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 A Proposal to Expand Legislative Assistance |
| In view of current requirements, it would appear that the present resources to assist Diet members with legislation are insufficient. To rectify this situation, the following measures are suggested. (1)Members' Secretaries The number of public secretaries should be increased. Compared to other countries, especially the United States, three public secretaries are insufficient. A flexible system that does not limit the number of secretaries but rather sets a budgetary limit for each Diet Member (there are various ways of doing this). There is an especially urgent need to increase the number of policy making secretaries. But if this is impossible, is there any effective way to make better use of them commonly as an organ? Is it possible to define the duties of these secretaries legally and to restrict Diet Members' use of them to policy making and legislative assistance? Is it possible to make the criterion for the employment of policy making secretaries stricter? In short, they should be hired on the basis of true policy making ability or advanced professional knowledge. Is it possible to create a non-partisan organization to be used by Diet Members such as an office of policy making secretaries pooled in the Diet or the National Diet Library? (2)The Investigative Office of the Committees Both the quality and quantity should be expanded. The office should not depend on officers dispatched from the government. All current dispatched officers should become permanent staff of the Diet. The office should cultivate its own professionals. (3)The National Diet Library Survey and the Legislation Examination Bureau Both quality and quantity should be expanded. The Bureau should not depend on the officers dispatched from the government. Accordingly, all currently dispatched staff should be made permanent Diet staff. The Bureau also should recruit and develop its own employees. (4)The Legislative Bureau Both quality and quantity should be expanded. (5)Policy Making Organizations Within Parties and Parliamentary Groups In order to strengthen the legislative staff in each party and parliamentary group, the present system should be revised so as to allow public subsidies for policy making functions. |
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