[taps gavel] all right. Never, the than meeting will come to order. Sorry. The constitutional obligation of the job. I will now recognize myself for five minutes to give myself an opening statement. I will not take five minutes because we are doing Something Different today. Oversightthis committee likes to shake things up and we are looking to develop the next generation of leaders in congress, which is this committees mandate. Have actively participated in the work of this committee. Representative demings dutifully gets here early and waits and waits and waits to question witnesses. His patients has not gone unnoticed. I will yield to the representatives. They are running the meeting today. Vice chairman graves, i know you will agree we are in very capable hands. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think you will recall, in the early days scanlan . Think we should all just adjourning go for ice cream. Ok. Thank you, chairman kilmer. I would like to begin by our expert witnesses. Sorry we are late. We will discuss ways we can support incoming members and how the institution of congress can better support all members of congress and their current and future roles. We will be hearing testimony on transition the process, trainings beyond orientation, developing leaders, and assessing the experience of freshmen members to better help them succeed. As an new member myself but for personal interest in the discussion, having observed how timeconsuming the Transition Program process can be peered i was sworn in seven days after election day and i experienced the process on hyperspeed. Setting up a Congressional Office is like drinking from a fire hydrant. We have many suggestions to streamline the orientation process, increase opportunities for bipartisan contact and make it more responsive to the actual challenges facing new members. Privately, many have shared concerns about the on boarding process. They are making the million small decisions in the span of a few weeks, which takes time away from learning the duties that are essential to our job, how to get the tunnels, all this things. We can do a better job supporting the freshman classes in making the transition to congress and that are able to facing ourissues country. We will also hear testimony on how we can some work members once they are here. We do this with the goal of building a promising members who are interested in becoming leaders and helping them transition into their new roles. Building out systems to help them along the way he. That membersnt to move into leadership roles. The experts on the panel have highlighted a range of ways we can lift up new leaders in the house. If we can do a better job providing support to our members, in addition to easing bettercess, we can be a aday, we hope. With that, i will yield to representative timmons for his opening remarks. You, madame chairwoman. Its an honor to be leading this committee with you and i want to thank chairman kilmer and vice chair graves. I show up early because this is my favorite committee i am on. Of the favorite because way the two of you have led this in a bipartisan manner and you take the Committee Member input in and has been a really good experience. I want to give you a story from my time in state senate. I served two years there. I became friends with some of the members who had in there for a while. Years atn there for 38 this time. Night. At dinner one said, when i got elected, we were not allowed to speak on the floor or in committee for four years. I kind of miss that. Kind to lead me in the right direction and has been very influential in my time in Public Service. When he was elected 39 years ago he was not allowed to speak and now here we are. Chairman and vice chair. I really do appreciate that. Just having gone through the , like orientation, it was the chairwoman said, like drinking through a firehose. The Steering Committee was an additional layer that was just very, very challenging and while a lot of thought was put into the process, we can always make things better. We can always tweak it things in ways that will be moreish and. I definitely look forward to that conversation today. Time thatcritical will potentially define your next two years. I also want to thank my mentor. The republican conference has applied vice chair graves to be my mentor. I do not think he was asked. Advice andiate his kind encouragement over the last six months. I look forward to hearing how you think we can improve on boarding. With that, i will yield back to of chairwoman the remainder my time. Thank you. Theok forward to hearing thoughts and recommendations the members of the committee have for fostering the next generation of leaders in the house. We are going to welcome the testimony of three witnesses. First we have the chief Administrative Officer of the house. He is responsible for financial, logistic, and for cure meant services for members and their staff. Focus ond a particular Public Service. In the mid1880s and 90s, he worked at the executive branch of the department of communications and me department of interior. The committee responsible for house munications so youre pretty much the mayor of the house. We have the director of leadership at the International Programs at the International Conference for state legislators. Her responsibilities include overseeing Program Content development, creating and providing training for legislators, communicating with and providing services for leaders, and overseeing partnerships and programs. She has developed numerous and has spoken on a variety of issues specific