Resource Map Monday: When Legislators are Stumped by Statehouse Rules, They Use These Backups

State lawmakers operate by rules that come from state constitutions, judicial interpretations, statutes and those set by each chamber. But when they have questions, they turn to a set of backup rules. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first in 1801—Jefferson’s Manual—still in use in some chambers today. There are others, but the one used in most chambers is Mason’s Manual, written in 1935 by Paul Mason, who updated it six times. NCSL now owns the copyright and works with the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries to update at least every 10 years. It was amended in 2020 to account for remote governing during the COVID-19 pandemic because no state had that in its playbook. Today’s Map Monday shows which backup manuals legislatures use to handle the unexpected. 

Sources:

• NCSL: Legislative Procedure: “Back-up” Parliamentary Authorities
• NCSL: Learning the Game
• Legislative Process and Parliamentary Procedure