Arkansas School Boards Association ~ Helping Arkansas School Boards Improve Student Achievement



	How ASBA approaches proposed legislation For any session, the challenge for both legislators and non-legislators is to figure out what the effects would be of each bill. When a bill is amended, the task is to determine what was put in, what was taken out, and how the effects of the bill have changed. ASBA’s legislative team uses three criteria or filters as we study each bill: is it good for kids, will it help to build an education ethic in the state of Arkansas, and is everyone held appropriately accountable. We use these filters to help develop our position on each bill. Who are the players and how long does it last? The legislature is composed of 35 Senators who serve four-year terms. They may serve a total of two terms. There are 100 Representatives who serve two-year terms. Representatives may serve a total of three terms. The legislature meets every odd numbered year for 60 days starting on the second Monday in January. Sessions may be extended beyond the 60 days by a 2/3 vote of each chamber. Committees In the legislature, there are many committees and each legislator serves on more than one committee. The committees are where the majority of the public debate takes place on a bill. Generally, more than one committee is meeting at the same time which presents the dilemma for legislators of trying to be at more than one place at the same time. The education committees are followed by the ASBA Legislative Team the most closely. The Senate Education Committee has seven members while the House has twenty. During a regular legislative session the Senate Education Committee generally meets on Wednesdays and Fridays (and occasionally on Mondays). The House Education Committee generally meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Either committee can meet “at the call of the chair” of the committee, but this usually only happens near the end of a session. During a special legislative session both House and Senate Education Committees generally meet everyday and their meeting times can overlap. Each committee has its calendar and an agenda for each meeting, but there’s no assurance the agenda will be followed on any given day. Bills not on the agenda can suddenly be brought before the committee for consideration while other bills that were on the agenda may end up not being presented on that day. Bills are sometimes presented to the committee with a previously unannounced amendment which may be a technical change or which can totally change the effects of the bill. The reality of a legislative session can be more hectic than how the process looks on paper. How bills become laws Legislators, or the legislative staff, write bills to address matters they or their constituencies feel need to be changed. Bills sponsored by House members have to successfully pass through the House before going on to the Senate. House bills are identified by the letters HB which are followed by the number of the bill (for example, HB 1063). Bills sponsored by Senators have to successfully pass through the Senate before going on to the House. Senate bills are identified with the letters SB which are followed by the number of the bill (for example SB 124). The numbering of House bills starts with 1000 and goes up from there. The numbering of Senate bills starts with the number “1”. The lower the number, the earlier the bill was originally introduced. If a bill becomes an act it receives a new number which is the number for that act. Act numbers start with the number "1" and are given in the order they become law. A bill has no power of law unless and until it becomes an act which requires the bill to successfully complete the following process. Sponsors: A legislator who either wrote a bill or agrees to support a bill written by someone else is said to "sponsor" the bill. The first name on a bill is the "lead sponsor". There is the formality of the bill being read to the full chamber before being given to the appropriate committee for its consideration. At some point in time (but not a specified period of time) after it’s been put on the committee’s calendar the sponsor of the bill gets to testify before the committee on behalf of his or her bill. Committee members are able to ask the bill’s sponsor questions they have regarding the bill. When the committee members are finished asking questions of the sponsor, members of the audience are usually allowed to testify on behalf of, or against the bill, and may also be asked questions by members of the committee. When the questioning is finished, the committee then votes on the bill. It requires a majority of the membership of the committee (not just those who are present) to pass a bill out of committee. A bill may be presented and voted on three different times by a committee. If the committee votes down a bill three times it’s dead. If a bill is passed out of committee it must then pass the full chamber. If that happens, the bill then goes to the comparable committee of the other chamber and the process starts over in that chamber. Bills that are passed through both chambers then get sent to the governor for his consideration. The governor may sign, ignore, or veto the bills sent to him. He has five days to make his decision on bills he receives while the session is still in progress and twenty days for those bills presented to him at the end of the session. If he signs a bill, it becomes an act and thus becomes part of the laws of Arkansas. If he neither signs nor vetoes a bill, it still becomes an act and part of the laws of Arkansas, but does so without the governor’s signature. If he vetoes the bill, it dies unless overridden by a majority of both houses. Related Links: ASBA Legislative Team What Board Members Can Do Arkansas Senate Arkansas General Assembly Arkansas Branches of Government National Constitution Center Related Downloads (pdf): Text of The Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874 (from Arkansas State Legislature)