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How a bill becomes Law

Knowing how law is made is important. The steps below describes the basic process.

Step One:

Introduction by a member of the General Assembly and committee referral. A bill may be introduced in the House or Senate. After an initial reading, it goes to a chamber's Committee on Committees, which refers it to a standing committee.

Step Two:

Committee consideration. A committee can kill a bill by failing to act on it. Or it may issue a report on the bill that is favorable, favorable with amendments, favorable with committee substitute, unfavorable or without opinion.

Step Three:

First reading. Favorably reported bills have their first reading -- by title only -- on the floor of the chamber. Bills that have been reported unfavorably or without opinion are not likely to go further.

Step Four:

Second reading; to Rules. The bill is read by title a second time and sent to the Rules Committee. This powerful committee can vote to send it back to a standing committee -- hindering its chances for passage -- or place it on the agenda for a vote by the full chamber.

Step Five:

Third reading and passage. A legislator -- usually the majority leader -- makes a motion to have the bill "placed upon its passage." Open debate follows. The bill can be amended on the floor -- though each amendment must be found to be related, or "germane," to the bill's original subject. To pass, a regular bill must be approved by at least two-fifths of the General Assembly (40 House members and 17 Senators) and by a majority of the members present and voting. (Bills that call for spending or contain "emergency" clauses must be approved by 51 House members and 20 Senators.)

Step Six:

On to the other chamber. Bills defeated on the floor can be reconsidered, if two members who voted against it request its reconsideration and a majority approves. Bills approved on the floor go to the other chamber, where they follow much the same procedure as in the first chamber.

Step Seven:

Concurrence or conference. Both chambers must agree, or concur on the final form of each bill. If either chamber refuses, the differences must be reconciled by a "conference committee" made up of members from both chambers. Such committees can make significant changes in the bills, but their compromises must be approved by both chambers.

Step Eight:

Enrollment. After passage by both chambers, each bill is read carefully to make sure its wording is correct, and then is signed by the presiding officer of each chamber and sent to the governor.

Step Nine:

To the governor. The governor may sign a bill, permit it to become law without his signature or veto it. The governor has 10 days to act on a bill after receiving it.

Step Ten:

Back to the General Assembly. The bill can be passed over a governor's veto by a majority of the members of both chambers.

Source: Legislative Research Commission

A

ACTS - The volume of bills enacted at one session; published by the Legislative Research Commission.

ADJOURN (motion to) - An action to discontinue proceedings for the day; a privileged motion non-debatable, not subject to amendment, and requires for its adoption the assenting votes of a majority of the members present and voting.

ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE - Adjournment without a day. This action ends a session, since no time is set for reconvening.

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION - An enactment of law by an executive branch agency or department, under authority granted by the General Assembly.

ADMINISTRATION BILL - Legislation introduced at the behest of the Governor, usually sponsored by the majority floor leader.

ADOPTION - Approval or acceptance; usually applied to resolutions or amendments

AMEND (motion to) - An action to modify the contents of a bill or question under consideration; the motion to amend is in order at any time prior to final passage, unless the previous question has been ordered.

AMENDMENT - Any alteration made or proposed to be made in a bill, motion or clause thereof, by adding, substituting or deleting.

B

C

CHAMBER - A legislative, judicial or deliberative assembly.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT - An amendment to a bill which is attached to the bill by a committee and made a part of the committee's report on the bill.

COMMITTEE, CONFERENCE - A joint committee of senators and representatives directed to reach agreement on legislation on which the two house are unable to agree.

COMMITTEE, INTERIM JOINT - A committee composed of all members of a Senate standing committee and all members of a House standing committee, which meets between sessions as a subcommittee of the Legislative Research Commission.

COMMITTEE REPORT - The document by which a committee submits its recommendations to its parent body.

COMMITTEE, SPECIAL - A committee established to consider only one issue, and which ceases to exist after submitting its report.

COMMITTEE, STANDING - A committee established to function for the entire session, to consider any questions the body cares to submit to it.

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - A bill offered by a committee in lieu of a bill it has considered; technically, the committee substitute is an amendment to the original bill.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - Resolution of the entire house membership into a single committee.

COMPANION BILL - A bill which is identical to a bill having been introduced in the opposite house.

CONCUR - Action by one house to agree to modifications of its legislation by the opposite house.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST - Threat to the public interest by a private interest; usually the position of a legislator unable to vote impartially due to some personal interest in a legislative matter.

CONSENT CALENDAR (or consent orders) - A list of bills having had one (or two) reading(s), and on which members in attendance are presumed to vote yes unless they indicate a negative vote prior to the call of the roll.

