How
a Bill Becomes a Law – Michigan Legislature
This
is a general and very brief description of the
major steps of the legislative process a bill
must go through before it is enacted into law.
Introduction
Bills may be
introduced in either house of the Legislature.
Senate bills are filed with the Secretary of the
Senate and House bills with the Clerk of the
House. Upon introduction, bills are assigned a
number. At the beginning of each biennial
session, House bills are numbered consecutively
starting with House Bill No. 4001 and Senate
bills are numbered starting with Senate Bill No.
1. In both houses, joint resolutions are
assigned a letter.
Title Reading
Under the State
Constitution, every bill must be read three
times before it may be passed. The courts have
held, however, that this requirement can be
satisfied by reading the bill’s title. Upon
introduction, the bill’s title is read a first
and second time in the Senate and is read once
in the House. The bill is then ordered to be
printed. A bill cannot be passed or become law
until it has been printed or reproduced and in
the possession of each house for at least five
days.
Referral to Committee
Upon
introduction, a bill is also referred to a
standing committee in the Senate by the Majority
Leader and in the House of Representatives by
the Speaker of the House. All bills involving an
appropriation must be referred either directly
to the appropriations committee or to an
appropriate standing committee and then to the
appropriations committee.
Committee Review
Committee members
consider a bill by discussing and debating the
bill. The committee may also hold public
hearings on the bill.
Committee Action
A standing
committee may act on a bill in various ways. The
committee may:
a. Report the bill with favorable
recommendation.
b. Report the bill with amendments with
favorable recommendation.
c. Report the bill with the recommendation that
a substitute be adopted.
d. Report the bill without recommendation.
e. Report the bill with amendments but without
recommendation.
f. Report the bill with the recommendation that
the bill be referred to another committee.
g. Take no action on a bill.
h. Vote to not report a bill out of committee.
In the cases of d and e, the bill, upon being
reported from committee, is tabled on the floor
(temporarily removed from consideration). A
majority vote of the members present and voting
in the house where the bill is tabled is
required to remove the bill from the table
before it may be given further consideration.
In both houses, a majority vote of the members
serving on a committee is necessary to report a
bill. If a committee fails to report a bill, a
motion to discharge the committee from
consideration of the bill may be offered in the
house having possession of the bill. If this
motion is approved by a vote of a majority of
the members elected and serving, the bill is
then placed in position on the calendar for
floor action. In the House, at least a one-day
prior notice of the motion to discharge must be
given to the Clerk of the House.
Committee Reports
If a bill is
reported from committee favorably with or
without amendment or in the form of a substitute
bill, the committee report is printed in the
journal under the order of business entitled
"Reports of Standing Committees" in the House.
On being reported favorably from committee, the
bill and recommended committee amendments (if
any) are placed on the order of "General Orders"
in the Senate. In the House, the bill and
amendments are referred to the order of "Second
Reading."
General Orders or Second Reading
For the purpose
of considering the standing committee
recommendations on a bill, the Senate resolves
itself into the Committee of the Whole and the
House assumes the order of Second Reading.
Amendments to the bill maybe offered by any
member when the bill is being considered at this
stage of the legislative process. In the Senate,
a simple majority of members present and voting
may recommend adoption of amendments to the bill
and recommend a bill be advanced to Third
Reading. In the House, amendments may be adopted
by a majority serving, and a majority voting may
advance the bill to Third Reading. In the House,
a bill may be placed on Third Reading for a
specified date.
Third Reading
While there are
provisions in the House Rules and the Senate
Rules for reading bills unless exception is
made, in practice, bills are not read in full in
either chamber. In both houses, amendments must
be approved by a majority vote of the members
serving and the previous question maybe moved
and debate cut off by a vote of a majority of
the members present and voting. At the
conclusion of Third Reading, the bill is either
passed or defeated by a roll call vote of the
majority of the members elected and serving
(pursuant to the State Constitution, approval of
certain measures requires a "super majority" of
a two-thirds or three-fourths vote) or one of
the following four options is exercised to delay
final action on the bill: (a) the bill is
returned to committee for further consideration;
(b) consideration of the bill is postponed
indefinitely;
(c) consideration is postponed until a certain
date; or
(d) the bill is tabled.
