How a Bill Becomes a Law

INTRODUCTION

PROPOSED BILLS

Before the session opens, and for a limited time after opening day, General Assembly members may file proposed bills and resolutions in the house to which they were elected. Proposals may reflect legislators' special concerns or be introduced at the request of constituents, organizations, executive department heads, or other government agencies. Proposed bills are not written in full statutory language but instead state their purpose briefly in plain language. Bills drafted in formal statutory language may be introduced only by committees or by the leaders of the governor's party in the General Assembly at the governor's request.

Senators and representatives may sponsor bills jointly and may "sign on" as co-sponsors of bills originating in either house by asking the clerk of the appropriate house to add their names as sponsors.

TYPES OF LEGISLATION

Most bills, if passed, become public acts, which are laws of general application codified in the Connecticut General Statutes. Bills dealing with individual towns, corporations, special districts, or that impose requirements for a limited time become special acts.

Resolutions express the General Assembly's sentiments but are not laws and do not have to be signed by the governor. They are used for such purposes as confirming nominations, approving state employee collective bargaining agreements, approving settlements of claims against the state, extending congratulations or sympathy, making appointments, expressing opinions about national or international affairs, and adopting session rules. A Senate or House resolution (SR or HR) requires action by the house of origin only. A proposed constitutional amendment is introduced as a joint resolution (SJR or HJR) and follows the same procedure as a bill except for voting requirements.

COMMITTEE ACTION

BILL DRAFTS AND HEARINGS

Each committee considers the proposed bills referred to it and orders full drafts of those it decides merit further consideration. Committees can also decide to hold "subject matter hearings" on proposed bills without having them fully drafted. A committee may also "raise" bills on subjects within its jurisdiction for public hearing. Committee bills (those based on proposed bills) and raised bills are drafted by attorneys in the Legislative Commissioners' Office (LCO) and returned to the committee for consideration. The committee holds hearings to give members of the public an opportunity to express their views on bills. Legislators and state agency officials are allowed to testify during the hour before a public hearing. Members who get signatures from a specified number of House or Senate members can petition a committee to draft a proposed bill and schedule it for a public hearing in cases where a committee has chosen not to do so.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

After the committee has considered a bill, it may: (1) issue no report, in which case the bill fails; (2) issue an unfavorable report, or (3) issue a joint favorable (JF) report. When a committee votes to report a bill or resolution favorably, it is submitted to LCO, which has 10 days to check it for constitutionality, correct references and phraseology, general accuracy, and consistency with existing statutes. LCO then refers the bill to the offices of Legislative Research and Fiscal Analysis, which have five days to prepare, respectively, a plain-language explanation of its legal effect ("bill analysis") and a statement of its fiscal impact ("fiscal note"). LCO must transmit the bill, bill analysis, and fiscal note (together called a "file) to the house of origin within 15 calendar days after first receiving it, unless the speaker and the president pro tempore grant an extension.

REFERRALS

Frequently, bills must receive favorable reports from two or more committees before they are ready for action by the House and Senate. For example, bills requiring appropriations must be referred to the Appropriations Committee; those with penalties to the Judiciary Committee; those affecting revenues, taxes, bonds, and fees to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee; and those changing state government organization to the Government Administration and Elections Committee. If the committee of origin does not refer a bill directly to another committee with some jurisdiction over its subject, the full House or Senate may do so.

BILLS NOT ACTED ON IN COMMITTEE

If a committee does not JF a bill, it maybe nevertheless be required to report it out by: (1) the speaker and the president pro tempore certifying the need for action (emergency certification) or (2) a majority of the members of the house where the bill originated petitioning the committee for a report and filing the petition with the clerk within a specified time. Petitioned bills are considered unfavorable reports unless the committee receiving the petition meets to vote to JF it.

SENATE AND HOUSE ACTION

FILES AND CALENDARS

Each favorably reported bill, with its bill analysis and fiscal note, receives a file number and is placed on the calendar in its house of origin in the order that the clerks receive it from LCO.

If the bill is not expected to be controversial, the majority and minority leaders may place it on the consent calendar. Bills on the consent calendar can be passed as a group without discussion. Any member may object to any consent calendar bill and ask for it to be transferred to the regular calendar for a full debate and separate vote at the proper time.
A bill can be passed even if it is not printed and in the members' files if the speaker and the president pro tempore certify in writing that an immediate vote is necessary. But members must still have a copy of the bill and a fiscal note on their desks before the vote.

GENERAL DEBATE AND VOTING

General debate and action on a bill is in order after it has been in the files and on the calendar for two session days. In general, a simple majority of those present can pass a bill or adopt an amendment. But the law requires a super-majority to pass a constitutional amendment, a plan to redistrict the General Assembly, a constitutional convention bill, a bill to exceed or amend the definition of the state's constitutional spending cap, or to reject an arbitration award resolving a state employee contract impasse. Final votes to pass or reject a bill must be taken by roll call. Members' votes are printed in the daily House and Senate journals.

Members may offer amendments before the final vote. The chamber must adopt amendments either by voice or roll call votes before acting on the bill. In the House, a roll-call vote on an amendment can be ordered by one-fifth of the members present. In the Senate, one senator can ask for a roll call vote. A bill receiving a favorable vote in the chamber where it originated must be held for one session day for possible reconsideration. If the bill is not reconsidered, it is sent to the other house and placed on the calendar there. The rule requiring bills to be held for one day after passage is commonly suspended for immediate transmittal to the other house.

A bill that is amended again in the second house must be returned to the first house for approval. In the event of disagreeing action between the two houses, a committee of conference may be appointed to work out an agreement. Both houses must pass the bill in the same form before it may be sent to the governor.

GOVERNOR'S ACTION; EFFECTIVE DATES

After a bill passes both houses, it is sent to the governor. A bill becomes law when the governor signs it. If he fails to act within five days if the General Assembly is in session, or within 15 days if it has adjourned, the bill also become law without his signature. When the governor vetoes a bill, it is returned with his objections to its original house. A two-thirds vote of the members of each house is required to override a veto.

Public acts take effect on October 1 following passage and special acts on approval, unless they specify otherwise.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

A resolution to amend the constitution may be ready for voter approval in a single legislative session if approved by three-fourths of the members of each house. If it is approved by at least a majority but less than three-fourths, it must receive a majority vote in the session following the next election in order to be placed on the ballot. A proposed amendment is subject to approval by the voters at the next even-year general election after General Assembly approval.

HOW TO READ A BILL

When a bill is introduced, it is given a number by which it is identified throughout the session. Senate bills are numbered from 1 through 5,000. House bills are numbered from 5,001 through 9,999. A bill reported to the House or Senate floor is also given file and calendar numbers. Amendments have unique "LCO numbers" and letter designations (such as House "A" or Senate "B").

A bill contains the name of the sponsor(s), a brief but comprehensive title (which may be changed if amendments alter its substance), the sections of proposed legislation, an effective date (unless the bill is to take effect October 1), and a brief explanation of its purpose.

Most bills amend sections of the law or the Constitution. They contain all the sections of law to be amended. Most new wording is underlined. If there is an entire paragraph of new wording, it is not underlined, but preceded by the word "NEW". Language being omitted or repealed is placed between brackets. To understand a bill, one should read the old language with the new language, skipping over any language between brackets.