here’s a human story behind many of the laws that are passed each year by the Minnesota Legislature. Often, an idea for a new law comes from an ordinary Tcitizen. When 6-year-old Katie Fritz of the House or Senate and referred to 6 Farmington was killed by a garage a committee where members will door opener, her parents and others discuss it, invite public testimony and successfully lobbied the Legislature take amendments. The identical bill for a law — the first in the nation — to (called a companion bill) is usually State Law regulate the openers. introduced in the other body. When reports of a brutal dog Committees in both bodies can beating were first aired, Nancy either recommend the bill be ap- Process Minion of Woodbury and other proved, amend it and then recom- animal rights activists sprang to mend it be approved, table it or defeat action. They mounted a drive in a the measure. defeated or amended in committee few short months to get a law passed If the bill is approved, it can then early in a session is often resurrected which would prevent dogs that are the be re-referred to another committee in a different form a few weeks later. victims of abuse from being returned for consideration or to the full House That’s just what happened with to their abusive owners. for a vote. a bill to appropriate money to And when Sandra Shanley of Generally, a bill referred to the full help pay for the investigation of Anoka, who suffers from multiple House will be listed on the General the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping. sclerosis, tired of the bureaucratic Register, which is a pool of bills The appropriation request wasn’t process of applying for absentee awaiting action on the House floor. approved in a committee, so on the ballots before each election, she The measure will receive a vote in House floor, the chief sponsor added spoke with her representative. The the full House only after the bill is the proposal as an amendment to a result was a law that allows people selected to be on the Calendar for the separate bill on taxes. It passed, and with permanent disabilities to Day or the Fiscal Calendar, which are later the governor signed it into law. automatically receive absentee ballots lists of bills scheduled to be taken up before each election, which will help by the body on a specific date. he legislative process in ensure their right to vote. For most bills, 68 votes are all that’s practice is akin to those long These were just a few of the needed to pass in the House; 34 in the balloons that can be twisted 200 bills that were signed into law Senate. into various shapes. Squeeze during one legislative session. If the bill is passed by both the the air out of one section and Former Minneapolis senator, Jack House and Senate, it’s then sent to it’ll pop up in another. Davies, who served in the state Senate the governor for action. Although For that reason, legislators, from 1959 to 1982, summed it up this often happens with minor, non- duringT legislative sessions, often recite nicely when he said, “After all is said controversial bills, it rarely occurs the immortal words of baseball great and done, ideas dominate legislative with major spending or tax bills. Yogi Berra: “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” t life.” The Senate and House typically approve differing bills in addressing o how does a bill become the same topic. When that occurs, a law? In many different ways. conference committee — either three But the basic process works or five members from each body — is like this: named to work out the differences. Legislative staff translates Once a compromise is reached, the idea for a new law into the bill is returned to both the House proper legal form. A legisla- and the Senate for final approval, and Stor, who either initiated the idea or then sent to the governor for action. acted upon a suggestion, becomes the Although the legislative process chief sponsor of the bill. is simple in theory, it can often be The bill is then introduced in either confusing in practice. A bill that is How a Bill Becomes a Law in Minnesota Idea Legal form Sponsors A bill is an idea for a new law The Office of the Revisor Each bill must have a legislator or an idea to change an old of Statutes and staff from to sponsor and introduce law. Anyone can suggest an other legislative offices it in the Legislature. That idea for a bill — an individual, work with legislators in legislator's name appears on 1consumer group, professional 2 putting the idea for a new 3 the bill along with the bill’s association, government agency or law into proper legal form. The file number to identify it as it moves the governor. Most often, however, revisor’s office is responsible for through the legislative process. There ideas come from legislators, the assuring that the proposal’s form may be up to 34 co-sponsors from only ones who can begin to move an complies with the rules of both the House and four from the Senate. idea through the process. There are bodies before the bill is introduced Their names also appear on the bill. 134 House members and into the Minnesota House of 67 senators. Representatives and the Minnesota Senate.

