Subchapter B. CONSIDERATION OF BILLS
GENERAL Sec.
9.61. Purpose of bill.
9.62. Scope of bill.
9.63. Requirements prior to consideration.
9.64. Fiscal notes.
9.65. Status of bills following first session.
CONSIDERATION BY COMMITTEE
9.71. Power of committee.
9.72. Studies and hearings.
9.73. Reporting bill from committee.
9.74. Discharge from consideration of bill.
CONSIDERATION BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
9.81. General requirement and procedure.
9.82. First consideration.
9.83. Second consideration.
9.84. Third consideration.
9.85. Final passage.
9.86. Reconsideration of final action.
9.87. Later action on defeated bills.
9.88. Transmission to house of reference.
9.89. Concurrence in amendments by house of reference.
CONSIDERATION BY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
9.101. Committee appointment and referral of bills.
9.102. Scope of deliberations.
9.103. Presentation of report.
9.104. Consideration of report.
9.105. Adoption of report.
AMENDMENTS
9.111. Right to submit amendments.
9.112. Scope of amendment.
9.113. Printing of amendments.
9.114. Adoption of amendments.
9.115. Reconsideration of amendments.
9.116. Printing of amended bills.
9.117. Reverting to prior print.
FINAL ENACTMENTS
9.121. Signing by presiding officers.
9.122. Presenting bill to Governor.
9.123. Recalling bill from Governor.
9.124. Failure of Governor to act.
9.125. Approval of bill by Governor.
9.126. Veto of bill by Governor.
9.127. Passage of vetoed bill.
9.128. Filing of final enactments.
9.129. Effective date of statutes.
GENERAL
§ 9.61. Purpose of bill.
A bill is used for, and limited to, the enactment of a new statute or the amendment of an existing statute.
§ 9.62. Scope of bill.
(a) General.—No bill may be passed containing more than one subject, which must be clearly expressed in its title, except a general appropriation bill or a bill codifying or compiling the law or a part thereof.
(b) Appropriations.—The general appropriation bill may embrace nothing but appropriations for the executive, legislative and judicial departments of the Commonwealth, for the public debt and for public schools. All other appropriations must be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject.
§ 9.63. Requirements prior to consideration.
No bill may be considered by the General Assembly unless referred to a committee, printed for the use of the members and returned from the committee.
§ 9.64. Fiscal notes.
(a) Senate.—No bill requiring the expenditure of Commonwealth funds may be given third consideration unless it has been referred to the Appropriations Committee and a fiscal note has been attached thereto.
(b) House.—Each bill, except the general appropriation bill, requiring an expenditure of Commonwealth funds or entailing a loss of revenues must have a fiscal note prepared by the Appropriations Committee, and the bill must be referred to the Appropriations Committee for a fiscal note before it is given second consideration. An amendment to a bill having the same effect cannot be voted upon until the day following the distribution of a fiscal note.
§ 9.65. Status of bills following first session.
All bills and other matters pending before the General Assembly upon the expiration or adjournment sine die of a first regular session maintain their status and are pending before the second regular session.
CONSIDERATION BY COMMITTEE
§ 9.71. Power of committee.
The first step in the passage of a bill is its consideration by the standing committee to which it has been referred. Once a bill is in committee, the committee has full power over it.
§ 9.72. Studies and hearings.
Sometimes a bill is referred by the chairman to a subcommittee with instructions to study and make a report of its recommendations to the main committee. Persons or organizations interested in a proposed bill may request the main committee, through its chairman, for a public hearing or a personal audience.
§ 9.73. Reporting bill from committee.
(a) General.—If the committee decides that the bill is of sufficient merit to be considered by the house, the committee will direct that the bill be reported out for action. When a committee has ordered a bill to be reported to the house, the member to whom it is assigned must make the report thereof to the house either on the same day or at the next meeting of the house.
(b) Without amendment.—The committee may report the bill in exactly the same form as it was introduced. In that case, no amendments are necessary.
(c) With amendment.—The committee may feel that the form or substance of the bill can be improved, or the committee may discover errors which should be corrected before the bill comes before the house for action. This presents the first occasion for an amendment of the bill. The amendments are prepared by the Bureau. If the bill is reported as amended it is reprinted with the amendments indicated.
(d) Negative recommendation.—In rare instances, the committee may report out a bill with a negative recommendation.
§ 9.74. Discharge from consideration of bill.
(a) General.—Sometimes a committee may refuse to report a bill. In such cases, the committee may be discharged from further consideration of the bill. This is done by resolution adopted by a vote of the house having possession of the bill.
