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Minnesota House of Representatives

How Bills Become Law

PART 3

"Monarchy is like a splendid ship, with all sails set; it moves majestically on, then it hits a rock and sinks forever. Democracy is like a raft. It never sinks, but, damn it, your feet are always in the water."
-- Fisher Ames, United States representative from Massachusetts, 1789-1797.

BACKGROUND

If democracy is like a raft, then the Legislature is a lot like a river filled with thousands of bits of wood, each one representing a bill. Just as there are numerous ways for the wood to move downstream, so, too, are there many paths for a bill to become law.

Introducing the bill

In Part 2, we learned that the Office of the Revisor of Statutes translates the idea for a bill into the proper legal form. The next step is to introduce the bill on either the House or Senate floors, or both. Most bills can begin the process in either body, but bills that appropriate money begin in the House.

In the House, the speaker assigns each bill, resolution, and advisory to one of about 20 standing committees that make up that body. The chief clerk then assigns each bill (commonly called a House file) a number, which will identify it in its travels. It's much like a social security number that identifies a person throughout life; no matter how many changes he or she makes along the way, the number remains the same.

Bills in the Senate are handled in a slightly different way. The Senate president assigns numbers to the bills and resolutions (Senate files) and refers them to a committee. Both assignments are handled through the administrative procedures of the secretary of the Senate.

The chief clerk of the House and the secretary of the Senate introduce the bills before each body by reading the bill numbers. Legislators have copies of all bill titles that are introduced that day. The bill introduction (or reading) counts as the first of three required readings. It is called a first reading. The state constitution specifies that each bill must be "read" on three separate days in each body before a final vote can be taken. Now, only the bill titles are read. In the past, however, when immigrants often couldn't read English, the entire bills were actually read aloud.

Each reading is a signal that an action or a series of actions have taken place. Normally, a full day must pass between each reading. The rule holds unless two-thirds of the body where the bill is pending votes to sidestep the requirement. The legislative procedure is purposely slow to prevent hasty and ill-founded decisions on important matters.

On to a committee hearing:

After the bill is introduced, it goes to its assigned committee for further consideration. A bill dealing with pesticides, for example, would likely go to the Agriculture Committee in the House, and the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee in the Senate. And a bill about health insurance would probably be referred to the respective Health and Human Services committees in the House and Senate. Bills can be discussed in either one committee or several, depending upon the complexity of the measure. The legislation that established the Minnesota lottery, for example, was examined by five different House committees and the same number of Senate committees before it progressed to the House and Senate floors. (We'll discuss committee meetings in greater detail in Part 4.)

As we've mentioned, the chief author of a bill is responsible for the measure as it moves through the process. It's up to this person to appear before the committee to argue on its behalf. Testimony from the public, both pro and con, is also heard at this time. Proponents and opponents of a bill often call on experts to testify about the proposal.

A companion bill, or identical bill, is typically introduced in both the House and Senate at about the same time. One bill progresses through various House committees, the other through Senate committees. Imagine identical twins walking across a bridge and meeting in the middle. The path identical bills take is much the same, although the bills are usually amended many times along the way. As a result of the different committee experiences, the bills look a bit different from one another by the time the "twin bills" reach the middle of the bridge. Sometimes, however, the bills remain exactly the same, particularly in non-controversial cases.

Ready for floor action

Committee recommendations are recorded in a committee report which is sent back to the House or Senate floor for discussion, a second reading, and adoption. The second reading is when a bill is reported to the floor after it has been recommended to pass by a committee. After this, a bill generally is put on one of two lists to await floor action.

Non-controversial bills are put on the Consent Calendar, where they are quickly considered and given a third reading and final passage. But most bills are placed on General Orders, a list of bills awaiting debate by the Committee of the Whole , when the full House or Senate each act like one large committee. If the bill is recommended to pass on General Orders, it is then placed on the Calendar to await final passage (see Appendix E-3). So a bill that takes this path is really voted on twice on the House floor.

