Sacramento 101
How A Bill Becomes
Law
WHAT IS A BILL?
A “BILL” IS A PROPOSED LAW; THOUSANDS
ARE WRITTEN AND INTRODUCED EVERY YEAR.
A proposed federal law will be titled S. or H.R., meaning
simply ‘Senate’ or ‘House of Representative.’ A California state
bill will be titled SB or AB, meaning ‘Senate Bill’ or “Assembly
Bill.”
An official statement of the Senate or House which does not
have the force of law is called a Resolution and is often
referred to as S. Res. or S. Res. for the federal government
and SR and HR for the California legislature. Resolutions have
no legal force and are used to send a message that the
Congress of the United States or the California State
Legislature is concerned about an issue or applauds good
works.
Federal Treaties, nominations, etc., will not have a numeric
designation. The text of bills can be written by a legislator,
their staff, committee staff, special interest groups, the White
House, and even by a civic activist like yourself. It then is
reviewed by lawyers and policy experts, and regardless of
who wrote it, a legislator will then submit it in his name as the
sponsor.
Often, a bill is submitted with the names of additional
supporters, known as ‘cosponsors.’ The more cosponsors a bill
has (at the start or later on), the more regard the bill is given.
Once reviewed the bill will be introduced and given a
sequential number, such as H.R. 1234 or AB 434.