Advocate's Toolbox

A Primer on Legislative Process

• Introducing a Bill: While any of us may have an idea for legislation, only State Representatives and Senators can file a bill with the office of Legislative Services. A carefully drafted bill is signed by the Senator or Representative who is the prime sponsor (and co-sponsors if desired) and submitted to the Clerk’s office. The Senate President or House Speaker, after a formal “reading” of the bill, then assigns the bill to the appropriate standing committee of that body for a public hearing.
• Committee Hearing: Hearings must be announced to the public at least 72 hours in advance through the House or Senate Calendar. At the bill’s public hearing, supporting and opposing testimony is heard from all interested parties. Following the public hearing (not usually the same day), the Committee members meet in executive session to vote to pass the legislation, amend it, refer it back to the Committee for further study, or defeat the legislation. The public can attend this session, but not participate. The Committee’s decision then goes to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote by the full body.
• Appropriations or Finance Committee: Bills requiring state funding (a fiscal note) must be referred to the Finance Committee in the House, even though already considered and reported by a standing committee.
• Amended Bills: Every bill must be passed in identical form by the Senate and House before it goes to the Governor. If a bill has been amended by one body, it is sent back to the other body for a concurrence vote. If the two bodies concur (agree), that act automatically passes the bill as amended. If they refuse to concur, the bill dies or is sent back to a committee of conference. Should both bodies adopt the report of the committee of conference in amending the bill, the bill has been automatically passed.
• To the Governor: If both the House and Senate pass a bill or agree on an amended version, it then goes to the Governor’s desk for his/her approval. He/she has five days to veto or sign the bill. If he/she takes no action within five days, the bill passes into law.
• Overriding a Veto: If the bill is vetoed, it takes 2/3 of both the House and the Senate to override the Governor’s action and pass the bill into law.
• Citizen Participation: You have many opportunities to impact this process, including testifying at hearings, writing letters or making phone calls to your representatives, or working with organizations to create awareness of the possible impact of a piece of legislation. You should know that New Hampshire’s “citizen legislature” is a great source of state pride, and that Representatives and Senators welcome phone calls at home since most of them don’t have offices at the State House, and have little or no staff to help them gather information.