The Legislative Research Commission was created in 1948 as a fact-finding and service agency. The Commission operates as the administrative and research arm of the General Assembly. It is a 16-member statutory committee made up of the majority and minority party leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House serve as co-chairs of
LRC. The term “Legislative Research Commission” also typically is used to refer to the entire legislative staff, which comprises two units: a larger nonpartisan staff and a smaller partisan staff. Nonpartisan staff are hired by the LRC director and serve all 138 members of the legislature. Partisan staff serve the legislative leadership of either chamber. The structural work of LRC is performed by committees. There are three types of committees, which are also considered to be subcommittees of the Commission: interim joint committees, statutory committees, and special committees/task forces. These committees are staffed by LRC nonpartisan professional staff. LRC provides professional services that support the work of the legislature: committee staffing, bill drafting, oversight of the state budget and educational reform, review of operations of state agencies and programs, maintenance of a reference library, and production and printing of research reports, educational materials, and a legislative newspaper.