(b) Senate.—No committee may be discharged from consideration of any measure within 10 legislative days of its reference without unanimous consent of the Senate or after such 10-day period except by a majority vote of all members elected to the Senate.
(c) House.—No committee may be discharged from consideration of any measure within 15 days of its reference. After a discharge resolution has been on the calendar at least 1 legislative day, a member who signed it may call up the resolution and the House must proceed to its consideration. No discharge resolution may be considered during the last 6 legislative days of any session of the House. A discharge resolution must be passed by a majority vote of the members elected to the House.
CONSIDERATION BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
§ 9.81. General requirement and procedure.
In order to become a law, every bill must come before the house of origin and the house of reference at least three times on 3 different legislative days. This is referred to as three considerations of the bill. As a matter of general practice the bill is not actually read. The reading clerk merely reads the first few words of the title.
§ 9.82. First consideration.
Should a committee favorably report a bill to the floor it is given a first consideration, unless there is an objection. On first consideration a bill is invariably agreed to and is never amended nor sent back to the committee from which it came, or to another committee for further consideration. Bills are not considered beyond first consideration until the latest print is on the desks of the members.
§ 9.83. Second consideration.
On second consideration the bill may be amended on the floor of the house. This can be done only by presenting amendments in writing. If the amendments are accepted by the house, the bill is again reprinted with the amendments indicated. On second consideration also, the bill may be sent back to the committee which originally considered it or to another committee. Otherwise, it may be agreed to, and then passes on automatically to third consideration.
§ 9.84. Third consideration.
The next step is considering and agreeing to the bill a third time and advancing it to final passage, at which time its merits may be debated. On third consideration, a bill may again be amended on the floor of the house, but only with the unanimous consent of all the members present, or the vote by which it passed second consideration may be reconsidered, in which case, it goes back to second consideration and may be amended without unanimous consent. In either case, if the bill is amended, it is once more reprinted with the new amendments included.
§ 9.85. Final passage.
(a) General.—If the bill is agreed to on third consideration without amendment, it usually immediately comes up for final passage which can be only in the form in which the bill then appears. If the bill is amended on third consideration, it lays over for vote on final passage until it is reprinted. Bills on final passage may not be amended except with the unanimous consent of all the members present. No bill may be declared passed unless a majority of all members elected to the house are recorded as voting for the same. Upon reversion to a prior print, a vote of final passage will not be taken until a copy of the bill containing the reverted printer’s number is placed on the desks of the members.
(b) Nonpreferred appropriation bills.—No bill appropriating moneys to charitable and educational institutions not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth may be declared passed unless two-thirds of all members elected to the house are recorded as voting for passage.
§ 9.86. Reconsideration of final action.
Provided the bill is in the possession of the house, a vote passing or defeating a bill may be reconsidered on the same day the vote was taken or within five succeeding legislative days or at any time after a bill is recalled from the Governor upon written motion of two members and an affirmative majority vote thereon and the question immediately recurs on the vote reconsidered. The bill may be sent back to committee for further action, or after appropriate procedure may be amended on the floor of the house, or it may again come up for final vote without change.
§ 9.87. Later action on defeated bills.
Unless the house has agreed to reconsider the vote, a defeated bill in the house of origin may not be reintroduced and a similar bill (including a bill from the other house of like import) may not be considered or acted upon during the same session.
§ 9.88. Transmission to house of reference.
Following final passage by the house of origin, the bill is delivered to the house of reference before the close of its next legislative day where it is referred to a standing committee by the presiding officer and follows the same course of passage as in the house of origin. Either house may defeat a bill of the other house or may pass the bill with or without amendment.
§ 9.89. Concurrence in amendments by house of reference.
(a) Concurrence.—If a bill that has passed the house of origin is amended in the house of reference, it is sent back to the house of origin for its concurrence in the amendments. If the house of origin agrees to the amendments, the bill is ready for action by the Governor.
(b) Nonconcurrence.—If the house of origin does not agree to the amendments, it so advises the house of reference, which may then either give up its amendments, which is known as ‘‘receding from its amendments,’’ and agree to the bill in the form in which it passed the house of origin, or it may insist on its amendments, in which case the house of origin may either agree to the amendments or again refuse to agree to them, which is known as ‘‘insisting on its nonconcurrence in the amendments’’ of the house of reference.
(c) Vote on concurrence.—Unless the house decides otherwise by unanimous consent, the vote on concurrence in amendments cannot be taken until the bills have been placed on the desks of the members and referred to on their calendars. The amendments must be concurred in by a majority vote of members elected to the house or, in the case of non-preferred appropriations, by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to the house.
