Updated March 17, 2025 Mason's Manual 2020 Edition Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure is a premier parliamentary authority for state legislatures. NCSL follows Paul Mason's tradition of updating and reprinting the book approximately every 10 years. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening
Updated March 10, 2025 Remote Public Participation in Committee Proceedings Provides links to opportunities for the public to participate in virtual, electronic remote legislative hearings during 2021 legislative sessions. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening Table
Updated February 26, 2025 State Legislators at Work This page will house a report titled "State Legislators at Work: Insights into Legislator Time and Demographics." The report summarizes findings from a 2021-22 NCSL survey of legislators. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening Graphic Table
Updated February 17, 2025 The 3 Ways Legislatures Form Interim Committees Interim committees are a critical tool for legislatures when they are out of session. They may take the form of standing committees empowered to meet during breaks between sessions; or committees, task forces or commissions created specifically for the interim. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening State Legislatures News
Updated February 12, 2025 Then and Now: NCSL and 50 Years of Legislative Evolution Efforts to form a single national organization to represent state legislatures began in the early 1970s. Three organizations that represented different aspects of legislative work came together to form NCSL, a move that was intended to signal to the nation the importance of state legislatures as a coequal branch of government. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening State Legislatures News
Updated January 31, 2025 3 Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Legislative Staff Legislative hiring directors, HR experts and an NCSL survey offer three tactics for retaining staff: creating opportunities for leadership development and career growth; offering workplace flexibility; and showing staff appreciation. Center for Legislative Strengthening Legislative Staff State Legislatures News
Updated January 22, 2025 Never Say (Sine) Die: A Snapshot of Legislative Interims To better understand the demands on legislators and legislative staff time during legislative interims, NCSL studied the number and type of meetings that occurred during the most recently completed interim in 2023. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening State Legislatures News
Updated January 06, 2025 Veto Override Thresholds Every state and territory’s constitution or organic act empowers the governor to veto a bill passed by the legislature, preventing the bill from becoming a law. The legislature can attempt to override the veto, which requires both chambers to vote with thresholds of 1/2, 3/5 or 2/3 of members, depending on the state. Center for Legislative Strengthening
Updated January 02, 2025 2024 State Legislative Session Calendar 2024 State Legislative Session Calendar - view the legislative session calendar and map of the 50 U.S. states and territories. Find dates and notes about upcoming and current regular sessions and special sessions. About State Legislatures Center for Legislative Strengthening Map
Updated December 19, 2024 AI for Legislative Work Has Arrived. Now Comes the Hard Part. Growing numbers of legislators and staff use generative artificial intelligence for doing research, summarizing legal cases and drafting documents, but it’s far from a majority yet, according to panelists at NCSL’s Base Camp 2024. Center for Legislative Strengthening State Legislatures News
Updated November 22, 2024 Artificial Intelligence in Government: The Federal and State Landscape State and federal governments are expanding artificial intelligence use across agencies to improve efficiency and decision-making, and to deliver government services, with a strong focus on governance, ethical practices, and interagency collaboration. Center for Legislative Strengthening State-Federal Technology
Updated November 18, 2024 Legislative Procedure: “Back-up” Parliamentary Authorities When making parliamentary interpretations, legislatures have several sources of information—for example, their state constitutions, chamber rules and statutes. In addition, many legislatures choose another parliamentary manual to cover issues not addressed by these documents or to serve as a guide for decision making. Center for Legislative Strengthening