Prepare for NCGA’s 2021 Legislative Session with Free Access to the Legislative Reporting Service
With the 2021 legislative session of the North Carolina General Assembly set to convene on January 13, the School of Government is reminding interested parties of the availability of free legislative summaries prepared by its Legislative Reporting Service (LRS). Since 1935, LRS has prepared neutral, nonpartisan summaries of bills and legislative actions for each legislative day the body is in session. These summaries include descriptions of filed bills, committee substitutes and amendments, floor amendments, and conference reports.
With thousands of bills filed each session, it can be difficult to keep track of all the legislation and subsequent amendments. As the director of LRS, Christine Wunsche oversees the office’s objective to help officials and citizens keep pace with the fluctuating nature of passing bills.
"We’re here to help you understand legislation and keep track of what happens every day. The legislative process is complex and can move at a quick pace,” she said. “We include a list of actions taken each day so you can keep up with what is happening at the General Assembly."
Any visitor to the site can access comprehensive bill summaries and the Daily Bulletin, a summary of every bill introduced. In addition, interested parties can view every amendment and committee substitute adopted while the legislature is in session.
While a profile is not needed to view the Daily Bulletin or bill summaries, subscribers can also set up additional personalized features by creating a free account. These customizable features include:
My Bills: A “folder” to store all bills of interest to you, and;
My Monitors: A tool that allows you to keep track of all bills that include proposed changes in subject areas of interest to you.
Choosing to customize one’s interest in relevant legislation may be more pertinent during the approaching legislative session; the General Assembly is preparing to debate legislation to respond to the wide array of disruptive events that took place in 2020.
Wunsche said this ongoing effort by the legislature to grapple with these issues will be fluid and reasserted the importance of citizens remaining knowledgeable of and engaged with a malleable legislative process.
“We are here to help you navigate what will likely be a busy 2021 legislative session,” she said. “With the challenges presented by the pandemic and the scheduled redrawing of legislative districts, it will be very busy and impact people across North Carolina.”
To set up a free account to access the extra personalized features, please visit the LRS website. Under the log in section on the left-hand side, there is a link to “Create a New Account”. From there, you can set up your username and account information, verification email, and password.
If you encounter any issues when setting up your account or creating your new password, please contact the LRS Office at (919) 733-2484.