BREAKING: Senate Has Passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act! Now the Governor Must Sign!
NOTE: This is the conventional way a bill becomes law, but there is room for variation in this process.
This is why it is so crucial that you are tuned in with us for frequent updates about the status of this bill!
An idea for a bill is submitted to the Bill Drafting Commission, where it is translated into formal language.
Then the legislation is introduced and assigned a bill number.
The bill is assigned to an appropriate committee for discussion and analysis. If a majority of members on the committee support it, the bill is reported to the floor. If not, it is said to have “died in committee.” Committees are an essential part of the state Legislature, and both houses use the committee system to accomplish work. You can think of the committee system as a screening process during which smaller groups of legislators closely scrutinize bills. Bills are assigned to committees based on the subject they address. For example, the Medical Aid in Dying Act would go first before the Health committees in both houses.
A final version of the bill must age for at least three days before being voted on, unless the Governor authorizes and the Assembly/Senate accepts a Message of Necessity for that bill.
The bill reaches the floor for debate and vote.
If a bill passes the Assembly, it is sent on to the Senate, or vice versa, where it goes through a similar process. If both houses pass an identical bill, it is then sent to the Governor for their signature.
The Governor can sign a bill, veto it, or give it “pocket approval,” which means if the governor fails to act on a bill within 10 days of receiving it, the bill is automatically approved. If the Governor vetoes a bill, it can still become a law if a two-thirds majority of both houses votes in favor of the bill. This is known as an override.
The bill, once signed by the Governor, becomes law.