CONSTITUENT - A citizen who resides in the district of a legislator.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT - A proposal to modify a constitution in some manner.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION - An assemblage convened for the purpose of writing or rewriting a Constitution.

CONSTITUTIONAL MAJORITY - One more than half of the members of a deliberative body.

CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICER - An officer selected by a legislative body in compliance with a constitutional provision that it do so; in Kentucky these officers are clerk, assistant clerk, enrolling clerk, sergeant at arms, doorkeeper, cloakroom keeper, janitor and page.

CONTINGENCY FUND - Money appropriated (to the governor in Kentucky) to meet expenses which are unforeseen at the time of budget preparation.

CONVENE - The assembly or meeting of a legislative body, on the periodic basis provided by law.

CO-SPONSOR - A sponsor of a bill or resolution who is not the principal sponsor.

D

DEBATE - Discussion or a question according to parliamentary rules.

DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATION - An appropriation to compensate for an impending deficit in an account budgeted for the preceding time period.

DILATORY - Designed to cause delay.

DISCHARGE PETITION - A notice filed one day in advance of an attempt to take a bill or resolution from a committee.

DISTRICT - The area or division of the governed territory which is represented by an individual member of its legislative body.

DIVISION - A method of voting by way of a show of hands or by standing; provides a count without a roll call.

DIVISION OF A QUESTION - The separation of one item to be voted on into two or more items to be voted on.

E

EFFECTIVE DATE - The date on which a legislative measure begins to function as a part of the law; in Kentucky, most legislation becomes effective 90 days after sine die adjournment.

EMERGENCY CLAUSE - Provision in a bill that it become effective immediately upon approval by the governor rather than 90 days after adjournment.

ENABLING ACT - Legislation permitting an entity which depends upon the legislative body for its power to take a certain action.

EN BLOC VOTING - To consider several questions in a single vote; or to vote as a unit on a particular question, as when all senators present are presumed to vote yes enbloc on consent bills.

ENACTING CLAUSE - The clause preceding any legislative measure which expresses formally the legislative sanction of the body promulgating the enactment.

ENGROSSMENT - The act of perfecting an item of legislation in accordance with any amendments which have been adopted to it since its origin.

ENROLLMENT - The act of comparing a printed bill to be transmitted to the governor with the original introduced bill with all amendments, so as to ascertain their identical form.

EXECUTIVE ORDER - Action by the governor in implementing executive authority under the law

EXECUTIVE SESSION - A meeting of any deliberative body which excludes from attendance any person who is not a member of the body or one of its essential staff.

EX OFFICIO - The holding of an office or assumption of a duty by virtue of holding a particular office, as when the majority floor leader is by virtue of that office an ex-officio member of the Legislative Research Commission.

EXPUNGE - Action to delete certain portions of the official record of a governmental body.

F

FILE - A collection of documents belonging in the same or similar category; or the act of presenting a paper or document to an official entity such as a court or legislative body.

FISCAL NOTE - An attachment to a bill or resolution indicating its impact on state finances.

FLOOR - The area of a legislative chamber which is occupied by the members and staff of the body.

FLOOR AMENDMENT - An amendment filed with the clerk to be considered on third reading of the bill to which it has been filed.

G

GALLERY - The area of a legislative chamber from which the proceedings may be viewed by spectators; usually a balcony or other raised area.

GENERAL ORDERS - A list of measures eligible for debate, amendment and voting on a given day without reference to a particular time of day or place in the order of business.

GERMANENESS - The relevance or appropriateness of a particular question, usually an amendment.

GERRYMANDERING - The act of drawing legislative district boundaries so as to gain partisan or fractional political advantages.

GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION - The document issued by the governor to convene an extraordinary session of the legislative body.

GRANDFATHER CLAUSE - Exemption from regulation for certain persons having engaged in the regulated activity for a specified period of time prior to the effective date of the regulatory legislation.

H

HEARING - A meeting, usually of a committee, at which testimony on a question or issue is accepted, whether from the public generally or from invited witnesses.

HOPPER - Colloquial name given the repository for bills awaiting introduction; in Kentucky such bills are filed with the clerk.

HOUSE - One body of deliberation in a legislature; customarily a shortened name for the House of Representatives.

I

IMMUNITY - Constitutionally, legislators are privileged from arrest, except for certain offenses, and may not be brought to question for remarks made in speech or debate on the floor.

IMPEACHMENT - A legal procedure, originating in the legislative branch of government, by which public officials may be removed from office by reason of misconduct.

