Appendix A.4
Responses by Legislators to the Question: 
List three changes that you would like to see in legislative practice and procedure.
Major Category	Chamber	Comments	
Bill Assignment	House	Assign bills to committees based on jurisdiction	
Bill Assignment	House	Send bills to comm. Before introduced	
Bill Assignment	House	Senate to assign bills to appropriate committees, that will give them a fair chance to be debated	
Bill Assignment	Senate	Assignment of bills to proper jurisdiction	
Bill Assignment	Senate	Bill assignment to committee	
Bill Assignment	Senate	Impartial assignment of bills to committees	
Bill Assignment	Senate	Allowing committee chairmen to kill bill without having bill reassigned.	
Budgeting	House	The budget should be passed in the first 15 days of session before any other issues are brought before the legislature.	
Budgeting	House	Biennial budgets	
Budgeting	House	Budgets based on actual revenue from previous FY	
Caucuses, Role Of	House	Put less authority in the leadership hands and more authority to the respective party caucuses.	
Caucuses, Role Of	House	Expand majority and minority caucus roles	
Caucuses, Role Of	House	Caucuses should choose what committees its members serve on.	
Chair Assignment	House	Nonpartisan committee chair assignments	
Comm. Assignments	House	Allow caucuses to make committee assignments (Dem and GOP)	
Comm. Assignments	House	Committee assignments by expertise not by party affiliation	
Comm. Assignments	Senate	Committees with a fair representation of all Senators	
Comm. Assignments Plus	Senate	Legislative leadership and committee appointments must reflect also years of legislative service (seniority rule) by the member	
Comm. Operations	House	More public hearings	
Comm. Operations	House	Longer committee meetings for major committees	
Comm. Operations	House	If committee numbers remain, rotate weeks for meetings.	
Comm. Operations	Senate	Committee restructure.  Fewer committees, more working sub-committees.	
Comm. Time	Senate	More committee time	
Confer Reports & Votes	Senate	No conference committee report can be voted upon until every legislator has the written report at his or her desk.	
Conflict Of Interests	House	Stronger conflict of interest laws/standards	
Constitutional Amendments 	House	Change ways constitutional amendments are voted on. If the issue only effects one county, whole state should not have to vote on it.	
Equipment	House	Telephones on each House desk within the chamber	
Equipment	House	Telephones at the desk in the House chamber	
Info Access	House	Information should be supplied equally to all members	
Leadership, General	House	Less control by leadership	
Legislature/Agency Interactions	House	More interaction between Dept. staff and legislators (Medicaid, MH, DHR, ALDOT, etc)	
Lobbies	House	Reduce the contact and influence of lobby groups!	
Lobbies	House	By law reduce the influence of lobbying groups (as money, contract while in the statehouse). Obviously, I abhor the lobbying system!	
Lobbies	House	Less access for lobbyists.	
Lobbies,
Campaign Monies 	House	Less influence from lobbyists/interest groups probably thru campaign contribution limits	
Lobbies,
Campaign Monies	House	Prohibit speaker of House from contribution to other House members or directing contributions to House members	
Member Training	House	Instructional tutorial on rules.	
Procedures	House	Procedure for hearing all bills	
Procedures	House	Bills introduced (other than budgets) should stay in committee for study & amendment 1 year before being introduced on floor.	
Procedures	House	Do away with procedural voting	
Public	House	More citizen input	
Redistricting	House	Eliminate wild population swings in districts	
Research	House	A more thorough understanding of the intent and effect of bills before being rushed to vote!!	
Research	House	More year around support for research from various sources.	
Research	Senate	Research on bills is currently not available as a general rule.	
Research	Senate	Require a committee staff analysis on all bills before committee consideration and after committee action before the bill is ready for 3rd read.	
Salary/Benefits	House	Adequate salary/benefits for legislators	
Salary/Benefits	House	A pay increase for legislators.  Many men and women can't afford to serve.  It the pay and benefits would equal what a public school teacher makes, we would have a better and more dedicated group of 140 public servants.  The public does not understand the financial sacrifices we make in order to serve.  This can never happen without public support.	
Salary/Benefits	Senate	Legislators should be paid full-time and be a part of the retirement system.	
Salary/Benefits, Comm.	House	Per diem increased so committee meetings could be held Mon. afternoons as well as Wed.	
Senate Leadership	House	A complete change of Senators now holding those positions.  Replace them all!	
Senate Rules Comm.	House	Change in Senate Rules Committee to allow bills to get to floor.  One man has too much power!	
Senate Structure	House	The whole structure of the Senate needs to be revamped.	
Space	House	Conference space	
Space, Comm.	House	Committee rooms need to be larger for public access.	
Space, District Offices	Senate	Legislators should maintain district offices for constituents that aren't able to access the statehouse	
Space, Office	House	Larger offices	
Space, Office	House	Larger offices	
Space, Office	House	Private office	
Space, Office & Comm.	House	Better office and committee space	
Space, Office & Comm.	House	Better committee meeting facilities	
Space, Office & Comm.	Senate	Greater support capacity for members and for committees	
Staff	House	Staff for legislators	
Staff	House	More staff	
Staff	House	More staff for legislators	
Staff	Senate	Legislators should be provided more staff for constituent services.	
Staff, Assignment Of	House	Assignment of staff by seniority	
Staff, Clerical	House	More clerical support for House members	
Staff, Clerical	House	Senate has private secretaries; only 6 for House of Representatives	
Staff, Clerical	House	Provide more clerical help	
Staff, Clerical	House	Secretary for representatives	
Staff, Clerical	House	Secretarial help	
Staff, Clerical	House	More sec. staff to help with constituents	
Staff, Clerical	Senate	1 secretary per each Senator	
Staff, Res. & Member	House	Research and staff support for members	
Staff, Res. & Member	House	Increase research and secretarial help for House members	
Staff, Research	House	Hire more research assistants to do research	
Staff, Research	House	Need staff for research and mark-up of bills and resolution.	
Staff, Research	House	More research staff	
Staff, Research	House	Analysis is provided and available for discussion on the floor when amendments are offered.	
Staff, Research	House	Analysis is available on the floor for interpreting and explaining the impact that amendments have on the specific bill.	
Staff, Research	Senate	The Legislature should have a Research Division comprised of professional civil servants (non-partisan) and available only to legislators.	
Staff, Research	Senate	More non-partisan staff	
Time	Senate	A legislative session should start late in the morning or after lunch so that committee meetings can meet in the morning of a legislative day.	
Time, Floor	House	More time in House for debate (true debate).	
Time, Notices	Senate	Publish special order calendars at least 24 hours before the meeting day begins.	
Time, Notices	Senate	Announce committee meeting times and agendas at least 24 hours before the meeting begins.	
Time, Notices	Senate	A calendar (agenda) 24 hrs. in advance	
Time, Quorum Calls	House	Time on quorum call	
Time, Research	House	Subject matter of proposed legislation, in certain matters, needs more time to be research