NCSL briefing: Nevada committee hears national trends on legislative operations, compensation and CRM tools

CARSON CITY — Julie George, director of the Center for Legislative Strengthening at the National Conference of State Legislatures, briefed the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections about national trends affecting state legislatures, including legislature typologies, legislator compensation, and constituent relationship management (CRM) systems that increasingly use artificial intelligence.

George, appearing by video, told the committee she would focus on “the legislature typology, full time, part time, hybrid, legislator compensation, and then also... constituent relationship management software.” She said AI is “a hot topic at legislatures” and noted staff and workload pressures in part-time and hybrid legislatures.

Why it matters: The committee oversees internal legislative business and hears measures that affect institutional operations; understanding staffing, compensation and technology trends helps members assess how proposed rules or budget choices could affect lawmakers and staff.

Key points from the briefing

• Legislature typology and Nevada’s placement: George described a three-tier typology — full time, part time and hybrid — and noted Nevada is classified as a hybrid legislature. She said Nevada is one of four biennial states and “stands out because you’re the only of those biennial states that has term limits.” She also reported Nevada’s staff-to-legislator ratio is roughly 8-to-1, higher than some peer states.

• Compensation and compensation commissions: George summarized NCSL survey findings from 2024, noting about 14 states raised legislator pay last year with increases ranging “from about $1,000 to over $33,000.” She cited South Dakota as an example where pay fell because that state ties compensation to a fraction of median household income. George described different models for compensation commissions and gave examples of recent changes in Kansas and Colorado.

• Constituent relationship management and AI: George said legislatures are increasingly considering CRMs to manage high volumes of constituent emails and messages. She noted some CRM products use AI to cluster identical form letters and identify messages likely produced by bots, and that costs and returns on investment vary across states. Examples she offered included Michigan (IndiGov), Arkansas and Kentucky (in-house systems), New York Senate (open-source Bluebird CRM) and a WordPress-based system developed by Massachusetts Senator Brownsberger.

• Workload and interim activity: George told the committee that interims are growing busier in many part-time and hybrid states, increasing demands on legislators and staff during the legislative year.

Committee policy analyst Haley Proll followed with an overview of types of legislative measures the committee commonly handles, explaining differences between bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions and one-house resolutions. Proll highlighted that joint resolutions proposing constitutional amendments must be adopted by two consecutive legislatures in identical form and then approved by voters under Article 16, Section 1 of the Nevada Constitution, and that joint resolutions do not require the governor’s approval when adopted by both houses.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about measuring legislative effectiveness and CRM procurement; George offered to follow up with resources and staff contacts at NCSL.

The committee will begin hearing bills next week; the chair and staff framed the presentations as background to inform members as they review institutional and procedural measures in upcoming hearings.