Under special circumstances, bills can be placed on two other bill lists for debate on the floor: Special Orders and through a procedure referred to as Rule 1.10. Both of these bill lists are used toward the end of a legislative session when time is running short. They are explained further in Appendix E-3. If this sounds very confusing, that's because it is. But floor procedures will be discussed further in Part 5. In addition, Appendix D-6 offers a concise explanation on the process.

After a bill receives final passage in one body, it's then sent to the other body for consideration. If that body passes the bill, it's sent to the governor for his or her signature. But sometimes the bill is significantly different from the companion bill in the other body, so it's rejected. What happens then?

Reaching a compromise

In the case of rejection, a conference committee is named to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Conference committees are made up of either three or five members from each body.

In the House, the speaker appoints conference committee members. In the Senate, the Rules and Administration Committee appoints members. Although a conference committee is referred to as just one committee, actually it is two separate committees meeting as one. That's why a majority of House members on a committee, and a majority of Senate members, must approve of the compromise. After a compromise is reached on the two bills, the agreement is sent back to the House and Senate to be voted upon again.

No amendments can be made at this stage. If both bodies vote to approve the bill, it is then sent to the governor for his or her signature. If one or both bodies reject the bill and if there is time before the session adjourns, it is sent back to the conference committee for a more palatable compromise. If a compromise can't be reached, then the proposal fails. (See Appendices E-3 and C-6)

In the 1989-90 Legislative Session, legislators introduced 2,833 bills in the House and 2,642 bills in the Senate. Of those, only 608 became law. That gives you a sense of the enormous amount of paperwork that flows through the legislative chambers at the Capitol.

NEW TERMS

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Beginning

In Part 2, we discussed several ideas for new laws -- giving 12-year-olds the right to vote, for example, or requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. At this stage, students could be encouraged to develop persuasive arguments for and against each proposal. How could 12-year-olds be any less informed than average adult voters who often know little about the people for whom they vote? And while it can be argued that motorcyclists should be free to not wear helmets at their own risk, it's also true that a lot of taxpayer money is used to care for motorcycle accident victims who have no medical insurance. What is the best strategy to persuade people that a position on a bill -- pro or con -- is the correct one? For help, see Appendix E-6, which lists many of the new laws that became effective Aug. 1, 1990, and Appendix F-1,"Getting Started." Appendix E-1, which explains the legislative process in a condensed form, is a good source to prepare for student questions.

Intermediate

Students could be encouraged to formulate their arguments in support of a bill or bills they wish to submit to the mock legislature. And they could also begin devising their strategy on how to get it passed. For example, what types of experts should be lined up to testify at committee meetings in support of the bill. On the motorcycle helmet issue, for instance, a student posing as a biker could testify how he should be free to do whatever he wants. Another student could pose as a motorcyclist who was severely brain injured in an accident where he wasn't wearing a helmet. At this stage, students should also decide which student should be the sponsor and which students should be co-sponsors of the bill. Meanwhile, the teacher, with student help, can begin organizing the mock legislature. Ideally, another social studies class, serving as the other body, could become involved. If that's not possible, the class should be divided into a House and Senate. A few committees need to be formed, their chairs must be named, a president of the Senate and speaker of the House should be elected, as well as the majority leaders and minority leaders of the two major political parties in both bodies. Appendix F-1, "Getting Started,'' contains explicit instructions on how to set up a mock legislature to mirror the Minnesota Legislature.

Advanced

This is where students can get serious about tracking or backtracking a bill through the Legislature. Ideally, students could tour the Capitol complex when the Legislature is in session. The Minnesota Historical Society offers tours that are designed for students in grades seven through 12 (see Appendix E-4), which provide students with an overview of the process. But the tours aren't necessary to track a bill; they just make the bill-tracking concept easier to understand. Next, students should select the bill they wish to track and outline how they intend to do it (see Appendix F-1). If the class is offered at the same time the Legislature is in session (January through mid-May in odd-numbered years and February through late-April in even-numbered years), students may want to track a bill as it progresses through the process. Keep in mind, however, that bill-tracking involves a lot of work. If the class meets when the Legislature is not in session, it would probably be easier to backtrack a bill through the process. Appendix F-1 contains instructions on how students should proceed on this level.

[For additional ideas for activities on the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, see "Getting Started" (Appendix F-1).]

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