How might judicial and legislative officials improve the judicial impact process?
Some suggested improvements include: • Improve the methodology for assessing nonfiscal impacts so that the quantification of issues that are not as easily assessed will not undermine the credibility of the statement. • Create and use a database containing a history of impacts to improve the accuracy of projections. • Maintain the objectivity of the process and a nonconfrontational tone in the statements to make them as useful as possible to legislators. • Consider including options for lessening impacts so as to demonstrate a more collaborative tone. • Monitor bills throughout the legislative process so that statements can be revised as bills are amended. Take steps to see that impact information is distributed to all appropriate legislative committees and members and that they identify the information for what it is. Improve the capacity of courts to track actual impacts of enacted legislation. Note: Most state court systems have chosen not to prepare full judicial impact statements,
