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Show IT January 26, 2000 - The Springville Herald - Page Three chambers are reprinted as en- staius are printed for both House Have you ever wondered how a bill gets to the Legislature and what happens to it in the legislative legisla-tive process? Most bills introduced by legislators never pass-somewhere between 700 and 1000 are introduced intro-duced each yearbut all bills go through at least some of the steps described below. It's important for citizens to understand the process because there are many opportunities along the way for citizens to voice their views. Bills originate with an idea for a law. That idea can come from a citizen, a legislative interim committee, legislator, a task forcd. community group, a corporation, corpo-ration, the Governor, a state agency. . .there are many possibilities. possibili-ties. A bill can only be introduced by a current member of the Leg- islature. so if you have an idea for a bill, talk to a sitting Senator or Representative about it and ask him or her to sponsor such a bill. Staff (lawyers) in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel write the bills requested by legislators. Bills sponsored by a Senator are calied Senate Bills (SB). They must be passed in the Senate before they can considered by the House of Representatives. The same rules apply to House Bills (HB). Bills are introduced (the number, num-ber, sponsor and title are read) during Floor Time. Actions "on the floor" are those that take place when a Chamber-the House or the Senateis in session. ses-sion. This is called the First Reading of the bills. Bills get their first formal consideration in the Standing Committees. Standing Committee schedules are set at the end of each week for the subsequent week, but their agendas (which bills they will consider) are developed de-veloped on shorter notice. By law. ail legislative meetings (except as noted below) must be posted at least 24 hours in advance ad-vance and can be found in central locations on the 3rd floor of the Capitol. Chairs of the Standing Committees have the power to decide which bills will be heard. when, and in what order. Bills can also be moved to the top of the Standing Committee agenda by motion of a Committee member, mem-ber, but the motion has to pass by majority. The Senate and House have implemented two very different sets of rules governing the process pro-cess of assigning bills to committee. commit-tee. In the Senate, the President performs the gatekeeper function. The House has retained the gatekeeper gate-keeper function in its Rules Committee. Com-mittee. It still differs from other legislative committees in that it is exempted from rules requiring agendas to be posted 24 hours in advance, and no public testimony is allowed. Citizens can learn of House Rules meetings via floor announcements. Bills to create laws that will cost money to implement are given a fiscal note by the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst. Legislative leadership usually set a dollar limit on bills with fiscal notes; bills that exceed those limits are held until late in the Session to prevent passage. It is in the final days of the Session, as the State Budget is being set, that members of each chamber declare their priority bills with fiscal notes, and those will significant signif-icant popularity are released for floor debate. The rest neves reappear. ,,; Bills are difficult to obtain before they have been numbered, After they've been printed by the Legislature's Printing Office, you can get copies in the Bill room (room 419), or off the Legislature's Legisla-ture's web site (www.le.state.ut.-us). (www.le.state.ut.-us). Bills that are amended in either a Standing Committee or on the Floor are reprinted-mak--ing all earlier versions obsolete. ,, Citizens may speak on a bill at Standing Committee meetings when the bill is on the agenda. Make your request to the Com4 mittee Chair before the meeting starts. If a bill is passed out favorably by a Standing committee, commit-tee, its next step is different, depending on whether it is a House or Senate Bill. The Senate can debate and vote on bills brought to them from a Standing Committee This is the bill's Second Reading. It is appropriate to contact Senators prior to or during that debate to make your feelings known. The House, though, only voies on whether to adopt the Standing Committee's report as the second reading without debate on the bill. You can still talk to a Representative at this or any other point, but the actual floor consideration will take place later. ' In both chambers, bills are debated and voted on the "floor" during their Third Reading. A variety of actions can occur at this point. Observers, lobbyists, other interested parties and even legislators can get confused by the variety and complexity of motions that may take place during floor debate. However, it's important to remember that your job remains constant: to provide information and express your views to legislators on the bills that concern you. A bill that passes where it originated is sent to the other chamber where it must go through the same process. Bills amended and passed in the second sec-ond chamber must go back to the originating chamber for final passage. Bills passed by both rolled bills, and then go to the governor for his or her signature. ' They become effective on their stated effective date. To help you follow bills through the legislative process, and Senate bills each day. You can look at copies of status sheets outside of either chamber, in the Bill Room (room 419) or on the Legislature's web site, http:ww-w.le.state.ut.us. Jtt- off I 220 N MAIN 12, SPRINGVILLE First Time Buyers Refinancing Debt Consolidation Fast & Friendly Service No Up Front Costs! WE CAN HELP WHEN THE BANKS CANT CREDIT CHALLENGES? NO PROBLEM! Call Steve for a FREE quote anytime! r 1 41I)Dii3g(gg irls Stat Tea for SIHIS An invitation is extended to all girls who are juniors at Springville High School and their parents to attend a tea to explain Girls State. The tea will be held February 7, at 8 p.m. at the Senior Citizen Center, 65 E. 200 South, Springville. Girls State is an opportunity for young women to learn more about the inner workings of our democratic form of government, from city to national. Girls State will be held at Southern Utah Univer sity in Cedar City June 5-10, 2000 and is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. The Girls State Citizens from last year will be present to answer questions about the program and to give more information. They hope to see a lot of junior girls and parents in attendance. If you have questions about the program, especially if you cannot attend the tea, contact Girls State Chairman, Valerie White, at 489-7625. Assist! "Full Service For Less Buyer's 1 st Choice Realty, LLC 223-9700 "Results Wonder what your home is worth? Call for a FREE Comparative Market "Full Service for Less!'1 How Much Are You Willing To Pay? 0 Agents show your home Buyer Prequalivication Handle All Paperwork 9 Agents show your home Direct to Buyers Hotsheet Agents show your home vA SdDL W savings" Quinn Dallm BrokerOwner We'll sell your home for only $2,495 Each office independently owned fit operated If you property is listed, this is not a solicitation for your Isiting I REALTOR i ' H am watea.l Jk9m , , , , , .... wmmmmmmm , aMj-,- :-' 1 M BBY WHILES V8 To all our former employees, all our wonderful friends and acquaintences: We are so sorry we never had the time to stop by and say goodbye to each and every one of you before we moved to California. We thank you so much for your wonderful State of Utah, and especially the town of Springville!! When we opened our first store, Gifts Galore, almost all of the west side of the street was empty buildings that were boarded up. Martin Conovef said to us, "I never saw anyone work so hard to get into business when everyone is going out of business!" After a couple of years at Gifts Galore, we did a little traveling and came back home ready to go again. Clarence had the forsight to buy four buildings on the west side of the street and cleaned them up. He said that if we plant flowers and keep the sidewalks always clean, it would make the town look more prosperous and help business to grow. And it surely did just that! We opened Town and Country Gifts. We had so much fun!! It never seemed like work-just a place to meet everyone and talk and enjoy each other. We especially enjoyed going to Central Bank daily and to SOS Drug for our daily Coke break. It always seemed Central Bank and SOS Drug were our family. And when we retired, Central Bank gave us such a beautiful retirement party! We can't thank them enough. ' We felt so honored when we won Business of the Year award and got to ride in the parade. We rode in a 1928 convertable and I got to stand up and wave and throw kisses to everyone along the street. I thought to myself, 'This is just great-you've never been in a parade in your life and you probably never will again, so enjoy!!" And believe me I did. I felt like I was Queen of the Rose Parade!!! Clarence said he felt like an FBI Agent riding on the running board!! Talk about fun!! Every single day was a delight and we will never forget any of you and the wonderful town of Springville. - .1 : Ellie and Clarence Zornes OPY |