In Appreciation of Wade Ballou
By Sean Kealy
In late October of 2024, Legislative Counsel for the US House of Representatives Wade Ballou retired after a long and productive career. Wade has been an innovator in the legislative drafting world, a mentor to countless drafters in the US and abroad, and a key supporter of the International Conference on Legislation and Law Reform. As he shifts from one phase of his career to another, we offer this appreciation.
The original drafting office for the U.S. Congress was created in 1918 after the legendary Middleton Beaman, a Columbia law professor, spent two years drafting legislation for the House, focusing on the work of the powerful Committee on Ways and Means. The Revenue Act of 1918 required the new office to “aid in drafting public bills and resolutions or amendments thereto on the request of any committee of either House of Congress”. From the very beginning, congressional leadership chose the Legislative Counsel “without reference to political affiliations and solely on the ground of fitness to perform the duties of the office.” According to the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, which divided the office into separate offices for the Senate and House, the House Office of the Legislative Counsel (HOLC) was to impartially “advise and assist the House of Representatives, and its committees and Members, in the achievement of a clear, faithful, and coherent expression of legislative policies,” and maintain an attorney-client relationship concerning communications between the office and House members and committees. Today, the HOLC boasts 68 attorneys.
Wade was only the 8th Legislative Counsel in 105 years. He joined the HOLC in 1983 when he was hired by another legendary Legislative Counsel, Ward M. Hussey, who helped draft the Marshall Plan, drafted two versions of the Internal Revenue Code, and created a new standard drafting style for the House. Wade had recently graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and as a HOLC drafter worked on many issues including natural resources, Native American issues, veterans issues, foreign affairs, and intelligence issues. In 1996 Wade joined the Tax Team, which he then led from 2004 until 2016 when Speaker Paul Ryan appointed him to lead the HOLC.
During his time with the HOLC, Wade participated in a technological revolution. As a new legislative drafter during Speaker Tip O’Neill’s years, the work was still largely done with pencils, legal pads, and typewriters. As Legislative Counsel, Wade worked with the House Clerk and the Government Publishing Office on a joint effort to develop powerful computer-based drafting platforms such as XMetal, to create a common legislative data standard called United States Legislative Markup (USLM), and to develop the Comparative Print Suite, a drafting system that many consider arevolutionary way to track and understand how a bill changes law and how amendments affect a bill. These efforts earnedWade a well-deserved Democracy Award for Lifetime Achievement by Congressional Staff from the Congressional Management Foundation in 2024. The Comparative Print Suite utilizes AI, but Wade is very practical about the new technology, calling it a tool but always emphasizing the need to have an attorney working on a bill and advising members of the House.
Wade understands the human element of drafting and has trained lawyers in both the science and art of legislative drafting both in his office and around the globe. He has tirelessly met with members and staff of legislatures and parliaments to share ideas for improving the legislative process and methods for drafting. In 2013, a small group of academics and legislative drafters began organizing the International Conference on Legislation and Law Reform to bring drafters from around the world to Washington DC to learn from each other. Some of these drafters worked for the HOLC. Wade’s predecessor, Sandra Strokoff, gave these attorneys the time to work on this project and encouraged its initial development. Wade then continued this steadfast support. He has not just attended most of the eight conferences to date but has been a speaker and person other attendees would seek out during lunch and coffee breaks.
Wade was a guest at the organizer’s dinner after the most recent conference in October 2024, and I had a chance to speak with him and listen as he reflected on his long career. I asked him what the most important tool a legislative drafter could possess and his answer was surprising: “humility.” Wade said that the essential quality for someone drafting for a parliament or legislature was to have the humility to truly understand their role, to listen, and to understand as best they can what the elected members wanted to accomplish. It is humility that makes the HOLC trusted and effective even during turbulent political times such as what we face now.
Wade had been considering retiring this year but wanted the timing to be right given the recent election for president and Congress. He did not want his retirement to be seen as a reaction to who got elected one way or another, so he stepped down before election day to give Speaker Mike Johnson time to appoint a new Legislative Counsel without a hint of political interference.
At dinner, I could see that Wade was really looking forward to the next phase of his life. He and his wife Teri have two married sons and two grandchildren. Wade is a devout Anglican, studies the spirituality of various religious faiths, and works as a spiritual director on behalf of his church in Virginia. He plans to spend more time on this vocation— reaching out to the marginalized, counseling those in need, and working on the church’s retreat program. There is no question that his lifetime of service will continue and he will carry on making an impact on people’s lives.
All of us at the International Conference on Legislation and Law Reform wish Wade a happy and meaningful retirement. Still, we know this is not goodbye and look forward to seeing him at our next conference.