A Day in the Life of a Bill

January 18, 2012

Day 5
Remaining Committees 7
Remaining days to be heard 41
Remaining funding 25 days

Yesterday, I promised to talk more about the committee process. Most of our government business at all levels of Government takes place at the committee level. State Government works on a tight schedule and with the sheer volume of bills they consider each year, committees run tightly.

The only thing the legislature is required to do annually (according to the Constitution) is pass a balanced budget. Every ten years, the legislative session starts early in order to accommodate the other mandate required of them, redistricting.

Because of redistricting our session started early this year. A typical session begins in February and runs for 60 days. Despite the early start, our regular session lasts 60 days. If lawmakers fail to pass a budget and redefine the legislative boundaries during the regular session a special session must be called.

Members may begin filing bills in the fall prior to the legislative session. For weeks prior to the regular session legislators attend “committee weeks”. Many of the bills that were pre-filed made their way through committees prior to the beginning of session.

House members are limited to six bills each, while Senators have an unlimited number of bills they can file. With 120 members in the House, over 600 bills jockey to be heard each session. The role I’ve been sent to accomplish is vital to the passage of a bill. Bills require someone who can shepherd them from committee to committee.

The Speaker or President of the Senate appoints committee chairs. Chair appointments bring a lot of power and attention. I’ve written before about how important it is to get leadership on board. If the leadership doesn’t believe in a bill, the Chair will ignore it.

So far this week I’ve been talking members of the Criminal Justice committee in the House. There are 15 people on the Criminal Justice Committee, 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats. Since the bill sponsor is a Democrat, my work this week was assuring we’ll get all the Democratic votes in the committee. With five votes in our pocket, we simply need to find 3 Republicans to support the bill in order for it to pass the first committee.

The big hurdle is getting the Chair to hear the bill. Perception is reality in Tallahassee. Lawmakers perceive their constituents don’t support medical access. The other perception is if a Chair hears a bill, they support the bill.

Our work is bearing fruit. Today I met with a Democrat who said, “If you had asked me about this bill two weeks ago, I’d have said no. Since then I’ve had a number of calls and e-mails asking me to support it. I did the research and now believe this is an issue that has merit and I support the bill.” The nearly 1000 e-mails generated through www.FLDecides.org is making a difference.
For this legislation to pass this year, we need an avalanche of support- lucky for us avalanches do happen. Perhaps since we’re in Florida, its more appropriate to look for the perfect storm. Either way, without the calls and letters you’ve generated, success would not be possible.