The Idaho Legislative Process

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The Idaho Legislative Process

• How a Bill Becomes
• A Law
• Idaho
  Council on Developmental DisABILITIES

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As Introduced
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As Amended in Committee
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As Amended on Second Reading
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As Enacted
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As Funded by Joint Budget Committee
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As Implemented by the State Agency
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As Reported by the Media
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As Understood by the Public

• ???

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What Was Actually Needed
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The Process

• Someone has a great idea

• They contact their Senator or Representative

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• Legislation is drafted (first step is Routing
  Slip or RS)

• The Senator or Representative will introduce the
  RS in Committee

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OR

• A State Agency identifies a need

• The Agency drafts legislation

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• The Agency will work with a Senator or
  Representative to introduce the RS in Committee

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The Committee will

• Vote to print the legislation it will be sent to
  Legislative Services to review and be given a
  bill
• number

• Vote not to print the legislation Try again,
  later in the session or next year

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Once a bill is printed

• After being printed and receiving a bill number
  (H in the House and S in the Senate), the
  bill goes to the First Reading Calendar on the
  Floor of the chamber
• On First Reading, the bill is introduced and
  assigned to a committee

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Committee hearing and action
The committee will put the bill on the agenda for
consideration during a meeting. They will take
public comment at that time. After hearing about
the bill and its impact, they will do one of 4
things

• Table or Hold the bill in Committee for further
  discussion or testimony
• OR

• Vote not to support the bill this means the bill
  is dead for the session
• OR

• Vote to send the bill to the floor either with a
  recommendation to pass or no recommendation
• OR

• Vote to send the bill to the Amending Order to
  change the bill on the floor

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The bill goes to the floor and

• 1. The bill appears on the Second Reading
  Calendar

• 2. On Third Reading, the bills sponsor will rise
  to explain the bill and open debate. The
  Senators or Representatives will debate the good
  and bad points of the bill until the Lieutenant
  Governor (in the Senate) or the Speaker of the
  House (in the House of Representatives) asks the
  sponsor to close debate and then . . .

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The Vote ?

• If a majority of the House
• or Senate vote yes, then
• the Bill will move to the
• opposite side of the rotunda
• to the House or the Senate.
• If a majority of the
• members vote no,
• then the bill is dead.

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The bill is introduced in the other chamber

• On First Reading, the bill is introduced and
  assigned to a committee
• The bill will be sent to a committee the
  Chairperson will decide if/when the bill will be
  considered by the committee.
• The sponsor from the other side will work with
  the Committee Chairperson to identify a committee
  member to carry the bill in this committee.

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Just like the first Committee, this Committee
will
put the bill on the agenda for consideration
during a meeting. They will take public comment
at that time. After hearing about the bill and
its impact, they will do one of 4 things

• Table or Hold the bill in Committee for further
  discussion or testimony
• OR

• Vote not to support the bill this means the bill
  is dead for the session
• OR

• Vote to send the bill to the floor either with a
  recommendation to pass or no recommendation
• OR

• Vote to send the bill to the Amending Order to
  change the bill on the floor

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Once again, the bill goes to the floor and

• 1. The bill appears on the Second Reading Calendar

• 2. On Third Reading, the bills sponsor will rise
  to explain the bill and open debate. The
  Senators or Representatives will debate the good
  and bad points of the bill until the Lieutenant
  Governor (in the Senate) or the Speaker of the
  House (in the House of Representatives) asks the
  sponsor to close debate and then . . .

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The Next Vote ?

• If a majority of the House or Senate
  vote yes, then the Bill will move to
  the Governors desk

• If a majority of the members vote no, then
  the bill is dead.

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Some things worth mentioning

• If a bill is amended in the second chamber, it
  must go back to the original chamber for approval
  of the amendments
• Concurrent and Joint Resolutions and Memorials
  are handled somewhat differently from bills for
  example, a Concurrent Resolution creating a
  legislative study committee, after passing both
  chambers, is held by leadership until the end of
  the session and then the leaders decide which
  study committees will be authorized

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• The Joint Finance Appropriations Committee
  develops and approves all budget bills no public
  testimony is allowed during this process,
  although the Committee sometimes seeks input from
  the germane committee chairs or other experts.

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The Governor can

• Sign the bill into law
• Veto the bill, killing it for the year
• Not sign the bill, but allow it to become law
  without his signature

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After the Bill is signed,

• The appropriate agency will draft rules and
  regulations implementing the law these can be
  just as important as the law itself, and the
  legislature must approve them at the next session

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Some interesting factoids

• There are 105 legislators in Idaho 35 in the
  Senate and 70 in the House this means that every
  Idahoan has 3 people representing them in the
  legislature
• All Idaho legislators serve 2-year terms
• Until 1969, the legislature met every other
  year now it meets every year starting on the
  Monday on or closest to January 9
• The longest legislative session was 118 days in
  2003 the shortest sessions were 68 days in 1995,
  1996, 1999, and 2002.
• In the 2008 session, 635 bills were introduced
  and 413 (65) passed most bills were introduced
  in 1994 (860) and the most bills that were passed
  was in 2000 (487).

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More interesting factoids

• The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate
  and the Speaker of the House presides over the
  House of Representatives
• In the Senate, votes are taken by roll call in
  the House, members vote electronically by pushing
  a button at their desk
• Currently there are 14 House committees and 10
  Senate committees all meetings are open to the
  public
• Idaho is one of 17 states that has a citizen
  legislature part-time, low salaries, few staff
  and lawmakers have other jobs
• In 1890, legislators were paid 5/day now they
  are paid 15,646/year plus 1,700 in office
  expenses for the session

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Tracking Legislation

• Now you know the process, but how can you track a
  bill?
• On line
• Go to www.legislature.idaho.gov
• Select the Legislation link
• Select the Mini-Data Bill Status information
  link, then choose the bill number you want, OR
• Select Legislative Topic Index to bills which
  groups bills by topic in alphabetical order and
  choose the bill number you want

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Tracking Legislation

• On line contd
• When you click on the bill number, it will give
  you an outline of what has happened with the bill
  since introduction
• For example
• 01/31 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
• 02/01 Rpt prt - to Jud (this means the Judiciary
  Committee)
• 02/14 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
• 02/15 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
• 02/19 3rd rdg - PASSED - 69-0-1 Then it will list
  the names of all who voted for or against the
  bill
• It will also tell you the same information for
  the other chamber
• It will NOT give you information about what
  happened to the bill in a committee except if it
  received a recommendation to pass

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Tracking Legislation

• On-line contd
• After listing what has happened with the bill, it
  will provide
• the full text of the bill
• the Statement of Purpose (SOP) a plain language
  version of what the bill does
• the fiscal impact what the bill will cost the
  state
• legislative sponsors or other contacts, with
  phone numbers

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Tracking Legislation

• You can also track legislation by
• Attending legislative committee meetings
• Checking the websites of other organizations or
  agencies
• Networking with others who share your concerns
• Reading the newspaper, watching TV
• Getting legislative alerts from organizations

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Some helpful websites

• Idaho Legislature Home Page
  http//www.legislature.idaho.gov
• State of Idaho Home Page
• http//www.idaho.gov
• Council on Developmental Disabilities Home Page
• http//www.icdd.idaho.gov
• State Independent Living Council Home Page
• http//www.silc.idaho.gov