Thoughts for Legislators on Effective Use of OLR Staff

1.     Whenever possible, talk with the appropriate researcher personally.  OLR does treat your staff as if you were asking the question personally, but when a researcher can discuss the question directly with you, he or she can often answer some things right away and also ask questions to clarify your request.

2.    State your question as precisely and narrowly as possible.  A response will be much more helpful to you if it is precisely focused on what you want to know.  One of the biggest time wasters is reading a report filled with information that isn’t really needed to answer the question.

3.     Always give a precise deadline.  We will do our best to meet your time frame no matter how short, and we will get you as much information as we can within that time.  In most circumstances the more time we have, the better answer we can give. We always strive to complete reports within two weeks unless the question is very large and complex or we have trouble obtaining needed information.  You can say to a researcher (1) no hurry, whenever you get to it, (2) soon, but I don’t need it for any specific date, or (3) I need it on ___(day) at ___(time).  Please don’t say ASAP (that means different things to different people) or I need it yesterday.  We take deadlines very seriously and will do everything possible to meet yours, but at any given time a researcher can be juggling many requests.  If your request is a true rush, we want to help, but when you can give us more time, it helps everyone.

4.     When you tell us what the request is for, we can often provide a more useful response.  Are you thinking of introducing a bill, are you responding to a constituent, do you have to give a speech, or are you trying to learn more about a particular topic prior to voting on a bill or attending a meeting?

5.     We know how important constituent requests are to you, and we want to help answer them.  But they take a lot of time.  This is time we could otherwise spend on more in-depth policy research to help you and your colleagues develop legislation.  We often provide less detail for constituent requests.  If you need more, please let us know.  Also, we do not talk with constituents directly or respond to requests for research from constituents or other members of the public.

6.     Please give us feedback.  Did the report arrive on time, was it too long or too short, did it fail to answer the question, did you have trouble understanding it?  We want to be responsive, and when we fail, we need to know about it so we can fix the problem. You can call, email, write, or fax your comments to the office director.