INITIATIVE - A procedure by which the general public may present and require consideration of legislative proposals.

INTERIM - The period of time between sessions of a legislature.

INTRODUCTION - The presentation of a bill or resolution to the legislative body for its consideration.

INVOCATION - The prayer preceding each daily session of a legislative body.

J

JOINT SPONSORSHIP - A procedure in the Kentucky House of Representatives whereby several members may sponsor legislation without one being a principal sponsor, and each bearing equal responsibility as endorsing the measure.

JOURNAL - The official, written record of the proceedings of a legislative body.

K

KENTUCKY REVISED STATUTES (KRS) - The official title of statute law in Kentucky; each bill creates, amends, or repeals a section of the KRS.

L

LAY ON THE CLERK'S DESK (motion to) - An action to place a measure in a position of temporary postponement.

LAY ON THE TABLE (motion to) - An action to declare a measure defeated.

LEGISLATIVE ADVOCATE OR AGENT - A person, usually under hire, engaged in representing a particular interest or group of interests before the legislature; commonly referred to as a lobbyist.

LEGISLATIVE ANALYST - A staff person engaged to determine the effects of legislation, and assist a committee in its deliberations.

LEGISLATURE - A deliberative, representative assembly formed by constitution to enact change in statute law; usually the term legislature refers to the state level of government.

M

MAJORITY CAUCUS CHAIRMAN - A member affiliated with the majority party, who is responsible for convening the caucus of one party, and presiding over its deliberations.

MAJORITY FLOOR LEADER - A member affiliated with the majority party, designated to act for the party during the proceedings on the floor.

MAJORITY PARTY - The political party whose members occupy at least one more than half of the total membership of the body.

MAJORITY WHIP - A member affiliated with the majority party, designated to assist the floor leader during proceedings on the floor.

MASON'S MANUAL - A volume of parliamentary law and procedure providing a basis for ruling on questions of order in the General Assembly.

MEMBERS-ELECT - Persons having been elected members of a legislative body, but not yet having been sworn into office.

MESSAGE - An official communication from beyond the body which is read into and made a portion of its journal.

MINORITY FLOOR LEADER - The minority party officer corresponding to the majority floor leader.

MINORITY REPORT - A report filed by those members of a committee in the minority relative to the decision of the majority of the committee; the minority report may be adopted in lieu of the majority report.

MINUTES - The written record of proceedings of a deliberative body.

MOTION - A proposal, usually oral, made to the presiding officer calling for specific action by the body; the motion is the principal tool used to conduct legislative business.

N

NOMINATION - The placement of a person's name in consideration for election or appointment to an office.

NON-DEBATABLE - Those subjects or motions which under parliamentary rules may not be discussed or debated.

O

OMBUDSMAN - An official, usually appointed, charged with the duty of receiving and investigating public complaints, and directing action thereon by the responsible agency.

ORDER OF BUSINESS - The defined routine of procedure in the legislative body each day; may be deviated from only by suspension of the rules.

ORDERS OF THE DAY - A list of bills and resolutions scheduled for third reading, debate, amendment and vote on a particular day.

OUT OF ORDER - The offer of an improper motion, amendment or question to a deliberative body.

OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE - A committee, usually legislative, created to maintain a review of some aspect or operation of government, usually related to the executive branch.

P

PAIRS, OR PAIRINGS - An arrangement between two members by which they agree to be recorded as voting on opposite sides of an issue, and be absent when the vote is taken.

PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY - A question posed to the presiding officer for clarification of a particular point in the proceedings.

PASSAGE - The approval of a bill or resolution by way of an affirmative vote.

PER DIEM - A basis of compensation for services, from day to day.

PETITION - A formal, written request submitted by an individual or group to some official body or agency.

PINK SHEET - The colloquial term applied to the form used for technical or typographical changes to bills in Kentucky without benefit of amendment; this form originates in the Legislative Research Commission.

POINT OF ORDER - The calling of attention to a breach of order or the rules.

POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE - Defense of the rights, reputation or conduct of a legislator in his or her official capacity.

POSTPONE INDEFINITELY (motion to) - Action to prevent consideration of a measure for the remainder of the session, unless a constitutional majority sustains a motion to reconsider the matter.

PRECEDENT - Previous evidence or example for action or decision of a question.

PRE-FILED BILL - A bill filed prior to the session, for public discussion and printing.

PRESIDENT - The presiding officer in the Senate.

PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE - The Senator, elected by the Senate, chosen to preside in lieu of the President when such officer is absent or unable to preside.