to legislatures. Richard spent 19 years at the foundation from 1990 until 2006. During that time he facilitated strategic retreat and Management Consulting services. He is the author of frontline management, a guidepost for state offices. He is the coauthor of working in congress the staff perspective. He had senior positions in both the senate and house. A reminder, your oral testimony minuteslimited to five and without objection, your testimony will be submitted into the record. Chairman , vice chairman kilmer, vice chairman graves, members of the committee. Thank you speaker pelosi, in her testimony before the committee, also recognize the importance of this topic, highlighting the development of these initiatives for congress. This environment has learning opportunities that foster Career Development within the house. Must do everything within its means to make sure that the house numbers and their staff are equipped with what they need to succeed. The cao is developing a customer focused strategic plan, setting improve our understanding of the house committees and the services we provide. During the earliest stages of implementation, we identified several gaps, particularly a gap in Development Offerings for house staff. Representative frost, in his testimony emphasized the importance of professional development, stating that Congress Must identify leaders and staff and they must be given what they need to advance in their Public Service careers. Testament to what the statement is about. To fill the gap, academy will trainingrofessional tailored specifically to the house. Launch, the academy feedback from 600 employees in Congressional Offices. Specialized training on appropriations law, writings skills. Seminarpart leadership series, develop in partnership with the Marine Corps University has been of been has been of particular interest. 600 people have attended the five seminars offered. While developing the new academy, the cao want to share the same training opportunities for staff located on capitol hill. Almost all academy trainings are available as live or ondemand webinars. Worklifeto have a balance, which is why we worked closely with members to launch the house wellness center. It offers in person and online courses for d. C. And district staff on mindfulness, nutrition, general health. As mentioned, we have instituted Workforce Management best practices to make sure cao step are sufficiently qualified and engaged in the skills we support. These are applicable and could offices. D by Committee Best Practices include a new Performance Management system, leadership training, workforce planning, practices to recruit, manage, and higher talent. Talent. It in addition to enhancing the services, the ceo can improve and streamline the administrative experience of members, specifically the transition process for members. The Administrative Burden of setting up a new office to distract from the decisions that new members have. Aced on feedback from members and staff, it is clear the time it takes to set up a District Office is too long and equip and outfitting an office is too complex. We have attempted to streamline and simplify some of the setup process. For example, we can do all of the website and i think we did for the freshman class. We have open feedback from the members, which im sure we will receive. Inc. You very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Chairman kilmer, vice chairman graves, representative scanlan, representative timmons, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. We are the National BipartisanOrganization Serving legislators and staff. Our mission is to provide mymunications between work includes researching programs to cultivate skills and create professional development courses. I will discuss how states leadership development. Americans expect their officials to solve problems and be stewards of democracy. Willmonth, virginia celebrate the 400 anniversary of. Epresentative democracy as the laboratories of democracy,s date legislators have in representing the American People ever since. Study,egislators collaborate, compromise to get things done. Formal training to be an effective legislator. Some states are beginning to expand on what has been a limited training program. They are taking this training on the road, at least to missouri. All duly elected legislators tourk on a six to 10 day to better understand districts. Documentationthe for ensuring the success of legislators. Every chamber is providing baselevel orientation. Popular topics include the role of the clerk and secretary. The budget process. Chamber rules and the committee process. Some states go beyond the initial orientation and provide ongoing skills and training. Wisconsin, idaho, colorado, the hawaii house, the Pennsylvania Senate and the Washington House are examples of legislators that provide ongoing training in at least one topic. Provides Civics Education each year. What does ncl a cell offer . We have on boarding packets, leadershipaining, programs. State requests for training have skyrocketed. Leaders across the industry finds this appealing, primarily to create a new standard of what it means to be successful. Our most popular trainings include mediation, strategic creation or teams. Often we conduct these trainings with former legislators, and emphasizing peertopeer learning herein we are always customized for the legislative environment. Adult learning engagement. O boost peertopeer programs are most beneficial. Are workshopshere exclusively for leaders that ands on themes such as risk trending policy topics. A criticalings