations have to the new national organization? And should the national organization be involved in taking positions on public policy?
Most participants agreed that a national organization should be formed. Some participants such as Jim Oliver of Texas, however, felt that formal creation of a national organization was unnecessary. Oliver stated that he and the director of the Legislative Budget Board in Texas, Tom Keel, felt that the fiscal officer's relationship with NCSL was sufficient to insure adequate training and information exchange.
Although this opinion was in the minority it was indicative of the feeling of several participants that the regional organizations remain strong and autonomous. So, while the majority favored the creation of a national organization, the nature of such an organization was still an issue.
Some participants, such as Ralph Caruso of Connecticut, supported the concept of a national organization only if it was affiliated with NCSL. There was significant support for this idea at the meeting. Among the arguments for affiliating with NCSL were:
- Members of the regional organizations had found information exchanges valuable, and they began to see the value of a national organization to facilitate such exchanges.
- Many members of NALFO saw that NCSL would grow and that NALFO would become an important cog in the NCSL staff sections.
- Members also recognized there was strength in numbers in dealing with federal government. A national legislative fiscal officer association would have more impact in getting information from federal sources.
Leo Memmott, fiscal officer from Utah, spoke for the creation of an organization which would give fiscal officers a role in NCSL but preserve the regional organizations. Several other fiscal officers concurred with this statement. He also stated that by affiliating with NCSL, fiscal officers would have a voice in strengthening programs on tax and budget issues at the Annual Meeting and in designing training programs for fiscal staff.
Those in favor of affiliating with NCSL were able to persuade the other members that the resources and status of NCSL would be a benefit to NALFO. A year later in 1977 when the NALFO bylaws were drafted, NCSL was named as the secretariat to NALFO. NCSL has continued to provide secretarial and staff support to NALFO since that time.
Another issue was the relationships of the regional organizations to the national organization and the missions of each. Albert Roberts of New York made the argument that if NALFO was created, it should remain a loose confederation and not a highly structured group. He also made the point that it should not speak as a group on policy issues.
Several other participants at the meeting such as Joe Kyle, who by this time had moved from the Colorado Joint Budget Committee to the Florida House, and Maralyn Budke of New Mexico agreed there was a need for a national organization, but concerned with previous speakers that NALFO should be structured to keep the regional organizations as strong and integral parts of the organization and that the new organization should not function as a policy group.
Following this discussion there was consensus that NALFO should not be a policy group and that the regional organizations should be preserved and remain an integral part of the national organization.
After this discussion, meeting participants voted on creating a national organization of legislative fiscal officers which conformed to three criteria:
- The association would not be a policy group.
- It would operate within NCSL.
- There would no dues paid.
By a show of hands, the creation of NALFO was approved by a vote of 18 to 1.
Participants elected Maralyn Budke of New Mexico chair of the new organization. Al Roberts of New York was elected vice-chair and Gerry Rankin of Iowa was elected secretary. The consensus of the group was that the presidents of the four regional associations along with the three officers would act as an executive committee.
NALFO Program and Activities 1980s-2000
Training was another issue of NALFO in its early years. Albert Roberts of New York, Eugene Schlatter of Washington, and Richard Sheridan of Ohio were instrumental in early training efforts. Over the years NALFO established training programs for both junior and senior staff members of legislative fiscal offices. In the mid- to late seventies, training topics ranged from corrections finance to K-12 education finance. The last word of NALFO's official title was changed from "Officers" to "Offices" in 1998.
As NALFO grew so too did the scope of its programs and activities. While many NALFO meetings retained a social and collegial atmosphere, the formal structure and contents of its programs improved. The NALFO staff section programs at the NCSL annual meetings were strengthened in terms of speakers, program material, and participants.
In the 1980s NALFO training included the establishment of a skills development component for new fiscal office personnel. This training component focused on using a case study method to teach analytic skills and budget techniques to fiscal office staff who had one to two years' experience in the legislative environment. A separate training seminar was offered for more veteran fiscal analysts. This program, which was traditionally held in a resort setting, dramatically increased attendance in the mid-1980s. Prominent outside speakers in the fields of investment banking, prison, school and transportation finance, as well as experts in the areas of state economic development and tax issues all contributed to the Senior Fiscal Analysts Seminar. But the real strength of this seminar was the roundtable discussion among the analysts from various states who get a chance to exchange ideas and compare techniques.
NALFO Program and Activities 2000-present
Over the years, NALFO programming has undergone different iterations. To be inclusive of legislative fiscal staff of all levels of experience, the new and senior Fiscal Analysts Seminars were merged into one meeting. Instead of differentiating staff based on experience level, the meeting provided issue area tracks that changed each year. The meeting was also suspended in 2010 and 2011 when revenue challenges from the Great Recession made staff travel difficult.
As states recovered from the Great Recession and the meeting was reinstated, NALFO found that the issue area tracks were limiting attendance from staff that did not cover the issue areas being presented in a given year. The tracks were discontinued in 2016 in favor of more general sessions that would appeal to all legislative fiscal staff. The meeting continues to be popular among legislative fiscal staff, drawing staff from many different states with various experiences and backgrounds.
In 2020, NALFO successfully navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. With travel curtailed, the group pivoted to webinars and other online meetings for members. NALFO arranged several opportunities for legislative fiscal staff to meet virtually to discuss the unique fiscal challenges states were facing. NALFO was also instrumental in helping Congress and the administration at the time understand those challenges. As the federal government discussed providing aid to states, NALFO members were able to provide 50 state estimates on lost revenue as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 24 hours, informing the robust discussion in Washington, D.C.
As federal aid to states was rolled out, NALFO frequently met virtually with U.S. Treasury officials to get clarity on the rules and guidance surrounding the funds. NALFO members also provided context and information on state budgeting procedures to Treasury officials.
In 2022, NALFO joined several other NCSL Professional Staff Associations for a joint fall professional development meeting called Staff Hub in Atlanta. Martha Wigton, who at the time was the director of the Georgia House Budget and Research Office and NCSL's staff chair, suggested bringing back a version of the meeting geared towards new legislative fiscal staff. A one-day preconference for new legislative fiscal staff was added to the Staff Hub meeting, and the preconference has continued at subsequent Fiscal Analysts Seminar meetings, providing another building block for analysts.
Over the years, NALFO has also developed new policies and traditions that have strengthened the organization. For example, the organization reviewed and revised the requirements for the NALFO Staff Achievement Awards, providing more guidance and clarity for nominations. In 2023, NALFO took advantage of a generous grant from NCSL's Foundation to create a Staff Exchange Program for legislative fiscal staff. This program is still in its beginning stages, but early participation has been positive, and the organization is excited to continue to build the program in future years.
NALFO has a long history of providing a forum for legislative fiscal staff to connect and learn from each other. That role has only been strengthened over time, and the organization is poised to continue that work for many years to come.