Chamber: The debate is limited by the rules formulated in the Committee on the Rules of Procedure. The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill, but technically it cannot pass it. The debate is conducted by the sponsorship committee and time is shared equally between supporters and opponents. The committee decides how much time is allocated to each person. Changes must relate to the subject of an invoice – no driver is allowed. The bill reports to the House of Representatives (to itself) and is passed. A call for a quorum is a vote to ensure that a sufficient number of members are present (218) to have a final vote. If there is no quorum, the House will postpone or send the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest the missing Members. The deliberations and decisions of the Committee shall take place in executive session.

A majority must be present to act. The public can watch committees in executive session as they hold their final vote on a bill. All bills that appropriate money are sent to the House Budget Committee or the Senate Finance Committee, either initially or after a favorable field action for bills sent to other committees. The Budget or Finance Committee then follows the same procedure as a public hearing and a committee report. When it is introduced in the Senate, a bill is presented to the Office of Introduction and Revision, where it is examined and corrected, numbered, sent to the appropriate standing committee, entered into the Senate computer, which would have received first and second reading and will be printed. (By the way, “first reading,” “second reading,” and “third reading” are terms that have persisted in the legislative vocabulary since the time each bill was read in its entirety three times in open session before final action could be taken.) After a bill is introduced, a brief description of the bill, called a legend, is read aloud during the session of the House so that all Members are informed of the bill and its subject matter. This is called first reading, and it is the time in the process when the chair refers the bill to a committee. This task will be announced at first reading of the bill in the House. The bill was read for the first time and then referred by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the Committee on The Judiciary, Rules and Administration for printing. In the Senate, the bill is referred by the Speaker of the Senate to the Judicial and Rules Committee for printing. Once the bill is printed, it is the subject of a report by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Speaker of the Senate and is referred to a standing committee. If a bill has been passed by both Houses, it is sent to the Committee of Registered Invoices for Registration.

The committee is carefully reviewing the bill for clerical errors or formal imperfections. In the event of such errors, it shall notify both Chambers for amendment only in such detail. The legislature meets annually to draft new laws and find solutions to the problems of the state. This session, which begins on the second Tuesday in January and lasts 140 days, is called a regular session. The Governor may also request that the Legislative Assembly meet at other times. These meetings, called special sessions, may not last more than 30 days and relate only to matters chosen by the governor. This method allows all members of Parliament to have access to the language of a bill and opens it up to the suggestions and opinions of Members who like the essential ideas of the bill but do not agree with the sponsor in one or more details of the law. Since amendments are tabled in public, all Members can also ask questions and discuss the merits of the proposed amendments. After receiving a bill, the governor has 10 days to sign the bill, veto it, or make it law without a signature.

If the governor vetoes the bill and the Legislative Assembly is still in session, the bill is sent back to the House where it was created, with an explanation of the governor`s objections. A two-thirds majority in each chamber is required to override the veto. If the governor does not reject or sign the bill within 10 days, the law becomes law. If a bill is sent to the Governor within 10 days of the final adjournment, the Governor has up to 20 days after the final adjournment to sign, veto or make the bill law without signature. House: The law is delivered to the Secretary of the House or placed in the funnel. Senate: Members of Parliament must receive recognition from the Speaker to announce the introduction of a bill at the morning hour. If a senator objects, the bill is deferred until the next day. A report entitled “Should Exist”, “Should Be Adopted”, “Should Be Adopted”, “Inappropriate for Legislation”, “Reference to Interim Study” or “Refer back to Committee” must be submitted to the Clerk of the Senate or House of Representatives. Referral to the Committee is a report of the Committee only at the first annual meeting; A report of the committee will not be referred for interim consideration until the second annual meeting. A committee or subcommittee of the House of Representatives that holds a public hearing during a Parliament must announce the hearing at least five calendar days before the hearing during a regular session and at least 24 hours in advance during a special session. For a formal meeting or working session, written notice must be sent to each member of the committee two hours before the meeting, or an announcement must be submitted to the Clerk of the Journal and read while the House is meeting.

A Senate committee or subcommittee must announce a meeting at least 24 hours before the meeting. If a committee identifies a bill and does not recommend amending it or taking other measures to prevent it from entering the field, the bill will be included in the second reading schedule. In the following, I have described how our legislative process works. As an example, I chose a piece of legislation that I introduced, the Diesel Emission Reduction Act, 2005, and I show how that legislation went from an idea to a new law. When a bill is introduced, the representative of the Senate is responsible for deciding which committee will examine the bill. The Chair of the Committee may decide to hold a hearing to review the legislation. During a hearing, committee members invite political experts, representatives of organizations and other stakeholders to testify on how the bill will affect the country. After one or more hearings, the chair of the committee may decide to hold a “markup” in which committee members debate, amend and ultimately vote for or against the bill. If the majority of the members of the committee vote in favour of the bill, it is brought to the Senate, where each senator has the opportunity to examine and debate the bill. Sometimes, laws that are less controversial than amendments are incorporated into larger related bills to speed up the legislative process. After a positive vote by a committee, the bill is sent back to the entire Senate for a vote. Here, the Senate Majority Leader is responsible for deciding when to put a bill to a vote and what kind of vote he needs.

Sometimes a non-controversial bill will be “hotlined,” meaning that the majority leader and minority leader – after consulting with their Senate colleagues – agree to pass the law unanimously and without a recorded vote to buy time by implementing the law faster. Often, however, the bill requires more debate and needs to be discussed in detail in the Senate. During the debate in plenary, each senator has the opportunity to speak for or against a bill, and several votes are cast to pass the bill through the legislative process. After much debate and deliberation, the Majority Leader can schedule a vote with all senators. If this path is taken, a series of votes must take place for a bill to pass the Senate. First, the Senate must agree to consider the bill by voting on a “follow-up motion” indicating the beginning of debate. Once all senators have had an opportunity to discuss the bill, a “motion to end debate” or a “close vote” is introduced, which then brings the Senate to a final vote on the bill. Once a bill is drafted, it is introduced in the Chamber of Deputies by a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate. Sometimes similar bills on a particular issue are introduced in both chambers at the same time by a representative and a senator working together. However, any bill that raises taxes or raises funds for the state must begin in the House of Representatives. Once the conference committee has resolved any discrepancies between the House of Representatives` and The Senate`s version of the bill, each chamber must vote again to approve the final bill.

Once each chamber has approved the bill, the bill is sent to the President. The president then makes the decision whether or not to sign the law.