House Research Department
Active dates:August 1, 1967 -
Authority:
Established by the House of Representatives
Function: House Research provides nonpartisan, neutral research and legal services to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Their mission and services include supporting the work of House committees, confidentially drafting legislation, answering research questions when requested by individual House members, summarizing bills and acts, and producing publications on topical policy issues.
History:
House Research was established by the House of Representatives in 1967 to provide research and legal services to the House and its members and committees. The work of House Research focuses on legislative decision-making, helping House members and committees develop and evaluate government policies and laws. The department is an agency of the House of Representatives as a whole.
The department assists all members and committees in collecting and analyzing information and in developing, amending, and evaluating legislation. The staff of legislative analysts provides a variety of legal, quantitative, and policy research services. These services include: assisting committees, committee chairs, and individual members with legislative work; providing legal assistance by drafting bills and amendments, preparing legal opinions, and analyzing and summarizing enacted legislation; collecting and disseminating background information through a variety of written products; and developing and maintaining computer capabilities in order to assist legislators and committees in quantitative and statistical research.
A memo by Thomas Clifford, dated November 17, 1967, states that House Research began on August 1, 1967. Thomas Clifford's title at that time was "House Research Consultant;" he was the first Director of House Research. The earliest report the Legislative Reference Library has from the department is dated August 17, 1967. According to House Legislative Administration and Rules Committee documents from January 1969, there were nine staff in the office by then.
Agency heads:
Thomas Clifford (1967-1971); Ron Ruud (1971, acting director); Jim Ableson (1972, acting director); Gary Currie (1973-1975, director, then acting director); Peter Levine (1976-1982); Tom Todd (1982-1983, acting director); Carol Pagones (1983-1990); Tom Todd (1991-2005); Joel Michael (2005, acting director); Patrick McCormack (2005 - )
Documents/Articles:
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 1982-2017.
Record last updated:
04/20/2017
All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These
materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.