Following either passage or defeat of a bill, a
legislator may move for reconsideration of the
vote by which the bill was passed or defeated.
(A motion to reconsider can be made for any
question.) In the Senate, the motion for
reconsideration must be made within the
following two session days; in the House, the
motion must be made within the next succeeding
session day.
Five-Day Rule
No bill can
become law at any regular session of the
Legislature until it has been printed and
reproduced and in the possession of each house
for at least five days. (Constitution, Art. IV,
Sec. 26.)
Immediate Effect
No act shall take
effect until the expiration of 90 days from the
end of the session at which the measure was
enacted. The Legislature may give immediate
effect to an act by a two-thirds vote of the
members elected and serving in each house.
(Constitution, Art. IV, Sec. 27.)
Enactment by the Legislature
If a bill passes,
it is sent to the other house of the Legislature
where the bill follows the procedure outlined
above, resulting in defeat or passage. If a
bill is passed by both houses in identical form,
the bill is ordered enrolled by the house in
which the bill originated. Following enrollment
and printing, the bill is sent to the Governor.
If a bill is passed in a different form by the
second house, the bill must be returned to the
house of origin and one of the following occurs:
a. If the
amendment(s) or substitute bill of the second
house is accepted in the house of origin, the
bill is enrolled, printed, and sent to the
Governor. It should also be noted that either
house may amend an amendment made by the other
to a bill or joint resolution. At any time while
in possession of the bill, either house may
recede from its position in whole or in part and
the bill may be returned to the other house for
this purpose. If this further action is agreed
to by both houses, the bill is ordered enrolled.
b. If the
amendment(s) or substitute proposal of the
second house is rejected in the house of origin,
the bill is then sent to a conference committee
(a special committee composed of three
legislators from each house) which attempts to
compromise differences between the two versions
of the bill. The conference committee can
consider only issues in the bill upon which
there is disagreement between the two houses.
However, when the agreement arrived at by the
conferees is such that it affects other parts of
the bill, such as in an appropriations measure,
the conferees may recommend further amendments
to conform with the agreement. The conferees may
also recommend corrections to any errors in the
bill. The conference committee may reach a
compromise approved by at least a majority of
the conferees from each house, and submit a
report to the house of origin. If adopted, the
report and bill are transmitted to the second
house. If the conference committee report is
approved in the second house, the bill is then
enrolled, printed, and sent to the Governor. A
conference report may not be amended by either
house. If the conference committee is notable to
agree, or if the report is rejected by either
house, a second conference committee is
appointed. When a second conference has met and
the two houses are still unable to agree, no
further conference is in order.
Approval by Governor
Upon receipt of
an enrolled bill, the Governor has fourteen days
to consider the bill. The Governor may:
a. Sign the bill, which then either becomes law
at the expiration of ninety days after the
Legislature adjourns sine die or on a date
beyond the ninetieth day specified in the bill.
If the bill has been given immediate effect by a
two-thirds vote of the members elected to and
serving in each house, the bill will become law
after the Governor signs the bill and files it
with the Secretary of State or on a day
specified in the bill.
b. Veto the bill and return it to the house of
origin with a message stating the Governor’s
objections.
c. Choose not to sign or veto the bill. If the
bill is neither signed nor vetoed, the bill
becomes law fourteen days after having reached
the Governor’s desk if the Legislature is in
session or in recess. If the Legislature should
adjourn sine die before the end of the fourteen
days, the unsigned bill does not become law. If
the Legislature has adjourned by the time the
bill reaches the Governor, he or she has
fourteen days to consider the bill. If the
Governor fails to approve the bill, it does not
become law.
Legislative Veto Response
If the Governor
vetoes a bill while the Legislature is in
session or recess, one of the following actions
may occur:
a. The Legislature may override the veto by a
two-thirds vote of the members elected to and
serving in each house. The bill then becomes
law.
b. The bill may not receive the necessary
two-thirds vote and thus the attempt to override
the veto will fail.
c. The bill may be tabled.
d. The bill may be re-referred to a committee.
Prepared by the Michigan Legislative Service
Bureau
http://www.michiganlegislature.org |