PRESIDING OFFICER - The person designated to preside over the proceedings of a legislative body.

PREVIOUS QUESTION (motion for) - Action to prevent additional debate on or amendment of a question, and to cause an immediate vote on the matter at issue.

PRIVILEGED MOTION - motions to which a special status is applied, whereby such take precedence if offered while other matters are pending.

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR - Authorization for members of the general public to visit the floor, granted usually for the day.

PROCEDURE - Rules and traditional practices of the respective houses of the legislature.

Q

QUORUM - The number of members of a legislative body which must be present to transact business.

QUORUM CALL - Action to require a call of the roll to determine the presence of a quorum.

R

RATIFY - To approve and make valid.

READING - Each bill to be enacted in Kentucky must have three readings, at length, in each house.

REAPPORTIONMENT - Redrawing legislative district boundaries so as to provide equality of representation.

RECALL - To cause removal of a legislative enactment or public official by popular action.

RECEDE - To undo action previously taken.

RECESS - Intermission during a daily session, usually for caucus or committee meetings.

RECOMMIT (motion to) - Action to send a measure to committee after it has been previously reported.

RECONSIDER (motion to) - Action to re-take a vote; the motion may be offered only by a member having voted previously on the prevailing side.

REFER - To send a measure or question to committee.

REFERENDUM - Submission of a question to decision by the electorate.

RESCIND - To annul or undo an action previously taken.

REPEAL - To delete and make of no effect.

REPORT - To communicate opinion or recommendations.

RESOLUTION, CONCURRENT - Expression of opinion or request by both houses of a legislature, without the force of law.

RESOLUTION, JOINT - To enact matters of law not to be made a portion of the statutes.

RESOLUTION, SIMPLE - Expression or request by one house.

RESOLVING CLAUSE - Language in a resolution defining the action taken.

REVENUE - The yield of taxes and other sources of public moneys.

REVISION - The process of inserting the enactments of a session into existing statute law.

RIPPER BILL - A colloquial term applied to legislation designed to harm a particular person or bill.

ROLL CALL - To determine a vote on a question by taking of names in favor and opposed.

RULES - A code of procedure adopted by each house of a legislature to govern its operations.

RULING OF A CHAIR - A decision by the presiding officer concerning a question of order or procedure.

S

SECTION - A division of a bill or statute, separated according to topic covered or action taken.

SENIORITY - Length of service as bearing on duties or functions.

SESSION, EXTRAORDINARY - A session convened by call of the Governor; Usually called a "special session".

SESSION, REGULAR - A session convened on a regular basis by way of constitutional provision as to its date and length.

SIMPLE MAJORITY - A majority of those voting on a question.

SPEAKER - The presiding officer of the House of Representatives.

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE - The member of the House of Representatives elected to preside in the absence or inability of the Speaker.

SPECIAL ORDER - An action predetermined to occur at a specific time on a specific date.

SPONSOR - The legislator responsible for presenting an item of legislation to the body

STATIONERY ALLOWANCE - a $50 allowance to each member, per session, for the purchase of stationery.

STOPPING THE CLOCK - An occasional tactic on the final evening of a regular session whereby the proceedings continue into the following day, with the clock and journal continuing to indicate occurrences of action on the preceding day.

SUNSET LEGISLATION - A law requiring termination of a particular agency or program on a predetermined date, unless justification for continuance is presented to the legislature prior to such occurrence.

SUSPEND THE RULES - Action to negate the application of a particular rule of procedure; the rule and purpose must be stated in the motion to suspend.

T

TITLE - A caption indicating the subject matter of a bill or resolution, required by the Constitution.

U

UNANIMOUS CONSENT - A vote, by voice, expressing adoption of a question without dissent or objection.

UNICAMERAL - A legislature composed of one house.

V

VETO - Rejection of an enactment without authority to modify; usually the prerogative of the Governor.

VETO OVERRIDE - Authority of the legislature to overturn a rejection of legislation by the Governor.

VOICE VOTE - A method of voting whereby only a vocal response to a question is indicated.

VOTE - A decision on a question by a member of a deliberative body, either affirmative or negative.

WITHDRAW - To recall, remove or delete a question from consideration.

Y

YIELD - A parliamentary term referring to the cession of the floor by one member to another.

Source: Legislative Research Commission

Catholic Conference of Kentucky

1042 Burlington Lane

Frankfort, Kentucky 40601

502-875-4345 502-875-2841 Fax cckstaffATccky.org

Last modified: April, 2008