Monday, September 14, 2009
I'm Just A Bill Redux
We've all seen the Schoolhouse Rock animation "I'm Just A Bill," an elementary explanation of how a bill becomes a law. This post will provide a collegiate-level explanation of how a bill becomes a law within the context of the ASUN.
The basic steps are pretty much the same in any legislative body. A bill starts as an idea. The idea is put to paper--the bill. The bill gets introduced and referred to committee. The committee considers the bill and, if it agrees with the bill, reports it favorably back to the full house. If the full house agrees with the bill, the bill is passed. Then, in a bicameral (two house) legislature, the process starts again, with the bill as it passed the first house. In ASUN, this step is omitted, as there is no second house. When the bill has passed the legislature, it is sent on up to the chief executive, be it the president or the governor. If he agrees, it becomes law. If not, it is sent back to the house of origin together with his objections. If the legislature decides to override the veto, the bill becomes law; if not, the bill does not become law, and it continues to sit up on capitol hill. Simple, right? Well, let's add some detail. (Fair warning, this is a beast of a post.)
A Bill is an Idea
The Schoolhouse Rock song tells us that a bill starts as an idea. This post will use a prototypical bill that addresses a policy issue the Senate should take up. In April 2009, the Board of Regents changed its policy regarding the approval of student government constitutions. The new policy delegates the power of approval to the Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Previously, amendments to a student government's constitution required Board of Regents approval. This policy change makes an act of the ASUN Senate obsolete as written. The draft bill below proposes to change the ASUN policy to conform to the System policy. Desiring to do that, a draft bill might be put together, such as the one below.
Sample Discussion Draft Bill
This particular template form is used when legislation is in its preliminary drafting stage. This is essentially just an idea put to paper. Doing it this way rather than just talking about a vague, nebulous idea allows for better input to the drafter. Anyone can see clearly what the draft bill would do. If the sponsor believes it to be ready for introduction, she would file a copy looking like the one below with the Secretary of the Senate.
Sample Draft Bill
Notice this version now includes a line for the signature of a senator (Rule XV (a)(1) of the Senate's rules requires this to introduce a bill), an official title, the name of the sponsor, and it does not have the [DISCUSSION DRAFT] heading. This is the version that gets filed with the Secretary of the Senate. Upon it being received, the Secretary would assign it a bill number. Once the bill is filed, it cannot be changed except by the Senate (excepting minor typographical errors).
Introduced Bill
Once the bill is read the first time in the Senate, the bill receives its first official printing under Rule XV (c) of the Senate's Rules. That version would look like the one below.
Sample Introduced Bill
Notice the printed bill now has a number printed in the front page and on the footer of each succeeding page. The footer codes serve a purpose. "S. Res. 77-20 IS" means something. Aside from putting the bill number on each page so things can be found more easily, the code "IS" means "introduced in Senate." We'll see how the codes work later.
As far as the form and style of the printed bill, each part serves a purpose. The very top of the bill includes the bill number, the session, a copy of the official title, the house it is in, the sponsor, and to which committee the bill was referred. This stuff primarily composes the bill history. It will be on every printed copy of the bill from here on out, and will note all major actions to the bill. Then the type of legislation. If this was a resolution, it would read "RESOLUTION" instead of "A BILL." Why not "A RESOLUTION"? Just a style thing, mostly. More technically, the "A BILL" part is short for "a bill for a law." Bills create law; resolutions don't.
But wait a tick, why is the official title printed again? Technically, all the stuff mentioned before--the number, the sponsor, etc.--isn't part of the bill. From an ultra-technical standpoint, neither is the official, or long, title. Only the enacting clause and all that follows is part of the bill. But, for purposes of identification, the long title is considered part of the bill, too.
On the last page of the bill, you'll notice a funny little symbol, a circle. It's called an allmark. It's just used to signify that nothing follows.
You'll also notice each line of the bill is numbered. Together with page numbers, this will make amending the bill much easier. The size and spacing of the text also has a purpose. It makes it easier to note amendments to the bill. This is of particular use to the Secretary, who must, during the legislation's consideration in the Senate, make notes about amendments. The larger and wider spaced text allows for handwritten changes.
