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By DIANE ROSS

In short, government has come to resemble business. Like any giant corporation, the state's "board of directors" must show progress, if not a profit, to be reelected by the "stockholders." Some observers have asked if the Illinois legislature does indeed make progress. Because literally thousands of bills are introduced each year, quantity inevitably affects the quality of the legislator's work.

Prior to 1971, the legislature convened every other year, and the state operated under biennial budgets. The 1970 Constitution requires the legislature to convene every year and to approve an annual budget. Theoretically, all kinds of bills are introduced in odd-numbered years (the first year of the two-year-General Assembly), while only appropriations bills are considered in even-numbered years.

Annual sessions haven't cut down the number of bills, but they have held them at the same level. Because of the combination of substantive bills plus appropriations bills in odd years, that is the peak year. But there has been no great increase in the bills since the new Constitution was implemented. The 4,249 bills introduced in 1979 is almost exactly the number introduced in 1969, when 4,276 were filed. Bills introduced during the even-numbered years have consistently ranged from 1,200 to 1,300 for the last three general assemblies.

The enormous bill overload is attributable to the General Assembly's weak committee system. Unlike their congressional counterparts, the General Assembly's committees can't limit the number of bills which reach the floor. And committees often are so overloaded, there is not enough time for full deliberation of all the bills on their calendars. And the committees don't appear to coordinate staff analyses, commission investigations and other research.

Legislative staffing has grown tremendously in the last 15 years. Two nonpartisan staffs, the Legislative Reference Bureau, which drafts the bills, and the Legislative Council, which researches them, have been around for 40 years. But the list of nonpartisan legislative agencies now includes: the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, the Auditor General and the Audit Commission (all three provide legislative oversight), plus the Legislative Information System, the Economic and Fiscal Commission, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission, the Legislative Investigating Commission and the Legislative Space Needs Commission.

Prior to the late 1960's, the lawmaking process stopped when lawmakers went home for the summer because there was almost no permanent,| year-round staff. Lawmakers created legislative commissions as special task forces to bridge the 18-month gap. Commissions have gradually given way to regular staff, although many are still on the books and more are written into law each year. (Some lawmakers feel commissions have outlived their usefulness, but they find them nearly impossible to eliminate.)

Partisan staff, actually four staffs aligned with House Democrats, House Republican, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, were almost non-existent until legislative internships took root in the mid-1960's. Partisan staff totaled about 40 by 1971, including 16 interns, but has tripled since then, employing more then 130 today. Not surprisingly, partisan staff has become a mini-bureaucracy, including directors, appropriations directors and support staff directors, as well as the analysts assigned to individual committees.

Twenty-year veterans recall the days when staff finished work by the time lawmakers adjourned, even though much was done by hand. Today, the records are computerized, and only the lawmakers go home after the session.

Where the legislature was once understaffed, it is now fully staffed, and partisan staff, commissions and support agencies often duplicate each others efforts. Some observers feel the lawmaking process would become vastly more efficient if committees delegated more work to the staffs, making the best use of the varied sources.

Some lawmakers can no longer afford to be full-time legislators, unless someone else is running the business back home, and families are content to see them on weekends. Most lawmakers concede that the sheer volume of work makes it difficult for part-time legislators to do a good job. And without a good legislative record, even incumbents stand little chance at the polls.

As the legislature moves from part-time to full-time, no wonder some lawmakers choose not to run for reelection. And one wonders how many might never run at all?

2/ November 1979/ Illinois Issues