Item A: City Council Process Session

Home Browse Search

After the proposed legislative concepts have been reviewed and approved by the full City Council, legislative concepts that have been approved are presented to the Legislature for drafting. The bill, as introduced, is then presented to the IGR Committee under the regular bill review process. 10. Process for Review and Prioritization of Legislation The Legislative session is relatively short and as a result, bills can move quickly through the legislative process. Regardless, the City will maintain a neutral position on any bills not yet reviewed by City staff and acted upon by the IGR Committee. Review by City staff: ? Once the bills are introduced, they are assigned by an IGR staff person to the appropriate LC for review. ? Legislative Coordinators (LCs) in the appropriate City department analyze all introduced bills that are of interest to or may affect the City. LC staff is determined by each Department. ? LC staff turnaround for review and analysis of a bill is expected to be within 10 working days of the assignment of a bill unless the movement of a bill warrants a faster turn- around. In those cases, IGR staff will contact the LC and arrange for a faster review. ? If a bill addresses one or more of the policies presented in the Legislative Policies for that session, the particular policy is noted in the LC staff’s analysis of the bill. ? LC staff will relay both the pros and cons of a bill in their comments as well as any amendments that would make the bill more favorable. ? LC will assign each bill a priority and a recommendation. Legislative advocacy is done on the basis of a priority and recommendation system. LC staff recommends a “support,” “oppose,” “neutral,” “monitor,” or “drop” recommendation for all reviewed bills. LC staff also recommends a priority of 1, 2, or 3 on all reviewed bills. The three priority assignments for legislative bills are as follows: PRIORITY ONE BILLS – The issues addressed by the bill areidentified in the City’s Legislative Policies document. The bill would have a significant impact on City operations, services, or finances in such ways as to fundamentally impact department administration, organization, personnel, allocation of City resources, or local decision-making, either negatively or positively. The issues addressed by the bill are of significant interest to the City even if they do not directly impact the operations, services, or finances of the City. Lobby Resource Allocation: Both IGR staff in Salem work on the bill, with a high support level from the legislative coordinator(s) assigned to the bill. The Mayor and/or Council members may testify before committees, possibly with both IGR staff and/or a legislative coordinator. IGR staff contacts all or close to all members of all committees the bill is assigned to. Depending on topic and recommendation, IGR staff will also contact as many legislators as possible prior to public hearings or work sessions. In the event of a floor vote, IGR staff contacts as many legislators as is possible in the 2-5 day period between committee passage and the floor vote. Handouts would be placed in the Capitol mailboxes of all legislators prior to a floor vote. Eugene City Council Operating Agreements – February 25, 2008 Page 14 of 19