Many facets to crafting legislation

People often ask me how I can possibly read and understand the thousands of bills that come before the General Assembly in order to responsibly vote on them.

Proposed bills can run from two pages to a few hundred. There are about 4,000 bills proposed each year, of which about 400 make it out of committee (where the real work is done) to the floor of the General Assembly. Extremely detailed summaries and cost analyses of each and every bill and amendment that is to be voted on are written by the nonpartisan staff in the Office of Legislative Management. There are about 50 full-time researchers. The reports are available online and are read by legislators, lobbyists, and anyone else who has a particular interest in a bill. The quality and accuracy of this information is amazing. This same staff will prepare a report on almost any topic that will assist me in doing my job of representing you. When people call me regarding a piece of legislation, I can pull the summary up on my computer and can really impress people with my far-reaching knowledge! 

All the legislators receive bill summaries that are written for them by the staff along with comments by the committee chairmen and the ranking members of the committees. I am Ranking Member (a ranking member is the leader of the minority party on a committee) of the Planning & Development Committee. One of my responsibilities is to inform the Republican caucus about the contents of the bills before my committee and to recommend whether to vote for or against them. I gave advice on approximately 80 bills last year.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please call me at home (860-528-3564), email me (bill.aman@cga.ct.gov), stop and see me during my office hours at the library, which resumed in September, or speak up when I see you at the Community Center or around town.