Legislative Reference Guide

While the legislative process for pension legislation can become rather complicated and
drawn-out, there are certain basic steps that must always occur. The steps are as follows and are described in more detail in IMRF's Legislative Reference Guide.

How does the General Assembly work?

What are the steps in the Legislative Process?

1. Draft the bill.
2. The bill is introduced in the first chamber.
3. The bill goes to the legislative committee.
4. The bill goes to the full chamber.
5. The bill goes to the second chamber and repeats the process.
6. The bill goes to the Governor and is signed into law.
   
   Note that while all of these steps must occur before a bill becomes law, a bill can die at
   any point during the process. Of the eight to 10,000 bills that are introduced during each
   General Assembly, generally only about 10 percent become law. Bills are also known as
   “legislation,” “legislative proposals,” “legislative measures,” or simply “measures.”

How to find your legislators

Legislative Glossary

Current Legislative Committees

See a chart of the steps a bill can take to becoming (or not becoming) law