From Sen. Michael Breitbach’s legislative newsletter:
This week we honored the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King on Monday and the second week of session started on Tuesday.
Since it is early in the session, I thought I might briefly explain the beginning of the legislative process. Even before session begins we are allowed to request bills to be drafted for consideration. I contact the Legislative Services Agency (a non-partisan government agency) and let them know what legislation I would like to see, they draft it in the appropriate format, and then submit it to me for approval. I review the draft and make sure I am comfortable with the language and that it accomplishes what I intend. At that point I can make changes, or approve the bill as drafted.
Once I approve a bill it is assigned a bill number and sent to the President of the Senate. The President chooses a standing committee to review the bill. The chairman of the selected committee then assigns the bill to a subcommittee. The subcommittee is normally made up of two senators from the majority party and one from the minority party.
Members of the subcommittee agree on a time to meet and, with 24 hours advance notice, a meeting is scheduled. These subcommittee meetings are normally scheduled for 30 minutes and input is taken from anyone in attendance. Two senators must sign the bill for it to advance out of subcommittee and go to the full committee for consideration.