are component including executive trainings in normandy. A program that introduces up and comers to leadership skills such as collaborative problemsolving, anding a caucus leadership change. We believe that by developing Leaders Within the states we in turn strengthen the institution of the legislature. I start most of my trainings with one question. Why did you run for office . To answernot be hard and most of the time it isnt. Why,legislators understand but often the noise under the dome can be overwhelming. By bringing their why to the forefront, members engage because they want to be a better legislator, to excel at their job. Its not partisan. Its not politics. Its good leadership for the next 400 years. Tonk you for the opportunity appear. I look for to your questions. Thank you. Mr. Shapiro, your recognized for five minutes. Thank you. Chairman kilmer, vice chairman graves, representative scanlan, represents a representative timmons. Numbers of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I have been involved with the task of helping freshmen numbers successfully that freshmen members routinely encounter in their first term in office and enhance the overall freshman member experience. The most common complaint shared by both freshmen members and their chiefs of staff is that the freshman orientation experience is overwhelming. As representative scanlan pointed out. The primary purpose for all of these orientation programs and the Panel Discussions are part of that is to address the question, what is the critical information that members elect needs to know to have a successful first term . The answer to this question leads to the presentation of a massive volume of information that overwhelms numbers elect members elect and their aides, and leaves them unprepared for the onslaught that hits them on january 3. The problem, these orientation programs are addressing the wrong question. The questions they ought to be addressing, what information to do the members elect need to know to be successful in their first 90 days . What do they need to know that allows them to successfully set up their office and manage their first month on the job in january . In late january and february, they and their staff should be given Additional Information that would help address the challenges of the next 30 to 60 days. In other words, we need to replace the current frontloaded, information intensive orientation process with a range of house Training Programs and support services throughout their first year in office that provide members and their staff the critical information they need to know when they need to know it, or what is referred to in the private sector as just in Time Training. This change will provide greater support to the freshman offices, and greatly improve their first term performance. One component should include Management Training for freshmen members and Senior Management staff. Management is a critical function for which many freshmen members and their chiefs of staff lack sufficient training and experience. Improving their management skills will improve the performances of their offices and greatly reduce the stress and anxiety found in many freshman offices that representative scanlon referred to. Hopefully the new representative freshman Staff Academy can be instrumental in meeting this need. Another solution would be to provide a small budget to every member elect to hire one person themsisted assist during the transition. They usually have the option of convincing someone to work pro bono for 60 days or pay the m out of campaign funds. Neither is a good option. If senators can hire such aids, why shouldnt the house . I would also urge the committee on House Administration to conduct the assessment of the freshmen members experience every two years. If the house wants to improve the experience of the freshmen members, they need to learn their views about orientation and their overall first year experience. This valuable Customer Service if this valuable Customer Service data is not routinely collected and analyzed, future changes will be based on anecdote and whim rather than solid data. Finally, the house has no Human Resources department that provides Health Offices with a full range of hr services. Most Large Organizations routinely provide them. They are critical for effective organizations. Hr departments help managers address management challenges, answer personal questions, provide guidance on staff recruitment, hiring practices, Staff Compensation and other office benefit policies, providing staff training to regularly improve the skills of staff. A Central Hr Department could also conduct a wide range of valuable research that would provide data to the individual House Offices. The absence of an Hr Department impairs the effectiveness of the house, House Offices, and places the burden of researching and solving a wide range of operational problems squarely on each individual office. Without a house wide Hr Department, House Offices will continue to try to provide these services on their own. It is a terribly inefficient model that ignores the principal of economy of scale. Most offices have neither the time nor the expertise to do these tasks well, if at all. Consequently, they often make mistakes, operate inefficiently, and muddle through problems that deserve better solutions. Of course, the offices itself, mostly from the lack of hr support, are the freshmen the ones that have the greatest needs, because they are setting their office up for the first time. For all these reasons, the house should consider creating an