As of the writing of this blog post, 712 house bills and 389 senate bills have been introduced in the Michigan legislature. Each of those bills started as an idea that needed to be drafted into a bill in order to be introduced and make its way through the process, with the goal of changing law. The actual writing of these bills is done by non-partisan attorneys, working for the Legislative Service Bureau (LSB) as bill drafters. In addition to drafting policy bills, they are also responsible for drafting appropriations bills, as well as amendments and substitutes to introduced legislation. Whether or not a bill has any chance of receiving support within the legislature, these drafters turn the intent of legislators into a written format.

This time of year is especially challenging for bill drafters as budgets are being negotiated and appropriations bills need to be drafted and amended. This can create a backlog of requests and new bill requests can take several weeks, or even months, to be prepared.

There are rules around how legislative offices can request bills, and the process for getting bill drafts back:

• • Each legislative office is limited to five bill requests each month. However, legislators can “give” requests to other members if they do not use all five of their requests in a particular month.
  • Bills are drafted on a first come first serve basis.
  • Each legislative office is given a small number of “priority” bill requests. A priority request can be used to jump ahead in the waiting line. With only a handful of these priority requests, legislative offices are very strategic on when to use them. These are typically used on timely or high-profile issues that come up and a legislator wants to be the first person to introduce a bill on the issue.

Bill drafters tend to be experts in certain areas of state law. When drafting legislation, they ensure there are no conflicts and provide general legal advice if necessary. However, as non-partisan staff they are not able to provide policy recommendations or advocate for specific changes.

When it comes to the nuts and bolts of passing legislation, a bill drafter is an incredibly important role and can help effectively turn an idea into a written piece of legislation.

Michigan Legislative Consultants is a bipartisan lobbying firm based in Lansing, Michigan. Our team of lobbyists and procurement specialists provide a wide range of services for some of the most respected companies in America. For more on MLC, visit www.mlcmi.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.