General Register Calendar for the Day In the House, the General In the House, the Calendar In the Senate, bills approved by the Register serves as a parking for the Day is a list of bills the "committee of the whole" are placed lot where bills await action House Rules and Legislative on the Calendar. At this point, the by the full body. Bills chosen Administration Committee bill has its third reading, after which 8 has designated for the full time the bill cannot be amended 7to appear on the Calendar for the Day or the Fiscal Calendar are House to vote on. Members can unless the entire body agrees to it. drawn from the General Register. vote to amend the bill, and after Toward the end of the session, the amendments are dispensed with, the Senate Rules and Administration In the Senate, a different procedure is bill is given its third reading before Committee designates bills from the used. Bills are listed on the General the vote of the full body is taken. The General Orders calendar to receive Orders agenda. Senate members, act- House also has a Fiscal Calendar, on priority consideration. These Special ing as the “committee of the whole,” which the chair of the House Ways Orders bills are debated, amended have a chance to debate the issue and Means Committee or House and passed in one day. and offer amendments on the bill. Taxes Committee can call up for A bill needs 68 votes to pass the Afterwards, they vote to recom- consideration any tax or finance House and 34 votes to pass the mend: passage of the bill, progress bill that has had a second reading. Senate. If the House and Senate each (delay action) or further committee The bills are debated, amended and pass the same version of the bill, it action. And sometimes they recom- passed in one day. mend that a bill not pass. From here, goes to the governor for a signature. the bill is placed on the Calendar. How a Bill Becomes a Law in Minnesota Introduction Committee Floor The chief House sponsor of the The bill is discussed in one or After the full House or Senate bill introduces it in the House; more committees depending accepts the committee report, the chief Senate sponsor upon the subject matter. the bill has its second reading introduces it in the Senate. After discussion, committee and is placed on the House 4Identical bills introduced in 5members recommend action 6 agenda called the General each body are called companion bills. — approval or disapproval — to Register or the Senate agenda called The bill introduction is called the the full House and full Senate. The General Orders. After this point, first reading. The presiding officer House committee then sends a House and Senate procedures dif- of the House then refers it to an report to the House about its action fer slightly. appropriate House committee for on the bill; the Senate committee discussion; the same thing happens does likewise in the Senate. in the Senate.

Conference Floor Governor If the House and Senate The conference Once the governor has the versions of the bill are committee’s bill, he or she may: sign different, they go to a compromise bill then it, and the bill becomes conference committee. In the goes back to the House law; veto it within three 10 days; or allow it to become 9House, the speaker appoints and the Senate for 11 three or five representatives, and another vote. If both bodies pass law by not signing it. During in the Senate, the Subcommittee the bill in this form, it is sent to session, the House and Senate on Committees of the Rules and the governor for approval or can override a governor’s veto. Administration Committee selects disapproval. (If one or both bodies This requires a two-thirds vote in the same number of senators to reject the report, it goes back to the House (90 votes) and Senate form the committee. The committee the conference committee for (45 votes). The governor also may meets to work out differences in the further consideration.) A conference line-item veto parts of a money two bills and to reach a compromise. committee report cannot be bill, or pocket veto a bill passed amended on the House or Senate during the last three days of the floor. session by not signing it within 14 days after final adjournment. t Questions and Answers

How are bills amended? committee took on the bill. This How do legislators vote on various happens in advance of the floor debate issues? ills going through the on the bill. Legislature are often amended, The third reading occurs lthough people frequently which can greatly change the immediately preceding the final vote call and ask for a legislator’s thrust of a bill. on the bill. B Even though the Minnesota “voting record,” no such Most often legislators make complete document exists. amendments to bills when they Constitution requires this process, it A In reality, each legislator casts are being considered in committee. permits legislators to dispense with hundreds of votes on assorted bills Committee members are usually the rule when necessary. t that are subsequently recorded in the well-versed in the subjects of the bills, Journal of the House. The Senate has a and they have the time at this point to comparable journal. consider making changes. Legislators What happens to bills remaining If you want to know how a can also amend bills when they reach on calendars at the end of the first legislator voted on a specific bill, the the House or Senate floor. In both session of a biennium? House Index Office and the Senate cases, amendments are adopted by Information Office can help you. a majority vote. ills of this nature are returned Probably the best way to get a feel Generally, the legislator offering to the last committee from for a legislator’s voting record is to the amendment will have the proposal which they were reported to contact any number of special inter- drafted by legislative staff before the floor. But before they can est groups that rate legislators based offering it for discussion. t B be reported to the floor in the on issues that are important to them. succeeding year, the committee must Several business associations and What are first, second and third again recommend action. t environmental groups, for example, readings? issue regular ratings. t Are there any legislative deadlines? “reading” is the presentation of When do new laws go into effect? a bill before either house when ills can be introduced at any ost new laws go into effect the bill title is read. Bills must time during a session, but there on Aug. 1 following a have three readings, one on are committee deadlines after A legislative session unless a each of three separate days, before which a bill will no longer be B bill specifies another date. they can receive final approval. Each considered that session. M Exceptions are bills that of these readings is a stage in the Committee deadlines are contain an appropriation, which enactment of a measure. Exceptions announced during the first half of a become effective July 1, the same can occur, however, if the rules are session in order to pare down the list date the fiscal year begins, unless suspended. of topics to be dealt with that year. otherwise noted. t The Minnesota Constitution Generally the first deadline requires outlines this procedure to ensure that a bill pass out of necessary policy that legislators know exactly what committees in its house of origin. What is an omnibus bill? bills are before them, and to allow The second deadline requires all time for legislators to study the bills, except major omnibus finance n omnibus bill is a large bill proposals. and revenue bills, to pass out of all that includes several different The first eadingr occurs when a policy committees in both bodies. A issues under one general topic such as education. It's usually sponsor introduces a bill on the House third deadline dictates when bills that aA finance or revenue bill, contains or Senate floor, after which it is sent appropriate money must be passed many pages, and is often comprised to a committee for consideration. out of a finance or tax committee. t of several individual bills. Legislators The second reading occurs when often say the smaller bills are “rolled either body accepts the committee into” the larger one. t report regarding the action the

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