21. BILLS WHICH AMEND EXISTING LAW


(a) Bills which would amend existing law shall show the specific changes to be made to existing law in the following manner:

(1) All new material shall be capitalized.

(2) All material which is to be omitted from existing law shall be shown in its proper place in cancelled letter type; such material, however, shall not be deemed a part of the bill.

(3) The bill as printed shall show the following explanation at the bottom of the first page: 1) "Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute;" 2) "Dashes through words indicate deletions from existing statute."

The foregoing shall not apply to those bills or sections of bills which repeal or repeal and reenact existing law with amendments, if compliance is not feasible in the discretion of the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

(b) If the Committee on Legal Services determines that a format other than those specified in subsection (a) of this rule would improve the utility or readability of bills while not impairing the understanding of the content of bills and the relationship of bills to existing law, it may direct the Office of Legislative Legal Services to implement such a format by motion duly offered and adopted. Such formats could include, without limitation, showing long segments of new material in italics or with underscoring and in lower case rather than in capital letters.

(c) The Office of Legislative Legal Services under the supervision of the Committee on Legal Services shall adopt and implement drafting practices to improve the format of bills introduced in the General Assembly in order that members of the General Assembly and the public will have a better understanding of the content of bills and the relationship of bills to existing law. Such practices may include the formatting and updating of bill summaries.

(d) All bills before being introduced shall be submitted to the Office of Legislative Legal Services for approval as to form pursuant to the provisions of this rule.

(e) If through error or omission any change in existing law is not shown in compliance with this rule, such error or omission shall not affect the validity of any bill enacted into law.

(f) Bills approved by both houses of the General Assembly shall be enrolled in final form by the respective houses, in accordance with this rule and section 24-70-204, Colorado Revised Statutes.