{"id":4283,"date":"2015-01-12T14:17:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T19:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsunderthedome.org\/malc\/?p=4283"},"modified":"2015-01-12T15:06:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T20:06:00","slug":"diya-bill-filing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/artistsunderthedome.org\/malc\/diya\/diya-bill-filing-process\/","title":{"rendered":"DIYA: Bill Filing Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 189th General Court of Massachusetts (the State Legislature) kicked off its two-year legislative session last week. It is abuzz with activity as representatives, senators, and staffers work to file legislation before this Friday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

By rule, all bills filed by the third Friday of January in a new legislative session are guaranteed a hearing in committee. Late bills may be filed throughout the legislative session, but they might not be heard in committee.<\/p>\n

The Filing Process<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right now, lobbyists, advocates, and concerned citizens are flooding the phone lines, inboxes, and offices of state legislators. No doubt, representatives and senators are being approached at local coffee shops and implored to file all manner of legislation. More than 7,000 bills are expected to be filed. Only about 150 of them will be enacted into law within the next two years.<\/p>\n

There are four ways\u00a0a bill gets filed. Or, to be more precise, there is one way bills get filed and four variations<\/em>.\u00a0Legislators may file a bill under their own auspices, as the bill\u2019s sponsor. They may alternatively file a bill \u201cBy Request.\u201d Essentially, it\u2019s the same filing process but the \u201cBy Request\u201d classification indicates the bill is being filed for a constituent and that the legislator does not necessarily support it.<\/p>\n

Bills tagged as \u201cBy Request\u201d (surprise surprise) don\u2019t usually move very far through the legislative process. However, many bills that get filed without the \u201cBy Request\u201d qualifier are de facto by request (of a lobbyist, advocate, or coffee shop patron) and the legislator is not very keen to fight for it. Hence why so many bills get filed.<\/p>\n

The third way of filing a bill is for a constituent to file it directly with the House Clerk or Senate Clerk. This is known as the \u201cRight of Free Petition,\u201d and is not a very effective way to move legislation. The deadline for citizens to file a bill is the first Wednesday in December preceding the start of a new legislative session. Citizens may late file bills, but then 4\/5 of each branch of the legislature must approve its admittance.<\/p>\n

Finally, all of the state’s constitutional officers (elected executive officials) may file legislation. The Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General, Treasurer, and Governor’s Council members may file legislation.\u00a0The reality that emerges is every citizen<\/i>\u00a0may file legislation. Of course, the chances of random legislation becoming law is essentially zero percent.<\/p>\n

Once the bills are filed, legislators will have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30 to sign on as co-sponsors of bills they support. Bills that garner a lot of co-sponsors will most likely fare better than bills that do not. Yet again, legislators are under tremendous pressure from constituents and interest groups to sign on to basically every bill filed.<\/p>\n

Beyond The Filings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once the bills are filed, they are given docket numbers and sent to the Joint Committee most related to the bill. For example, a bill proposing legalizing the use of red light traffic cameras in the state might be sent to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. Joint Committees are comprised of both representatives and senators. It is within the committees that legislation is initially debated.<\/p>\n

MALC watches\/works with the following Joint Committees (https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Committees\/Joint<\/a>):<\/p>\n