The legislative process: step three
Bill Goes to Legislative Committee

All bills are initially assigned to the Rules Committee. The chamber’s Rules Committee, made up of three members from the majority party and two from the minority party, looks at each bill that is introduced and decides if it will be assigned to a committee.

There are 16 standing committees in the Senate and 41 in the House. Standing committees are permanent and last between General Assemblies. Each chamber also has special committees that deal with a specific, more pressing concern, such as the Toll Highway Authority or public pension investments. Each standing committee concentrates on a specific area, such as pensions or agriculture, and the Rules Committee generally assigns bills based on subject matter.

Although there are bills in other committees that may be of interest, the ones that generally deal with IMRF issues are:

House Committees:

• Executive—deals with special concerns and major issues. No specific topic assignment, so bills of any type may be assigned.
• Personnel and Pensions—deals with public pension legislation and bills that affect government employment. Most IMRF bills are assigned to this committee.

Senate Committees:

• Executive—deals with special concerns and major issues. No specific topic assignment, so bills of any type may be assigned.
• Insurance and Pensions—deals with insurance and public pension legislation. Most IMRF bills are assigned to this committee.
  

View list of the membership of each of these committees.

During a committee hearing, the bill’s sponsor explains the bill to the committee members, who can then ask any questions they may have. The bill’s proponent, generally an individual representing the interest group or government agency or the private citizen who asked that the bill be introduced, will often also be present to explain the reason the bill was introduced and to answer questions from the panel. Lobbyists, interest group representatives, and private citizens all have a chance at this time to voice support or opposition to a bill.

After all of the testimony (if any), the committee votes to either recommend or not recommend a bill. A simple majority vote is required in order to pass a bill out of committee. If the bill receives the required number of votes, it goes before the full chamber. For example, if a House Bill is “voted out of committee,” it goes before the full House. If the bill does not receive the required votes, it remains in committee where it can either be voted on again at another time, or, more likely, it will remain with no further action taken.

The committee can also choose to defer the bill until a later date. This can allow witnesses or sponsors who may not have been able to attend the meeting to be present or allow opposing parties to work out changes to the bill to which they can both agree.

Amendments to the bill are heard in committee in the same manner. Amendments are legislative proposals that make changes to a bill. They can be as small as making a technical change to correct a spelling error in the original bill. They can also replace everything in the original bill and completely change what the bill does.

Continue to Step Four: Bill goes before full chamber