This is the first of three mandatory readings in each branch of the General Court. If a bill receives a favorable recommendation, the bill moves through the legislative process, which involves three occasions (known as "readings") in each branch in which a bill is considered. Often a Committee will issue a redraft when it has considered several bills on a particular subject and then issues its own preferred version, which may combine provisions from multiple bills. More frequently, the Joint Committee will redraft the bill entirely and this new draft will be assigned a new bill number by the Clerk. The Joint Committee may recommend a small number of changes to a bill in these cases, the Committee’s amendments are attached to the bill and it retains its original bill number. However, for the vast majority of bills sent to a study order, no further Committee activity takes place.
The committee issues a report to the Clerk’s office recommending that a bill “ought to pass,” (with or without an amendment adopted by the committee) “ought not to pass,” or given a study order.Ī study order authorizes the Committee to sit during recess and study this measure and similar ones and file a narrative report of its findings. The committee may meet in an Executive Session open to the public (where only committee members may speak), or it may conduct its business remotely. The deadline for the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing is later - the last Wednesday in March. Under Joint Rule 10, Joint Committees are required to report on bills not later than the first Wednesday in February of the second year of the legislative session however, committees may request and are often granted additional time. Joint Committee Executive SessionĪt some point after the Joint Committee hears a bill, the committee issues its recommendation. The committee chair may limit the time allowed to individual speakers and/or the time allowed for a particular matter. Hearings are open to the public and all interested parties may attend and address the committee. The Joint Committees must hold a hearing and issue a report on each bill before them. The list of current Joint Committees can be found on the Massachusetts General Court's website. Bills that originate in the House begin with “H” and those that originate in the Senate begin with “S.” Joint Committee Hearing The House Clerk and Senate Clerk then assign each bill a bill number and recommend the appropriate Joint Committee to hear the bill. Once a legislator's bill is filed in the House or Senate Clerk’s office, it is given an initial number (a docket number) and is recorded in a docket book, which lists all bills as they are filed.
In practice, the recommendations of the Rules committees are followed. bills filed by legislators after the January deadline) require approval by the committees on Rules of the two branches, acting concurrently, and then approval of two thirds of the members of each branch.
The Governor may file legislation at any time. on the third Friday in January of the first annual session of the General Court (legislative sessions, two years in length, begin in the odd-numbered year and end in the even numbered year). Under Joint Rule 12 of the Joint Rules of the Legislature, the bill filing deadline for legislators is 5:00 p.m. With those exceptions, any other legislation may be considered first by either branch. “Money bills,” which raise revenue, cannot be considered by the Senate until approved by the House. The annual general appropriation act, which originates in the Governor’s office, is filed in the House, which considers it first (Amendment 63 to the State Constitution). The state constitution also allows citizens to ask their legislators to present bills “by request” (these bills do not necessarily have the support of the legislators who file them). Legislation may be filed by members of the House and Senate and by the Governor. This is an explanation of how a bill becomes a law in the Massachusetts state legislature.
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