There are four non-partisan legislative service agencies:
The Office of Legislative Legal Services
The Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) is the non-partisan, in-house counsel for the Colorado General Assembly. The OLLS writes laws, produces statutes, reviews administrative rules, comments on initiated measures, and serves as a resource of legislative information for the public. Attorneys from the OLLS draft bills and amendments for legislators and provide legal counsel to the General Assembly as a body as well as to individual members with regard to legislative matters, such as open records act requests. The OLLS publications team edits, proofreads, and prepares the Colorado Revised Statutes and the Colorado Session Laws for publication each year.
Legislative Council Staff
The Legislative Council Staff (LCS) are the permanent research staff of the Colorado General Assembly, providing public policy research at the request of members. The LCS provides staff for most committees of the General Assembly, including interim committees, by scheduling and assisting with meetings and preparing meeting summaries, minutes, and reports. The LCS also includes economists who provide revenue and economic forecasting and fiscal analysts who write the fiscal notes for the bills. Prior to each general election, the LCS publishes the blue book that explains the initiatives that appear on the statewide ballots. In addition, the LCS operates the legislative library, develops and maintains the software and hardware for the computer system for the General Assembly and the legislative staff, and assists members in responding to constituent questions and requests.
Joint Budget Committee Staff
The General Assembly’s permanent fiscal and budget review agency, the Joint Budget Committee Staff (JBC Staff), writes the annual appropriations bill – called the Long Bill – for the operations of state government. The Joint Budget Committee Staff is charged with analyzing the management, operations, programs, and fiscal needs of the departments of state government and making recommendations to the members of the Joint Budget Committee as they build the state’s budget. The JBC Staff also assists the Joint Budget Committee in holding hearings during the interim and during the legislative session and in reviewing the executive budget requests for each state agency and institution. During the legislative session, the JBC staff prepares fiscal analyses and amendments, when necessary, for bills that are assigned to the House or Senate Appropriations committee and staffs the Appropriations Committees.
State Auditor’s Office
The State Auditor’s Office (SAO) seeks to hold state government agencies accountable through performance, financial, and information technology audits of all state departments, colleges, and universities. Audits focus on reducing costs; increasing efficiency; improving the quality of services; ensuring the accuracy and integrity of financial information; and ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the state’s critical computer systems and taxpayer data. The SAO’s Local Government Audit Division tracks about 4,000 Colorado local governments for compliance with the local government audit law, which requires submission of an annual independent financial audit. The SAO staff submits its audit reports to the Legislative Audit Committee at regular meetings and assists in preparing legislation when requested by the Committee as the result of an audit report.