One copy of the printed bill is designed the master. It will be the document whose custody will be physically transferred from the Senate to the committee. This copy is authenticated by having the Senate's seal embossed into the first page. This copy is considered to be "the bill." If it goes missing, so does the bill. This is done to protect the chain of custody. Just like evidence in a crime, it is that important. Since electronic documents can be tampered with without leaving a trace more easily than paper, the physical printed copy is accorded great importance.
Committee Action
The bill is then given to the committee to which it was referred. That committee will take the bill under consideration. A committee can do several things with a bill. It can do nothing at all. That's right, it could kill a bill by not even considering it. This is called putting the bill in a drawer, like one would put junk in a desk drawer and never see it again. The committee, if it decides to take action on a bill, reports the bill. Reporting the bill consists of the committee reporting its recommendations on the bill back to the full Senate. This is done through a written report. Aye yai yai! You mean "report" can be both a noun and a verb when dealing with legislation? Yes. The committee reports legislation by filing its written report. I think this is why people hate lawyers.
A committee can report a bill favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. A bill reported favorably means the committee agrees that the bill should pass. An unfavorable report means quite the opposite. Why would a bill be reported unfavorably if the committee thinks it should not pass? Why wouldn't the committee just let the bill die in committee? One reason would be if the committee thinks the full Senate should still consider the bill. Another would be if the committee wants its reasons for opposing the bill published. A without recommendation report is just what it sounds like: the committee has no opinion either way as to whether the bill should pass.
What about amendments? Can't a committee amend a bill? Yes and no. No, a committee cannot directly amend the bill; it can only recommend that amendments be adopted by the full Senate. The bill doesn't belong to the committee but rather the full house. A committee can't do something without the permission of the full body. Think of a committee as like a child. A child (usually) can't do something without the parent's permission.
But sometimes a bill requires a lot of amendments before it will be palatable. Is there another option? Yes, the committee can report what's called a "clean bill." In this case, the committee reports a brand new bill. In ASUN, since each legislative committee has jurisdiction to report original legislation, it can do this and skip the introduction and first reading step. This can lead to an abuse of the privilege, though.
In most legislative bodies, committees cannot report original legislation. Bills have to be introduced first, referred to committee, and reported. In that kind of system, when a committee wants to report a clean bill, the chairman will introduce a new bill with the text of what the committee wants in the clean bill, the bill will be referred to committee, and the committee will automatically report it back. In ASUN, the decision was made to allow bills to originate in committees for several reasons. First, because of the Open Meeting Law, prohibiting committees from reporting original legislation would waste time. By the time a committee decides what it wants to do with a bill, they'd have to wait a several weeks just to have the "clean bill" back in their custody to report it. Second, lots of policies originate in committee. However, the system can be abused. It can tend to shift the burden of writing legislation from the senators to the committees, or its chairs. It can be used to avoid the first reading stage, a stage that is critical not only for initial review, but to allow other senators to know what is being proposed. Requiring a first reading allows the public to know exactly what the committees are considering because the legislation is already written. When committees report original legislation, they rarely work from written drafts. Instead, the bill is "conceptual." The committee will vote on what should be in the bill, but it will be up to usually the chairman to write the actual bill.
Committee Amendments
In the case of our prototypical bill, we'll suppose that the committee believes there should be some amendments to the bill. A senator sitting on the committee believes that the organization of the language on page 3 should be changed. Further, the senator believes that the requirement that legal counsel be consulted before a Senate vote should have teeth. Thus, he proposes the following amendment.
Sample Amendment
The amendment looks a lot like a bill, but with some noticeable differences. First, not every line is numbered. Only when blocks of material are to be inserted into the bill are the lines numbered. This is to assist making amendments to the amendment, or second-degree amendments. The page and line numbers are referenced to the printed introduced copy. It also has a different allmark.
Notice the shift in the mood, too. Amendments in the bill are drafted in the indicative mood. This is because amendatory bill are drafted on the assumption that the amendments are self-executing, without intervention or action by others. Example: "Section 12 of the ABC Act is amended by striking 'XX' and inserting 'YY'.".
Amendments to bills (or to other amendments) are drafted on the assumption that they are instructions to the committee or to the Senate (or to their clerks), and are stated in the imperative mood. Example: "Page 2, beginning on line 13, strike 'XX' and insert 'YY'.". This use condones wider use of general amendments, such as "... and redesignate the following sections accordingly".
Notice also that the amendments in the amendment are listed in the order in which they appear in the bill. That is because an amendment cannot be made to a section of a bill until that section has been read and is open for amendment.
