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April 18, 2004 at 08:00 PM
“Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.”Otto von Bismarck
If you sell group health insurance, you know that Congress is about as important to your business as the carriers you represent and the employers that buy the coverage.
But, if you have not yet spent much time working in agent association legislative affairs efforts, you may not realize that senators and representatives are just the most visible of the many people on Capitol Hill who help shape group health legislation. The lawmakers’ staff members also play a major role in developing and “shaping” group health bills.
“Shaping” refers to the process of staff members using suggestions from many sources to form cohesive bills that (they hope) will be supported by many people.
The overwhelming volume of bills introduced makes it impossible for members to do much drafting. In 2001 and 2002, for example, members of the 107th Congress introduced 5,767 bills in the House and 3,181 bills in the Senate. Members of Congress could not draft that many bills, or even read that many bills.
Although only a member of Congress can introduce a bill, anyone can suggest a bill. Recommendations for bill topics come from members of Congress, congressional staff members, interest groups, state and local initiatives, party leaders, the White House, executive agencies, and individual citizens. Any of those parties may also help draft the bill.
Lawmakers’ personal staff members, who are usually young and idealistic, rarely shape bills, although they may bring suggestions to the lawmakers’ legislative directors. Personal staff members are assigned several topic areas and may develop some expertise on some issues.
The House and Senate Offices of Legislative Counsel initially draft most bills. The OLCs are nonpartisan and are made up of attorneys and other staff members. The attorneys do the drafting of bills and are experts on certain policy issues. The OLC does not actually shape the bill, but rather puts the content into proper form.
