Aaron Bean came to the Hill more than two decades ago to be formally trained as a staffer through a yearlong program operated by the now-closed Legislative Studies Institute, starting out in the office of Florida Republican Sen. Connie Mack III, the grandson of the legendary baseball manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.
As Bean describes it, the program was meant to provide a “pipeline of trained staff” who were knowledgeable, courteous, and prepared to help.
He had originally planned to attend law school, but he pushed that goal aside to participate in LSI, an experience that he described as “well worth the effort.” Bean received a scholarship through the institute, but still had to work extra hours on the weekends to make ends meet, and those living expenses eventually pushed him to leave.