Notice also that an amendment to the title of the bill is proposed. Why does the amendment to the title come last and not first? Parliamentarily speaking, amendments to the title of a piece of legislation are not in order until the legislation has passed. This allows for the title to reflect what is actually in the legislation. It wouldn’t make much sense to agree to a title only to be bound by what it says.
Bored yet? Hey, nobody said the legislative process was easy. You know the saying about making laws and sausages.
Let's say that our committee has adopted the proposed amendment and has decided to report the bill to the Senate favorably with amendments. The next step is to prepare the report and the reported bill.
Committee Report and Reported Bill
The reported copy of the bill is below.
Sample Reported Bill
Some things immediately stand out. The bill number now includes a report number. This number signifies that, in our example, that this was the 12th report filed this session, meaning that 11 pieces of legislation were reported with reports before it. But notice what didn't change: the title of the bill. But didn't the committee amend the title? Remember, committees can't amend bills, but can only make recommendations as to amendment to the full Senate.
On page 3 of the reported bill, you'll notice language struck through and inserted. This shows the literal changes that are made to the bill if the committee's amendments were to be adopted. This makes it easier to see what the committee is recommending. Compare that to the legal text of the amendment.
The document also has a new page at the end. It's the bill number, report number, title, and abbreviated history again. This is called an endorsement. Just like with checks, it goes on the back of the bill (that is, the back side of the last page). There is no allmark in this version. The endorsement stands in its place. Notice the code "RS" in the footer of the bill. This means "reported in Senate." There are other codes for different parliamentary situations a bill could be in. Below is a sampling of the more common codes.
The reported legislation is accompanied by a written report. An example report for this prototypical legislation is below.
Sample Report
The report is the written explanation of the committee's consideration and recommendations. First, a look at the elements. The report is headed with the report number, the same as is printed on the bill. Then is the official title. Again, it is the title of the bill as it was introduced, because only the Senate can change the title upon passage of the bill. The next line is the date it was filed, or reported, to the Senate. The next line shows who filed the report (usually the chairman--in this case "Chairman" is being used as a placeholder for a surname) and the committee filing the report. With the text showing the kind of report, it shows that this is just a straight REPORT. If it included minority, dissenting, or supplemental views, it would say so below. The report's narrative then begins.
The first paragraph tells us the nitty gritty. The committee, which legislative measure, its title, whether it was reported by a recorded vote or not (roll call vote), how the committee is reporting (i.e. favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation), and whether it is with or without amendments.
The next section is the purpose and summary. This is usually a short paragraph discussing the bill in general.
Next comes an explanation of the background and need. This explains the reasons why the legislation is needed and gives sufficient background to put the legislation in context.
In this prototypical report, next comes the text of committee amendments. It prints the legal text of amendments adopted by the committee without commentary. Once the bill is read the second time in the Senate, these amendments will be voted on first.
Next comes a sectional analysis of the bill. Here the goal is to summarize in less technical terms the provisions of each section of the bill. Think of it as CliffsNotes for legislation.
Then, there is a constitutional authority statement which describes the authority under which the Senate is enacting this legislation. For most bills, it will be under Article II, section 3(a)(1), which grants the Senate its general legislative powers.
The last section shows changes to existing to law being proposed in the bill as reported. This is called a comparative print. It makes it easier to see what the legal changes in the bill do against the existing text of the law. The asterisks show that parts of the law have been omitted from the print; only the parts being changed are printed.
And that's your typical report when changes are being made to existing law.
Now, you might be thinking, why go to all this trouble to write a 7-page report to explain an 8-page piece of legislation? Doesn't the bill speak for itself? Besides, all the members of the committee know what the bill does, and so too will the 22 members of the Senate when the bill is debated at second reading.
It is true, creating a report is a lot of work. But it's not just for the senators. It's also for the public, the Judicial Council when it must interpret the law, for the executive branch to better understand the law, and so there is a complete record of the rationale for the legislation. In other words, it is to put into writing the reasons why the Senate decided to act.
There are benefits to the senators, though, as well. First, it allows senators to better prepare for debate on a piece of legislation. The report must be filed in advance of the Senate meeting by 4 working days. The agenda for a Senate meeting is published 3 working days before a meeting. That gives senators (and the public) Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to review the items for the next agenda. Imagine walking into a Senate meeting having only the legalistic piece of legislation and knowing nothing of the "why" it was proposed.
