There is hereby created a legislative reference bureau, for the use of the members of the legislature, the governor, and the various departments, institutions and agencies of this state, as well as for a limited service for such citizens of this state as may desire to avail themselves of its reference facilities. The legislative reference bureau shall be under the joint jurisdiction of the house management committee and the senate contingent expense committee of the legislature.
The purpose of the said legislative reference bureau shall be:
To assist the legislature of this state in the proper performance of its constitutional functions by providing its members with impartial and accurate information and reports concerning the legislative problems which come before them, and by providing digests showing the practices of other states and of foreign nations in dealing with similar problems;
To secure information for the legislators of this state by cooperating with the legislative reference services in other states, and with the interstate reference bureau maintained by the American legislators’ association and by the council of state governments;
To furnish the members of the legislature of this state, copies of the legislation of other states, uniform laws, model bills, textbooks on the preparation of legislative measures, and such other information and material as may be of value to them in the preparation of bills for introduction into the legislature of this state.
The legislative reference bureau shall have a director, who shall be hired jointly by the house management committee and the senate contingent expense committee, and the duties of the director shall be prescribed jointly by the house management committee and the senate contingent expense committee.
The legislative reference bureau shall be maintained out of the contingent funds of each house of the legislature, with an equal amount to be contributed by each house.