CONSIDERATION BY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
§ 9.101. Committee appointment and referral of bills.
If the house of origin refuses to concur in amendments made by the house of reference, the bill is usually sent to a conference committee (formally referred to as a committee of conference) made up of three members from each house appointed by the presiding officers.
§ 9.102. Scope of deliberations.
The conference committee confines its deliberations to the differences which exist between the two houses unless both houses direct a free conference. In practice, frequently a conference committee enters upon a complete reconsideration of the bill before it. The conference committee makes such changes in the provisions of the bill as it believes will make the bill acceptable to both houses, or it may decide to send the bill back without change. In either case, the bill is reprinted following presentation of the committee report. This print, unlike other prints following amendments, does not indicate the changes made.
§ 9.103. Presentation of report.
The presentation of a report of a conference committee to each house is in order after having been signed by a majority of the members of the committee of each house.
§ 9.104. Consideration of report.
Consideration of a report of a conference committee by each house is in order after it has been printed (without indicating changes made), placed on the desks of the members and listed on the calendars.
§ 9.105. Adoption of report.
Reports of conference committees may be adopted in either house only by the vote of a majority of the members elected thereto or, in the case of nonpreferred appropriations, by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected thereto. It is not accepted practice to amend a conference report.
AMENDMENTS
§ 9.111. Right to submit amendments.
Any committee may amend a bill in its possession and thereafter any member may move to amend a bill provided the proposed amendment is germane to the subject to the bill. In either case, the amendment should be prepared by the Bureau.
§ 9.112. Scope of amendment.
No bill may be so altered or amended, on its passage through either house, as to change its original purpose.
§ 9.113. Printing of amendments.
All amendments to a bill are printed for the use of the members before the vote is taken on the amendments.
§ 9.114. Adoption of amendments.
Amendments to bills may be adopted in either house only by the vote of a majority of the members voting.
§ 9.115. Reconsideration of amendments.
Amendments adopted or defeated may not be considered again without reconsidering the vote unless the house, by a majority vote of the members present, decides to revert to a prior printer’s number.
§ 9.116. Printing of amended bills.
(a) General.—Bills reported or re-reported from committee with amendments and bills on the calendar amended by the house must be reprinted and a new printer’s number assigned before any action is taken thereon.
(b) Form.—In printing bills following amendments either in committee or on the floor, all language eliminated by the amendment appears in strike-out-type and all language inserted is in CAPITAL LETTERS. If the bill is again amended in the house of origin, everything appearing in strike-out-type in the former print is omitted from the new print, and the capital letters are changed to lower case. The same rule prevails in the case of the first amendment made by the house of reference. But if the house of reference amends the bill more than once, its former amendments are not eliminated from the print, because the house of origin uust have before it all amendments made by the house of reference in order to decide whether or not it will concur in the changes.
(c) Conflicting amendments.—Frequently, separate amendments which are in conflict with each other are adopted to the same printer’s number. In such case, in inserting the adopted amendments into the bill for reprinting, the Bureau attempts to resolve this conflict. When the conflict cannot be resolved, a reprinted bill may contain conflicting provisions. While the Bureau attempts to alert the leadership of the house in which the bill is under consideration as to the conflict, it is necessary for the house to carefully review the new print and correct the conflict by amendment or other appropriate action.
(d) Corrective reprints.—Occasionally, bills reprinted for the purpose of incorporating amendments adopted by either house or a committee contain errors which merit correction before consideration by the house having possession of the bill. In such case, the bill is reprinted without formal amendment with the caption ‘‘CORRECTIVE REPRINT’’ at the top of the first page of the bill. If the words ‘‘HOUSE AMENDED’’ or ‘‘SENATE AMENDED’’ also appear, they are immediately preceded on a separate line by ‘‘CORRECTIVE REPRINT’’. The form of the bill is not changed to show the error or the correction.
(e) Receding from amendments.—If a bill has been amended and reprinted and thereafter an amendment is reconsidered and defeated, the amendment is removed from the bill and the new print will be reproduced as if the amendment had not been adopted. The action line on the new print will carry the information that the amendment was reconsidered.
§ 9.117. Reverting to prior print.
If it is desired to restore a bill to its condition in an earlier print, it is not necessary to adopt a new amendment in the house of introduction but it may be accomplished by a motion to restore the bill to a former designated printer’s number. If the motion is carried the printer’s number designated will be placed on the calendar for further action, and all subsequent printer’s numbers of the same bill will become inactive, thus saving considerable time, effort and money in avoiding further reprinting.
