Legislation design methods currently employed by individual California state legislators allow defects to be built into the bills that eventually become laws. A dearth of consistent performance measures for legislation makes it difficult to quantify the magnitude of the problem. There is evidence, however, that defective legislation causes legislative rework, amendments, repeals, human suffering, and economic loss.

Individual legislators need a repeatable and data-focused process to prevent and correct legislative defects before they are submitted to the California State Legislature. This thesis presents an adapted Lean Six Sigma (LSS) framework to be used by individual legislators for investigating societal problems and designing legislative solutions. An analysis of the literature has identified LSS areas that need to be adapted for a legislative environment. Use of the framework by individual legislators is expected to generate evidence-based legislation with customized solutions and performance measures that can deliver maximum value to citizens.