How long does a bill take to pass

Making laws is tough work. Every day, something that you do or that you touch has been considered by a lawmaker. But how does an idea get to be a law that affects everyone?

The following shows how a bill is passed through either the House of Commons or the Senate. Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries typically introduce bills, but individual parliamentarians can also introduce bills (called Private Member’s Bills).

1 FIRST READING

Any idea for a new law or a change to current law is written down. The idea is now called a bill. The bill is printed and read in the Chamber where it is introduced.

2 SECOND READING

The bill is given a Second Reading in the Chamber where it is introduced, where parliamentarians debate the idea behind the bill. They consider questions such as, “Is the idea behind the bill good?” “Does it meet people’s needs?” “Who will be affected by this bill?” If the Chamber votes for the bill and it passes this stage, it goes to a committee.

3 COMMITTEE STAGE

At the Committee Stage, the bill is studied carefully. Committee members hold hearings or special meetings where different people inside and outside government can make comments about the bill. The committee can ask for government officials and experts, or witnesses, to come and answer questions. The committee can suggest changes or amendments to the bill when it gives its report to the Chamber.

4 REPORT STAGE

At the Report Stage, the committee reports the bill back to the Chamber. All parliamentarians can then debate it. During this stage, those who were not part of the committee that studied the bill can suggest changes to the bill.

5 THIRD READING

The bill is then called for a Third Reading. The parliamentarians debate it again. Sometimes they can change their minds about a bill. They might vote for it at Second Reading but not at Third Reading if they do not like the changes made to the bill. If it passes Third Reading, the bill then goes to the other Chamber, where it goes through the same stages.

6 ROYAL ASSENT

Once both the Senate and the House of Commons have passed the bill in exactly the same wording, it is given to the Governor General (or his or her appointed representative) for Royal Assent (final approval), and it can become law.

Any member of Congress – either from the Senate or the House or Representatives – who has an idea for a law can draft a bill. These ideas come from the Congress members themselves or from everyday citizens and advocacy groups. The primary Congress member supporting the bill is called the "sponsor". The other members who support the bill are called "co-sponsors".

Step 2: The bill is introduced

Once the bill is drafted, it must be introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a Senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate. Once a bill is introduced, it can be found on Congress.gov, which is the official government website that tracks federal legislation.

Step 3: The bill goes to committee

As soon as a bill is introduced, it is referred to a committee. Both the House and Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. When a bill is in the hands of the committee, it is carefully examined and its chances of passage by the entire Congress are determined. The committee may even choose to hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials and supporters, and opponents of the legislation to be put on the record. If the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is considered to be "dead".

Step 4: Subcommittee review of the bill

Subcommittees are organized under committees and have further specialization on a certain topic. Often, committees refer bills to a subcommittee for study and their own hearings. The subcommittee may make changes to the bill and must vote to refer a bill back to the full committee.

Step 5: Committee mark up of the bill

When the hearings and subcommittee review are completed, the committee will meet to "mark up" the bill. They make changes and amendments prior to recommending the bill to the "floor". If a committee votes not to report legislation to the full chamber of Congress, the bill dies. If the committee votes in favor of the bill, it is reported to the floor. This procedure is called "ordering a bill reported".

Step 6: Voting by the full chamber on the bill

Once the bill reaches the floor, there is additional debate and members of the full chamber vote to approve any amendments. The bill is then passed or defeated by the members voting.

Step 7: Referral of the bill to the other chamber

When the House or Senate passes a bill, it is referred to the other chamber, where it usually follows the same route through committees and finally to the floor. This chamber may approve the bill as received, reject it, ignore it or change it. Congress may form a conference committee to resolve or reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill. If the conference committee is unable to reach an agreement, the bill dies. If an agreement is reached, the committee members prepare a conference report with recommendations for the final bill. Both the House and Senate must vote to approve the conference report.

Step 8: The bill goes to the president

After both the House and Senate have approved a bill in identical form, the bill is sent to the President. If the President approves of the legislation, it is signed and becomes law. If the President takes no action for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. If the President opposes the bill, they may veto the bill. In addition, if no action is taken for 10 days and Congress has already adjourned, there is a "pocket veto" .

Step 9: Overriding a veto

If the President vetoes a bill, Congress may attempt to override the veto. If both the Senate and the House pass the bill by a two-thirds majority, the President's veto is overruled, and the bill becomes a law.

Many terms above are adapted from Congress.gov. See the full list of legislative terms.

The Legislature functions to create laws that represent the best interests of the citizens within each legislative district. Proposals for new laws are called bills. To become a law, a bill must successfully pass through a number of steps highlighted in the tabs below.

