Shared State Legislation (SSL)

With the goal of sharing innovations in state policy and assisting state leaders on drafting policies that would benefit their communities, CSG Shared State Legislation is curated and disseminated by a bipartisan committee of state leaders to identify topics of major interest to the states.

BILL CRITERIA
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About SSL

Bill Criteria

The SSL Committee does not draft or create “model” legislation. SSL Committee members, other state officials and their staff, CSG Associates and CSG staff may submit legislation directly to the SSL Program. The committee also considers legislation from other sources, but only when that legislation is submitted through a state official. It takes many bills to fill the dockets of a one-year-long SSL cycle.

Items should be submitted to CSG at least eight weeks in advance to be considered for placement on the docket of a scheduled SSL meeting. Items submitted after that date are typically held for a later meeting.

Legislation that addresses a single, specific topic is preferable to omnibus legislation that addresses a general topic or references many disparate parts of a state code. Occasionally, committee members will consider and adopt uniform or proposed “model” legislation from an organization or an interstate compact. In this case, the committee strongly prefers to examine state legislation that enacts the uniform or model law or compact.

  1. Enacted legislation.
  2. Addressing a current state issue of national or regional significance.
  3. Providing a benefit to bill drafters.
  4. Providing a clear, innovative and practical approach to a problem.
  5. Representing a comprehensive approach to a problem that has relevance for other states.
  6. Using a logically consistent structure for itself.
  7. Using clear language.
  8. Available in similar forms in no more than 10 states.
  9. No more than 2 years old.

CSG does not promote or advocate for the enactment of state legislation, nor does it draft model legislation. Rather, this program’s goal is to facilitate the sharing of legislative ideas among CSG members. The consideration or dissemination of such legislation by the SSL Committee does not constitute an endorsement no will CSG advocate for the enactment of any such legislation in any member jurisdictions.