Legislative Glossary | Floor Glossary

LEGISLATIVE GLOSSARY RELATING TO COMMITTEE WORK



ADOPTED "Adopted" is synonymous with the term "carried".
AMENDMENT A change made in a bill, resolution, or memorial offered by an individual member either in committee or on the floor of the legislative house. Amendments made to a bill or resolution by a committee are contained in the committee report on the bill or resolution.
APPROPRIATION CLAUSE Language in a bill that authorizes the spending of funds to implement the bill.
CALENDAR A listing of the bills, resolutions, and memorials ready for introduction or for floor consideration on second or third reading. The calendar for the Senate also includes board or commission confirmations ready for Senate action. The calendar also lists meetings of committees scheduled for that day or for the next several days, as well as conference committees that are to report.
COMMITTEE A group of persons chosen to perform specific functions. legislators use a number of different committee formats:

A committee of reference is a committee to which legislation is referred for consideration.



FISCAL NOTE A statement of the estimated amount of increase or decrease in revenue or expenditures and the present and future fiscal implications of a piece of pending legislation. Each piece of legislation with fiscal implications must have a fiscal note attached upon favorable recommendation by a committee of reference.
GAVEL An acronym for "Give a vote to every legislator" which is a reference to the 1988 amendment to sections 20 and 22a of the Constitution that related to actions on bills by committees and that prohibited caucus positions on bills.
P.I. An acronym for "postpone indefinitely", which is action taken by a committee in determining that a bill should not be referred favorably. When a bill is postponed indefinitely, it is "killed".
SEBEC An acronym for "strike everything below the enacting clause", which is a reference to an amendment that strikes everything in the current version of the bill and replaces it with a new version of the bill.