Friday, April 9, 2021
The General Assembly will soon begin the final phase of the lawmaking process. Now that both chambers have reviewed and voted on legislation authored in the opposite chamber, bills will either go straight to the governor for consideration or be subject to further review by lawmakers.
Bills that passed both chambers without amendments go straight to the governor for consideration.
However, bills that were amended in the other chamber will return to their chamber of origin. Bill authors have the option to concur, or approve, the amended bill, which would then move to the governor's desk following an affirmative vote from the chamber of origin. Bill authors also have the option to dissent, or disagree, and from there, the bill would go to a conference committee.
In a conference committee, one member of each caucus of each chamber – one Senate Republican and Democrat, and one House Republican and Democrat – sit down to find a version of the bill that everyone can agree on. The agreed-upon bill will then be subject to a final vote in each chamber before going to the governor for consideration.
Conference committee meetings will be scheduled at least one hour in advance, and the schedule can be viewed here.
These meetings take place over the remainder of the legislative session, which is anticipated to conclude by April 21.
