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FROM THE COVER
Legislative Lingo
AMENDMENT An alteration made, or proposed to be made, to a bill or resolution by adding, changing, substituting or omitting language.
BIR Abbreviation for Budget Isolation Resolution. A BIR is attached to every House and Senate bill approved in committee. They must be adopted before the respective bill can be debated. Consideration of BIRs discontinue when both state budgets have passed the legislature and have been transmitted to the governor.
CALENDAR A list of bills which have been reported out of committee and are ready for the third reading.
• Regular Order Calendar A list of bills in the order that they were reported out of committees for third reading. It reflects the order for considering bills.
• Special Order Calendar A list of bills selected from the regular order calendar that selected by the Rules Committee for priority treatment.
• Consent Calendar A list of non-controversial bills which have been through the consent calendar process in the House Rules Committee and are to be considered before the regular order calendar on each legislative day.
COMMITTEES
• Standing Groups of senators or representatives appointed by the presiding officers or Senate president pro tem to act on bills in a certain area of interest. The committees last for the entire length of a legislative term( 4 years).
• Conference Committee composed of 3 members( conferees) of each house appointed by the presiding officer in the House and the Committee on Assignments in the Senate to resolve differences between the two houses on an amended instrument. Said committee reports amendments back to the legislature for further action.
• Rules Committees in each house responsible for setting the daily calendars of the House and the Senate.
ENROLLMENT The final processing of a bill or resolution, incorporating all amendments, after passing both houses. This is the document that is signed by both presiding officers and the governor. Constitutional amendments do not require the governor ' s signature.
READING Milestone in the legislative process. Term is a holdover from era when there was only one written copy of a bill.
• 1st Reading The reading of a bill by title upon introduction, after which the presiding officer refers same to an appropriate standing committee for study.
• 2nd Reading The reading of a bill when it is reported out of committee, along with announcement of committee action. The presiding officer then orders said bill placed on the calendar for the next legislative day.
• 3rd Reading The reading of a bill when it comes up for consideration on the floor. It is at this point that amendments are considered, and the bill is passed or defeated. If it is passed, it is then transmitted to the other house.
SUBSTITUTE An amendment in the form of an entire bill. When adopted, a substitute becomes the bill. n
// TRAINING TIP //
When county officials and staff leaders talk to one of their legislators about an important bill, they pick up invaluable information about where those legislators stand on an issue. These tidbits may not seem like much, but they can be very useful.
The ACCA67 app provides an easy way to relay this info to your ACCA Policy Team – in a voice memo that is automatically routed to the right person.
In the ACCA67 app menu, tap the button“ Tell Us!”
On the next screen: Ê Tap the microphone icon to record a message, just like voice mail. Ë Tap the upload icon to send the message on its way.
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“ This is Commissioner Brantley over in Jones County. Just talked to Sen. Hamilton about HB123, and he was real enthusiastic about supporting us. Our other senator – Sen. Kelly-- was leaning our way but still had some questions.”
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