1. A legislator develops an idea for a new law or changes to an old one.
2. A bill is introduced in either house of the Legislature. Senate bills are filed with the Secretary of the Senate and House bills are filed with the Clerk of the House.
3. The bill receives First and Second Reading in the Senate and First Reading in the House. (Procedures at this step consist of reading the title of the bill only.) The bill is ordered to be printed.
4. In the Senate, the bill is referred to the proper committee by the Majority Leader and in the House by the Speaker of the House. All bills involving an appropriation must be referred either directly to the Appropriations Committee of the respective chamber or to an appropriate standing committee and then to the Appropriations Committee.
5. Committee members consider legislation and the chairperson decides whether there will be a public hearing on the bill. If there is a public hearing, the bill sponsor, interested parties, and the public will have a chance to testify before the committee about the bill to urge passage, rejections, or to suggest changes. There may be multiple days of testimony if there is significant interest in the bill or if the subject is particularly complicated.
After considering a bill and hearing testimony, the committee can choose to take a variety of actions. Typically, the committee will do one of the following:
a) Take no action on the bill;
b) Report the bill with a favorable recommendation;
c) Report the substituted or amended version of the bill with a favorable recommendation; or
d) Report the bill with the recommendation that it be referred to another committee.
The House Rules require most bills be referred to a second committee before being sent to the floor. Taking no official action on the bill usually means that there is not enough support on the committee to move the legislation or that the members want to take more time to consider the issue or ponder further changes.
In both houses, a majority vote of the members serving on a committee is necessary to report a bill. If a committee does not report a bill, the bill can be forced out of committee by a motion to discharge from the chamber floor. A majority vote of the full chamber is required to move a bill from committee to the floor without the recommendation of the committee.
6. If the bill is reported from committee favorably with or without amendment or in the form of a substitute bill, the committee report is printed in the Journal under the order of business “Reports of Standing Committees.” On being reported favorably from committee, the bill and committee amendments (if any) are placed on General Orders in the Senate. In the House, the bill and amendments are referred to the order of Second Reading.
7. The Senate resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole and the House assumes the order of Second Reading, where standing committee recommendations on a bill are considered. Amendments to the bill may be offered by any member when the bill is being considered by the Committee of the Whole or on the Second Reading. In the Senate, a simply majority of members present and voting may recommend adoption of amendments to the bill and recommend that a bill be advanced to Third Reading. In the House, amendments may be adopted by a majority serving, and a majority voting may advance the bill to Third Reading.
8. Upon Third Reading in the Senate, an entire bill is read unless unanimous consent is given to consider the bill read. In the House, the bill is read in its entirety on Third Reading unless four-fifths of the members consent to consider the bill read. In practice, few bills are read in full in either chamber. In both houses, amendments on Third Reading must be approved by a majority vote of members serving. In both the Senate and the House, debate may be cut off by a vote of a majority of the members present and voting. At the conclusion of the Third Reading, the bill is either passed or defeated by a record roll call vote of the majority of the members elected and serving (pursuant to the State Constitution, approval of certain measures requires a two-thirds vote or, in some instances, a three-fourths vote.)
Following either passage or defeat of a bill, a legislator may move for reconsideration of the bill. In the Senate, the motion for reconsideration must be made within the following two session days; in the House, the motion must be made within the next succeeding session day.
9. If the bill passes, it is sent to the other legislative house where the bill follows the procedure outlined in Steps 2-8, resulting in defeat or passage.
If the bill is passed by both house in identical form, the bill is ordered enrolled by the house in which the bill originated. Upon enrollment, the bill is sent to the Governor.
However, if the bill is passed in a different form by the second house, the bill must be returned to the house of origin:
a) If amendments or a substitute bill of the second house are accepted in the house of origin, the bill is enrolled and sent to the Governor.
b) If amendments or a substitute proposal of the second house are rejected in the house of origin, the bill can be sent to a conference committee (special committee comprised of legislators from both houses), which attempt to compromise differences between the two versions of the bill adopted by the houses, or the house of origin can amend it and send it back to the other house. In a conference committee, the conference committee can consider only issues in the ill upon which there is a disagreement between the two houses. The conference committee may reach a compromise and submit a report to both houses of the Legislature. Such a report is not subject to amendment. If the conference committee report is approved by both houses, the bill is enrolled and sent to the Governor. If the conference committee does not reach a compromise, or if the Legislature does not accept the conference committee report, a second conference committee may be appointed.
10. Upon receipt of an enrolled bill, the Governor has 14 days to consider the bill. The Governor may:
a) Sign the bill, which then either becomes law at the expiration of 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die (i.e. at the end of the year), or a date beyond the ninetieth day specified in the bill. If the bill has been given immediate effect by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house, the bill will become law at the time of the Governor’s signature or on a day specified in the bill.
b) Veto the bill and return it to the house of origin with a message stating the Governor’s objections.
c) Chose not to sign or veto the bill. If the bill is neither signed nor vetoed, the bill becomes law 14 days after having reached the Governor’s desk if the Legislature is in session or in recess. If the Legislature has adjourned sine die before the end of the 14 days, the unsigned bill does not become law. If the Legislature has adjourned by the time the bill reaches the Governor, he or she has 14 days to consider the bill. If the Governor fails to approve the bill, it does not become law.
11. If the Governor vetoes a bill while the Legislature is in session or recess, one of the following actions may occur:
a) The Legislature may override the veto by two-thirds vote of members elected and serving in each house, and the bill becomes law.
b) The bill does not receive the necessary two-thirds vote and thus the attempt to override the veto will fail.