Cross References This section cited in 101 Pa. Code § 9.29 (relating to form of reference to bills).
FINAL ENACTMENTS
§ 9.121. Signing by presiding officers.
The presiding officer of each house, in the presence of the house over which he presides, signs all bills passed by the General Assembly, after their titles have been publicly read immediately before signing, and the fact of signing is entered on the journal. The presiding officer of the house of origin signs the bill within one legislative day after receipt or passage and it is delivered to the house of reference before the close of its next legislative day for signature by its presiding officer.
§ 9.122. Presenting bill to Governor.
Every bill which passes both houses must be presented to the Governor for his approval or veto. They are delivered to the Governor within 24 hours after their receipt by the house of origin from the house of reference.
§ 9.123. Recalling bill from Governor.
Until the Governor has acted on a bill, the General Assembly may, by concurrent resolution presented in the house of origin, adopted by both houses and approved by the Governor, recall the bill for further consideration, in which case it may be again amended and passed by both houses in the amended form and again sent to the Governor; or it may be returned to the Governor without amendment. The latter is done by concurrent resolution, likewise originating in the house of origin.
§ 9.124. Failure of Governor to act.
If any bill is not returned by the Governor within ten days after it has been presented to him, the bill becomes law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by its adjournment, prevents its return, in which case it becomes law, unless he files the same, with his objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and gives notice thereof by public proclamation within 30 days after such adjournment.
§ 9.125. Approval of bill by Governor.
If the Governor approves the bill, he signs it and it becomes a law.
§ 9.126. Veto of bill by Governor.
(a) General.—If the Governor disapproves the bill he returns it with his objections to the house of origin, which house enters the objections at large upon the journal, and proceeds to reconsider it.
(b) Partial disapproval of appropriation.—The Governor may disapprove any item or items of any bill making appropriations of money, embracing distinct items, and the part or parts of the bill approved become law, and the item or items of appropriation disapproved are void, unless repassed by the General Assembly.
§ 9.127. Passage of vetoed bill.
(a) General.—If, after such reconsideration by the house of origin, two-thirds of all the members elected to that house agree to pass the bill, it is sent with the objections to the house of reference by which likewise it is re-considered and if approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to that house it becomes a law.
(b) Consideration during second session.—A bill vetoed in a first regular session and not finally acted upon may be brought up for consideration during the second regular session.
§ 9.128. Filing of final enactments.
The official certified copy of each bill which becomes a law is placed in the custody of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and filed in the Department of State. It then loses its identity as a bill and becomes an ‘‘Act of the General Assembly.’’ Each statute is assigned an act number in the chronological order in which they are finally enacted beginning with No. 1 for the first bill enacted by the General Assembly during each regular or special session. When published in the Laws of Pennsylvania, each statute is assigned a ‘‘P. L.’’ number conforming to the number of the page of the Laws of Pennsylvania where the statute begins.
§ 9.129. Effective date of statutes.
(a) General rule.—Statutes enacted at any regular or special session are effective 60 days after final enactment unless a different date is specified in the statute itself. If a statute is finally enacted after the date specified in the statute, the statute is effective 60 days after final enactment. Different rules apply to various statutes finally enacted prior to June 6, 1969.
(b) Statutes making appropriations.—Appropriation statutes, or statutes having appropriation items, are effective on the first day of July next following their final enactment, unless a different date is specified in the statute itself, or unless any such statute is enacted finally after the first day of July in any year, or after the date specified in the statute, in which case it is effective immediately upon final enactment.
(c) Statutes affecting political subdivision budget.—Statutes affecting the budget of any political subdivision are effective on the date specified in the statute, or if no date is specified, then at the beginning of the fiscal year of the political subdivision affected following the date of final enactment of the statute.
(d) Provisions changed by amendment.—Whenever a section or part of a statute is amended, the amendment is construed as merging into the original statute, becomes a part thereof, and replaces the part amended, and the remainder of the original statute and the amendment are read together and viewed as one statute passed at one time; but the portions of the statute which were not altered by the amendment are construed as effective from the time of their original enactment, and the new provisions are construed as effective only from the date when the amendment became effective.
(e) Provisions of reenacted statute.—Whenever a statute reenacts a former statute, the provisions common to both statutes date from their first adoption. Such provisions only of the former statute as are omitted from the reenactment are deemed abrogated, and only the new or changed provisions are deemed to be the law from the effective date of the reenactment.
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