Glossary

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Legislative Glossary

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A

Accede: Second house agrees to the request for a conference committee and appoints conferees.

Agree to Disagree: Report of conference committee which is not able to reach an agreement in the conference committee. This allows the second report to be signed by only four of the conferees.

Amend: Changes in the wording of a bill are called amendments. Amendments may add language, strike out existing language or change language to other words.

Attendance: In the House, roll opens ten minutes prior to session. The white light on the voting board is pressed to record presence. The clerk calls the roll in the Senate.

B

Be passed, be passed as amended, be adopted, etc.: Recommendation by the committee and later by Committee of the Whole.

C

Call of the House: All members must be in their seats, quiet and voting. Any absent members will be sent for and must return to the Chamber and cast their vote.

Concur: First house agrees with the amendments made by the second house. This constitutes final action.

Conference Committee Report Adopted: Conference committees are usually three members from each house who get together to work out the differences in a bill which has been passed by both houses in different versions. When both houses vote and approve the same report, the bill is completed.

Consent Calendar: An easy way to handle noncontroversial bills. After three days on the Calendar they are voted upon without debate. Any member may have them removed to.

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D

District: The geographical area from which a legislator is elected.

E

Effective date: The date the bill will become law. Statute Book date is July 1. That is the date the Session Laws are published. Bills also become law upon the date of publication in the Kansas Register or a date may be specified in the bill.

Enroll: Printing of resolution or concurrent resolution on parchment with dates of actions and signatures of leadership. A concurrent resolution is presented to the Secretary of State.

Enrolled and presented to governor: Process on bills of dating actions, leadership signing the enrolled version of the bill and taking the copy to the Governor.

Explanations of vote: When the vote taken is a recorded vote on final passage of a bill or resolution, members may explain their vote to the body or submit a written explanation to be printed in the Journal.

F

Final Action: When a bill has been debated and amended, a roll call vote is taken. All members vote Yea, Nay, or Present and Not Voting (pass). These votes are recorded and printed in the Journal with the title of the bill.

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G

General Orders: The section of the Calendar when the house resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole to debate and amend bills. This allows all members the opportunity to work on the bill, not just those in the committee to which it was referred.

H

I

Intern: A student (usually in college or graduate school) who serves in an apprenticeship under a supervising legislator.

Introduction: A member or committee requests a Revisor of Statutes (attorney) to draft a bill. When it is written, the member turns the bill into the Clerk or Secretary and it is given a number and read before the House or Senate and that constitutes introduction.

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J

K

L

M

N

Nonconcur: First house does not agree with (or wants to look at) amendments of second house. Bill goes to conference.

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O

P

Page: A young person who carries messages, runs errands and serves for one day in the legislature. They get their picture taken with the Governor if he/she is available and are paid $3.00.

Pass: When this is the action recorded in the second house, the legislature has completed the bill. If the second house amended the bill, the bill is subject to a motion to concur or nonconcur.

Pass, Passed as Amended, Adopted, etc: When the bill or resolution has completed Final Action. [The "be" is now removed because this is no longer a recommendation--it reflects the House or Senate final action.]

Petition: A formal request signed by members of the public submitted to their legislator in favor of a person or an idea.

Q

R

Reference: A bill is referred to a committee which specialized in the subject matter contained in the bill. The committee discussed the bill, holds hearings and decided if it should be accepted as it is, amended or not recommended.

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