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How a bill becomes law
When the General Assembly adjourns this year, legislators will have considered scores of bills in the span of 40 working days. Legislation has to follow a specific path to become a law.
A lawmaker introduces legislation in either the House or the Senate. The bill sits for two days and is assigned to a committee.
Committees, small groups of lawmakers who consider legislation related to a particular area, hold hearings on the bill. The committee can change the bill or pass it back to the legislature intact. Some bills never make it out of committee, effectively killing them.
Once back in the House or Senate, the bill is put on a calendar and scheduled for a vote. Calendars can get packed with bills in the final days of the session. Some bills never make it to a vote.
On the floor, lawmakers can debate about and vote on the bill. They can amend the bill, pass the bill, kill it or pass it back to committees for more work.
When passed, the bill goes to the other house of the legislature. For instance, if the House passes a bill, it goes to the Senate.
If the other house changes the bill, the House and Senate assign a small team of lawmakers to come up with a compromise that both bodies can vote on.
To become law, a bill needs at least 91 votes in the House and 29 in the Senate.
Once approved, the governor can sign or veto the bill. A two-thirds vote in both houses of the General Assembly can override a gubernatorial veto.
The bill is now a law.
What's going on with the bill? Track it!
By phone
Call the House Clerk at 404-656-5015 or the Secretary of the Senate at 404-656-5040, who can answer some questions on the status of bills. They also can mail legislation to you; the House Clerk can mail, but not fax, copies of legislation. The Senate will do both, but won’t fax an item more than 10 pages. Neither office charges for the first 100 pages of copies. After that, it’s 10 cents a page. TIP: It helps if you know the number of the bill or resolution, but sometimes staffers can track legislation down with only a general subject.
In person
You can obtain bill copies from the House Clerk (Room 309) and the Secretary of the Senate (Room 351).
On the Web
Visit the General Assembly at www.legis.state.ga.us. Web visitors can pull up all the bills being considered, all amendments and roll call votes. The site includes the entire up-to-date Georgia code. Site operators said they will have live audio coverage for the House sessions and the Senate. The Web also will have general information, plus a list of lawmakers, their background information and committee meeting schedules. However, the Web site will be a day behind actual legislative activity. For example, if on a Tuesday the House passes a bill, the Web site won’t list the information until Wednesday.
Know your legislator!
Lee Hawkins Senate
District 49
Address: 4710 Jim Hood Road, Gainesville, 30506
District phone: 770-983-0960 Capitol address: 304-A Coverdell building, Atlanta, 30334
Capitol phone: 404-656-6578
E-mail: lee.hawkins@legis.state.ga.us
Committees: Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, secretary; Health and Human Services; Natural Resources and the Environment; Reapportionment and Redistricting, vice chairman; State and Local Governmental Operations, chairman
James Mills
House District 25
District address: 3948 Kilgore Falls Drive, Gainesville 30507
District phone: 770-967-6801
Capitol address: Room 228, State Capitol, Atlanta, 30334
Capitol phone: 404-656-5099
E-mail: james.mills@house.ga.gov
Committees: Appropriations; Banks and Banking, chairman; Rules; Ways and Means
Carl Rogers
House District 26
District address: P.O. Box 639, Gainesville 30503
District phone: 770-532-9484
Capitol address: Room 245, State Capitol, Atlanta, 30334
E-mail: carl.rogers@house.ga.gov
Committees: Appropriations (Economic Development, vice-chairman); Insurance; Natural Resources; Environment; Transportation
Doug Collins
House District 27
District address: 4833 T Martin Road, Gainesville, 30506
District phone: 770-983-2223
Capitol address: 504 Coverdell Building, Atlanta, 30334
Capitol phone: 404-656-0188
E-mail: doug.collins@house.ga.gov
Committees: Children and Youth, Judiciary Non-Civil; Public Safety and Homeland Security; Health and Human Services
Tommy Benton
House District 31
District address: 177 Martin St., Jefferson, 30549
District phone: 706-367-5891
Capitol address: 501 Coverdell Building, Atlanta, 30334
Capitol phone: 404-656-0177
E-mail: tommy.benton@house.ga.gov
Committees: Education, secretary; Natural Resources and the Environment; Retirement; Transportation
Stephen Allison*
House District 8
District address: 90 Blue Ridge St., Blairsville, 30512
District phone: 706-781-3929
E-mail: stephen@
allison08.com
Rick Austin*
House District 10
District address: 1590 Double Springs Rd., Demorest, 30535
District phone: 706-778-7783
E-mail: raustin@
piedmont.edu
Michael Harden*
House District 28
District address: P.O. Box 1189, Toccoa, 30577
District phone: 706-779-3279
E-mail: michael@
voteharden.com
Jim Butterworth
Senate District 50
District address: P.O. Box 2000, Cornelia, 30531
Capitol address: 325-B Coverdell Building, Atlanta, 30334
Capitol phone: 404-463-1367
E-mail: jim.butterworth@senate.ga.gov
Committees: Economic Development, secretary; State and Local Government Operations; Veterans, Military and Homeland Security; Education and Youth; Retirement
*Committee and office assignements for new House members will be announced this week.