Since the agenda and other materials are made available to the public at the same time they are made available to the Senate, the public has the opportunity to participate in the meeting if an issue of interest is being discussed.
These reports are a permanent record, so years later a senator could refer to them if another change in the law is necessary. It preserves institutional memory, a constant problem for student governments where turnover is extraordinary from year to year. As much of a resource as advisers can be in transferring institutional memory, they can be selective about the information they share. With a committee report written by the students who considered the legislation, there can be no doubt as to the veracity of the information.
Okay, enough about reports. Now it's time for the Senate's consideration.
Senate Consideration
When the bill is up for second reading, the Speaker will direct the Secretary to "report" the bill. In this case, the Secretary will read the bill number and its title. The first question will be on agreeing to the committee amendments en bloc, meaning all together. A motion does not need to be made to adopt the amendments. Since the bill is being reported favorably from a committee, and since committees have more than a single senator, the motion and second is assumed. The chairman of the committee might explain the amendments and urge their adoption. The committee's amendments are usually adopted without much fuss, because there will be further opportunity for amendment immediately afterward.
Once the committee amendments are disposed of, the bill then gets its second reading. Usually, a bill is read by sections. If a reading in full is demanded, this literally means the Secretary reads the bill, incorporating any amendments already adopted. At each section, the Chair asks if there are any amendments to that section just read. Under parliamentary procedure, a section cannot be amended until it is open for amendment, meaning that the section has been read. Often, the reading is dispensed with by unanimous consent, either in full or it is done to skip by sections to which there are no amendments offered.
Floor Amendments
Let's say in this example, the bill is read by sections and a senator has an amendment to section 3 of the bill. Section 3 gets read, or a senator asks unanimous consent that the bill be considered as read through section 3, and a senator offers an amendment. This is called a floor amendment, because it is offered on the floor rather than in committee.
Floor amendments are drafted just like a committee amendment, except the page and line number references will be to the reported version of the bill. An example floor amendment to the bill is below.
Sample Floor Amendment
In this example, the senator offering the amendment noticed some loopholes in the point of order procedure used to enforce the new rules. First, on page 5, subsection (b), it is unclear whether the waiver must be in advance of the meeting the resolution will be considered or whether it can be done at the same meeting. If it's the latter option, it conflicts with subsection (d) because a question of consideration only requires a majority vote to adopt. Thus, there's no point in waiving the rules under a two-thirds threshold when a question of consideration can be adopted by only a majority. The amendment is crafted to resolve that ambiguity.
Let's say another senator has a question about how this change would apply to any constitutional amendment pending in the Senate. This senator decides that the new law should apply to any amendment that is pending in the Senate. Thus, he offered this second floor amendment.
Sample Floor Amendment 2
Notice that the section number isn't listed in this amendment. This is done so that the Secretary can insert the correct section number should other sections be added or deleted from the bill. If a number was added, and it turned out to be the wrong number, the Senate would have to amend it, or grant the Secretary the authority to make the appropriate technical or conforming correction (this is usually done anyway). Otherwise, you could end up with duplicate sections or a gap in sequence.
Amendments when offered on the floor have to be seconded. Let's say the two amendments above passed.
Once the bill has been read through the end, the whole bill is open for amendment. This is when substitute amendments could be offered. Substitute amendments strike the text of the entire bill and replace it with something else. The amendment must be germane to the bill, however, or the Open Meeting Law could be violated.
If there is no intervening motion to postpone, table, recommit, or whatever, and there is no further debate on the bill, the question is on the bill's passage, as amended. Again, this requires no motion because the motion is assumed. If the bill passes, it is sent to enrollment. Immediately after passage, if there was an amendment to the title reported by committee, the Speaker would announce that the title was amended without objection and read how. If there was no amendment to the title reported by committee, but floor amendments necessitate a change in the title, the chair of the reporting committee would ask for unanimous consent to amendment the title. This is done after passage of the bill.
Another thing that can be done immediately after passage is to direct the Secretary to make necessary technical and conforming corrections to section numbers, punctuation, and spelling to accurately reflect the actions of the Senate. Sometimes, so many amendments are made to a bill that it may not be noticed until enrollment that section numbers were skipped, duplicated, or just all messed up. This authority allows the Secretary to just do it upon enrolling the bill.
