How a Bill Becomes Law
The legislative process is governed by
rules, laws and procedures, making it somewhat mechanical in
nature. Although the legislative process is long and
complex, all laws begin as ideas.
An idea for a law can come from anyone; an individual or group
of citizens, a legislator or legislative committee, the executive or judicial
branch, or a lobbyist. By statute state agencies must presession file bills.
Legislators or legislative committees may file an unlimited number of measures
within established timelines set by rule.
If deadlines are missed, the Senate Rules Committee must approve
requests for drafting and/or introduction to the Senate. Appropriation or fiscal
measures sponsored by the Joint Committee on Ways and Means are exempt from
filing deadlines and may be introduced at any time.
Types of Measures
The Legislative Assembly can accomplish tasks in addition to creating,
amending or repealing laws. It can honor a distinguished Oregonian, propose an
amendment to the Oregon constitution, or send a message on behalf of the
Oregon legislature to the President of the United States. In these instances,
a bill is not the appropriate form of measure.
There are six types of measures: a
bill,
joint resolution,
concurrent resolution,
resolution,
joint
memorial and
memorial.
A bill, the most common type of measure, is a proposal for a
law. All statutes, except those initiated by the people or referred to the
people by the Legislative Assembly, must be enacted through a bill.
The path of a bill, from the time it is just an idea to the time
it arrives at the Governor's desk for approval, is paved with many detours. In
order for a bill to become law, it must be passed by both houses in the
identical form. A bill may be introduced in either the Senate or the
House with the exception of revenue bills which must originate in the
House.This is achieved through the following step-by-step process, using the
House of Representatives, for example, as the house of origin.
- An idea to change, amend or create a new law is presented to a
Representative.
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The Representative decides to sponsor the bill and introduce it to the House
of Representatives, and requests that the attorneys in the Legislative
Counsels office draft the bill in the proper legal language.
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The bill is then presented to the Chief Clerk of the House, who assigns the
bill a number and sends it back to the Legislative Counsel's office to
verify it is in proper legal form and style.
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The bill is then sent to the State Printing Division, where it is printed
and returned to House of Representatives for its
first reading.
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After the bill's first reading, the Speaker refers it to a committee. The
bill is also forwarded to the Legislative Fiscal Officer and Legislative
Revenue Officer for determination of
fiscal or
revenue impact the measure might have.
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The committee reviews the bill, holds public hearings and
work
sessions.
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In order for the bill to go to the House floor for a final vote, or be
reported out of committee, a committee report is signed by the committee
chair and delivered back to the Chief Clerk.
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Any amendments to the bill are printed and the bill may be reprinted to
include the amendments ( engrossed
bill).
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The bill, now back in the house of origin (House), has its second reading.
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The measure then has its
third reading, which is its final recitation
before the vote. This is the time the body debates the measure. To pass, the
bill must receive aye votes of a majority of members (31 in the House, 16 in
the Senate).
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If the bill is passed by a majority of the House members, it is sent to the
Senate.
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The bill is read for the first time and the Senate President assigns it to
committee. The committee reports the bill back to the Senate where the bill
is given the second and third readings.
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If the bill is passed in the Senate without changes, it is sent back to the
House for
enrolling.
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If the bill is amended in the Senate by even one word, it must be sent back
to the House for concurrence. If the House does not concur with the
amendments, the presiding officers of each body appoint a
conference committee to resolve the differences
between the two versions of the bill.
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After the bill has passed both houses in the identical form, it is signed by
three officers: the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, and the
Chief Clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate, depending on where the
bill originated.
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The enrolled bill is then sent to the Governor who has five days to take
action. If the Legislative Assembly is adjourned the Governor has 30 days to
consider it.
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If the Governor chooses to sign the bill, it will become law on the
prescribed effective date. The Governor may allow a bill to become law
without his/her signature, or the Governor may decide to veto the bill. The
Governor's veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both
houses.
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The signed enrolled bill, or act, is then filed with the Secretary of State,
who assigns it an Oregon Laws chapter number.
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Staff in the Legislative Counsel's office insert the text of the new laws
into the existing Oregon Revised Statutes in the appropriate locations and
make any other necessary code changes.
Effective Date of Legislation
- In 1999, the Legislative Assembly adopted ORS 171.022, which reads,
"Except as otherwise provided in the Act, an Act of the Legislative Assembly
takes effect on January 1 of the year after passage of the Act."
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