VIEW LIFE CYCLE OF LEGISLATION eBOOK

All legislation begins as an idea. Ideas can come from anyone. The process begins when someone persuades a Senator or Assembly Member to author a bill. Both Assembly Members and Senators are limited to introducing forty bills per two-year session.

A legislator, who acts as the author, sends the idea and language for the bill to the Legislative Counsel where it is drafted into the actual bill. The California State Constitution provides that every act shall only embrace but one subject and that subject must be expressed in the title of the measure. Also, every law must contain the enacting clause: “The people of the State of California do enact as follows.” The drafted bill is returned to the legislator for introduction. When the author wishes to introduce the bill, he or she delivers it to the Chief Clerk or Secretary who gives the bill a number.

A bill’s first reading is when the clerk reads the bill number, the name of the author, and the descriptive title of the bill. Despite what the term might indicate, the entire text of the bill is not read on the floor. The bill is then sent electronically to the Office of State Printing. A bill must be in print for 30 calendar days, giving time for public review, before it can be acted on. There are exceptions to this rule: the Budget Bill, or a bill introduced in an Extraordinary Session, or a resolution is exempt. Also, a three-fourths vote of the members of the house which is considering a measure will dispense with the thirty-day requirement.

The bill’s number, the date of its introduction and first reading, the committee to which it is referred, the dates it is sent to and received from the printer, as well as any other clerical notations made necessary by a deviation from the ordinary procedure, are shown on the bill cover. Assembly bill covers are white, while those used by the Senate are goldenrod. Covers for concurrent and joint resolutions and constitutional amendments are each of a different and distinctive coloring, providing the clerks with an easy method of identifying the various types of proposed legislation.

The bill then goes to the Senate or Assembly Rules Committee where it is assigned to the appropriate policy committee for its first hearing. Bills are assigned according to subject area. During the hearing the author presents the bill, people testify in support or opposition of the bill, and the committee acts on the bill. The committee can pass the bill, pass the bill as amended, or defeat the bill. It takes a majority vote of the membership of the committee to pass a bill. Bills that require money must also be heard in the Fiscal Committee, Senate and Assembly Appropriations.

Bills passed by committees are read a second time in the house of origin and then placed in the Daily File for a third reading. If a bill is reported without amendments, it is read the second time, and then sent to the Engrossing and Enrolling office, where the printed bill is compared with the original bill and, after comparison (called engrossing), the bill is returned to the Assembly or Senate third reading file. In the event that a bill has been reported out of committee with amendments, and these committee amendments, or amendments offered from the Floor, have been adopted on second reading, it is reprinted, showing such amendments by the use of strikeout type for matter omitted, and italic type for the new matter.

When a bill is read the third time, it is explained by the author, discussed by the members, and voted on by a rollcall vote. Bills which require money or which take effect immediately require 27 votes in the Senate and 54 votes in the Assembly. All other bills require 21 votes in the Senate and 41 votes in the Assembly. Once the house of origin approves the bill, it proceeds to the other house where steps 1-5 are repeated.

If a bill is amended in the second house, it must go back to the house of origin for concurrence, which is agreement on the amendments. If agreement cannot be reached, the bill moves to a two-house conference committee to resolve differences. Three members of the committee are from the Senate and three are from the Assembly. If a compromise is reached, the conference report is voted upon in both houses.

The bill then goes to the Governor. The Governor has three choices. He or she can sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without his or her signature, or veto it. Normally, the Governor has 12 days after receiving a bill to decide to sign or veto it, or a bill will become law automatically without his or her signature. However, the Governor has 30 days to make this decision on bills submitted to him or her when the annual winter recess is near at hand. A Governor’s veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses.

If a bill presented to the Governor contains one or several items of appropriation, he or she may eliminate or reduce any or all of them while approving the other portions of the bill (known as the line-item veto). The items then may be separately reconsidered and the vetoes sustained or overridden in the same manner as bills which have been vetoed in their entirety by the Governor. The Legislature has 60 calendar days to act upon the veto.

Most bills, whether signed by the Governor or passed as a result of an override, go into effect on January 1 of the next year. Urgency measures take effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor and chaptered by the Secretary of State. Urgency bills affect the public peace, health, or safety and require a two-thirds vote for passage.

When the Governor approves a bill, he or she signs it, dates it, and deposits it with the Secretary of State. This copy is the official record and law of the state. The Secretary of State assigns the bill a number known as the chapter number. The bills are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are received, and the resulting sequence is presumed to be the order in which the bills were approved by the Governor. Each approved bill is stamped with the Great Seal of the State of California.