So let's say that the bill passed as amended. It's now time for enrollment.
Enrollment
Enrollment is the process by which an enrolled bill is created. The enrolled bill is the printed bill prepared for the President. It incorporates the text of the bill and any amendments made to it. If reflects the actions of the Senate exactly. If the Senate made what is an obvious mistake, it must appear in the bill. The enrolled bill represents a written memorial of the Senate's actions taken by vote.
The enrolled version of the bill as it passed the Senate is below.
Sample Enrolled Bill
Immediately apparent is the change in appearance. This format is for enrolled bills and resolutions only. Resolutions typically are not enrolled in this format unless they are directed outside of the Senate. In this particular example, the original bill number is in the header of page 1, the name of the legislative body is next, then which session of the Senate, the location of the session and the date it began. Then comes the literal text of the bill that passed the Senate. At this point, it is no longer called a bill, but an act. Next is the official title of the legislation. Next is the enacting clause, and after that is the literal text of the bill as it passed the Senate, incorporating all of the amendments. On each subsequent page is the bill number again and the page number.
On the last page is the signature block for the Speaker of the Senate and the President. These blocks should not stand alone (i.e. there should be some bill text run-in with the signature blocks, even if a page break must be inserted). Sometimes the Speaker isn't always available to sign enrolled bills. If that is the case, a designated Speaker pro tempore can sign (see Senate Rule XIX (b)(4)). If this is known in advance, the printed line can be changed; if not, "pro tempore" can be handwritten in. On the back of the last page is what's called an endorsement. The endorsement serves to certify that the bill was correctly enrolled. The Secretary signs this.
The reason for the appearance change is twofold. One, it makes it readily apparent that this bill passed the Senate. Two, the smaller, tighter line-spaced text makes it harder to alter without leaving signs of tampering. Since enrolled bills are typically printed (with rare exception), any handwritten alterations will immediately be suspect.
Enrolled bills are printed on different paper than everything else. They are printed on watermarked paper with at least 25 percent cotton content. This is to ensure the authenticity of enrolled legislation, as well as its permanence. An enrolled bill is printed only once, again to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the bill. If two were ever to be printed, and there was a difference between the two, it could be difficult to determine which one is the actual bill. Printing one bill ensures that a chain of custody can be maintained. Also, if there is ever any dispute between subsequent printings of the bill (slip law, Statutes at Large, etc.), interested parties can go directly to the enrolled bill.
As was said earlier, an enrolled bill is what is presented to the President. This is usually done by the Secretary, and Senate Rules and ASUN law govern this process. It must be done in person, and the time/date of presentment is noted in a journal kept by the Secretary. The date of receipt is also stamped on the first page of the bill, in the left hand margin. This is important because the President only has five working days within which to consider legislation. If the clock runs out without either signing it, vetoing it, or pocket vetoing it (when the Senate has adjourned, thereby preventing the bill's return), it automatically becomes a law. If the President chooses to sign the bill, he simply signs it and stamps or writes in the date of approval.
Presidential Action, Veto
In our example, we are going to have the President veto this bill, just so we can see the additional procedural steps. When the President chooses to veto a bill, he simply returns it to the Senate without his signature. He also includes a veto message. An example of a veto message is below.
Sample Veto Message
The beginning of the veto message is governed by law, so there is a pattern to follow. The message is addressed to the Senate, the veto is set out with the bill number and its title, and then the President explains his reasons for vetoing the bill.
Reconsideration After Veto
When a bill is vetoed, the Senate can pass it over the President's objections with a two-thirds vote. In the Senate, when it is time to take up the veto message, the veto is read, the bill is read, and then the question is, "Shall the bill pass, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding?" A motion can be made to refer to committee, in essence killing the veto override. A vetoed bill cannot be amended, so sending it to a committee is basically a pointless exercise. The Senate already decided to pass it once. A committee saying yes, we should pass it again, is meaningless. More typical is a straight up or down vote is given. A vetoed bill cannot be amended because it must be considered in the form in which the President did. If the Senate decides that the bill needs amendments, perhaps to settle the President's concerns, a whole new bill is needed.
In our example, the Senate decides to override the veto. They found the President's objections to be unreasonable. It takes two-thirds of the senators present, a quorum being present, to override the veto.
