Lonnie Edgar, deputy director of the Mississippi Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, was elected staff vice chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) at the 2024 Legislative Summit in Louisville, Ky. Edgar is in line to become the staff chair at the 2025 Legislative Summit. NCSL, a bipartisan organization, serves the nation’s 7,386 legislators and more than 30,000 legislative staff.
“It is my privilege to serve as an ambassador for NCSL and to represent the interests and needs of the roughly 33,000 legislative staff nationwide,” said Edgar. “I attribute much of my success and career advancement within my own organization to my experience with NCSL. I welcome the opportunity to energize others and keep them excited and engaged for NCSL’s next 50 years of service.”
NCSL is the only national organization that provides training, professional growth opportunities and information sharing for legislative staff. The organization’s nine professional staff associations and various staff networks sponsor meetings, training opportunities and publications. Legislative staffers are also eligible to be members of the NCSL standing committees, which address state policy issues and state-federal issues.
Edgar becomes one of seven officers (four legislators and three legislative staff members) on NCSL’s 63-member Executive Committee, which is elected yearly and includes both legislators and staff.
Edgar has served in the Mississippi Legislature for almost two decades and has been involved with NCSL since 2009 through the Health and Human Services Standing Committee, serving as both chair and vice-chair. His involvement with NCSL includes presenting on panels at numerous Legislative Summits, Capitol Forums and invitational meetings as well as serving as a fellow in the inaugural Maternal and Child Health Policy Fellows Program.