When the veto is overridden, the Secretary prepares a certificate stating that. This is done by printing into place a new certificate on the back of the last page of the bill, above the endorsement. This can be done by printing or by typewriter. An example of the bill with the new certificate is below.
Sample Enrolled Bill With Veto Override
The only difference is the veto override certificate. (Note: in our examples, the stamped dates of receipt are omitted). The next step for this enrolled bill, which is now a law, is to be transmitted to the Archivist of the Associated Students.
Assignment of Public Law Number
The Archivist is charged with preserving the original enrolled bill, assigning it a statute number, and promulgating the law. The statute number is stamped or typed in the header of the first page, in the center of the bill. The statute number, or public law number, looks like this:
Public Law 77 - ##, where the first number is the session of the Senate and the second number is the serial order in which it became law, through the President's signature, by default, or by an overridden veto. This number is assigned so it can be determined in what order bills became law. Remember, bill numbers signify the order in which they were introduced in the Senate, not the order in which they became law. Since many more bills will be introduced than will become law, it makes sense to assign a new number. Below is an example of an enrolled bill, from a previous session, with the statute number assigned.
ASUN Public Law 75-54
The date the Archivist received the bill is stamped in the right hand margin of the first page, similarly to the date of receipt by the President. After those steps are performed, the enrolled bill is locked away for preservation.
Publication of Law in Slip Form
The next step is to promulgate the law. Promulgation means to disseminate the text of the law. The way this is done in ASUN is by publication. The Archivist prepares what is known as a slip law. It's called a slip law because it is printed all by itself, like a slip or pamphlet; it isn't bound. It is in a different format than the enrolled bill, but carries the literal text of the bill and some additional information. At the end of a session of the Senate, the slip laws are bound together into a volume of session laws, all the laws that were passed in one session. In ASUN, this is called the Associated Students Statutes at Large. More about that later. Below is an example of a slip law.
Sample Slip Law
The slip law is in yet another format. It is the same format that will appear in the ASUN Statutes at Large. Slip laws are competent evidence in ASUN courts. The slip law starts with the public law number in the header with the date it became a law. The pages are numbered in series for a volume of the ASUN Statutes at Large. In this example 77 ASUN Stat. 23 also becomes a legal citation. It shows us that the law is printed at volume 77 of the ASUN Statutes at Large beginning at page 23. The literal text of the act is once again laid out, but in this print side notes are sometimes inserted. This is used as a reference tool to find provisions of particular importance, as well as making reference to other laws in the same volume. Sometimes a law amends a previous law enacted during the same session. If that is the case, a side note is inserted to show the page of the amended law. If you browse through the 75th Session's ASUN Statutes at Large, you'll see several examples of these side notes.
On the last page of the slip law print is a brief legislative history. This is used for reference.
When a session of the Senate has closed, it is time for the Archivist to prepare the Associated Students Statutes at Large. This is a volume that contains all of the laws passed at a session of the Senate, resolutions agreed to by the Senate, proclamations by the President, and the text of proposed and ratified constitutional amendments. Basically, this single volume becomes a record of the official acts of one session of the Senate.
ASUN Statutes At Large
Remember how the slip laws are already paginated. This was for good reason. Basically, if you collected all of the slip laws and bound them together, you'd have the public laws section of the ASUN Statutes at Large. The idea with the pagination is to create a permanent formal legal citation. If the page numbers changed, you'd have to wait until the volume was published in order to cite the law properly.
This volume also makes a great reference work because of the legislative history printed after each law. With this one volume, you can find the text of bills as they were introduced, report numbers, the volume of the printed Senate minutes where the debate on the law is printed, and some other information. And, according to ASUN law, when a bill appears in the Statutes at Large, it is assumed to be legal evidence of the law. That is why it is absolutely imperative that the Archivist print the bill exactly, down to the very last comma, as it was enacted, no matter how obvious an error might be.
Below is an example of a complete volume of the Associated Students Statutes at Large, including its indexes.
Associated Students Statutes at Large Volume 75--Unofficial
And that completes the legislative process for a bill. Rinse and repeat for each new bill.
Now, that's how the process was designed to work in ASUN. Actual practice may vary, largely because no one is teaching this process.
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Law school must be teaching you well Sean.
ReplyDeleteLaw school? This is stuff from high school.
ReplyDelete