 | The Calendars,
like the Agendas, are also prepared each day,
but
cover only what either chamber will be doing
that day when they meet together as a whole.
Near the beginning, the Calendar lists
bills that are being sent to committee that day along with their subject line.
(To read the full bill, you have to download it separately.) Thus, reading
each day's Calendar is a good way to keep up with new bills. Of course, as the
session proceeds and the deadlines for introduction of bills are passed, you
will see fewer and fewer new bills listed. However, some types of bills can be
introduced later than others so it is still useful to keep an eye on this even
late in the session. Lower down in the Calendar is a list of the bills that
are up for vote by the full body on that day and the order in which they will
be considered. The Calendars always show ALL bills that are available for them
to consider as a chamber of the whole. In reality they never consider every
bill on that list until the very end of the session or on “turnaround day”
when bills have to make it through a chamber to stay alive. Rarely do all the
bills listed on the House or Senate Calendar actually get voted on the day
they are listed, usually only the first few and sometimes one or none.
All Calendars, from the first day of the session up to the current one, are
found here:
http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-calendars/index.do |
Type the bill number in the search field and click the
button next to it. You will then be taken to a page where you can download the
pdf file of the current version of the bill. As the session progresses and a
bill is worked, the bill will be revised to show any
amendments made to it. Amended versions have bold text at the very top
showing which body made changes. Those changes will be shown in
different fonts corresponding to which body made the changes.
Any text that is deleted from the previous version
will have a line through it. Often you will also find download links on this page for fiscal impact
of the bill or supplemental notes. The
supplemental notes incorporate a "plain language" version of the bill and
sometimes its intent and/or who supports or opposes the bill, so they
are very useful.
If a bill is revising a previous
statute, you may need to read that statute to understand the full intent of the
bill. You can read the statutes on the Legislative website. Go to this page:
http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-statutes/index.do
and enter the statute number to see the original statute.
| For a quick summary of where different bills are, get
the current Status document for each body. This will tell you if a bill
is moving through the process or not. For example, there may have been a hearing
on a bill in Senate Federal and State Affairs in January and in March it still
shows up as being in that committee. This means the bill has not been voted on
by that committee and may be “held up” by the committee chair.
The House Status is published as a separate document, whereas
the Senate Status is incorporated into the Agenda. The
Status shows, among other things, which bills have been passed in the house of
origin and the opposite house, which are in conference, whether
the Governor has signed or vetoed any of them and when they are
officially recorded in the Kansas Register.
You can get the latest House Status and Senate Status from the main
legislative page.
http://www.kslegislature.org/
|
Type the bill number in the search field, click the
radio button that says "Full History of the bill" and then click "Get Bill
Status". You will then be taken to a page where you can see all its significant
milestones from the day it was introduced, and the House or Senate Journal where
each event is recorded. ONE CAVEAT: This feature is not revised as quickly as
the Journals are! So, for the absolute latest word on the details of a bill's
status, be sure to review the Journals from the 5 days or so previous to when
you are seeking the information. Take a look at the Status to see where it sits
at the moment.
| Lastly, if you want to get more of a feel for what
was said and how the different members voted, you need to read the
Committee Minutes and the Journals . These are the official record
of those meetings.
|
That's it! By using these tools you too can follow what
is going on under the dome. While this is no substitute for being there in
person, it is nonetheless a definite improvement over just reading the paper or
watching the 10 o'clock news! To summarize:
| Look ahead by using the Agenda
(5 days out) and the
Calendar (that day only) |
| View the running tally of all each
chamber's bills in
the Status (separate document for the House, part of the Agenda for
the Senate) |
| Read the bills (and any of the statutes they
may be modifying) |
| Track the bills to find out when votes were
taken |
| Look up the Journal and Committee Minutes
to see who voted yea or nay |
And, of course, you can always visit the
KNRC website
for updates!
TENTATIVE LEGISLATIVE SCHEDULE FOR 2010
SESSION (as of Jan. 14)
| Monday, January 11th
- First day of session |
| Monday, January 25th
- Last day for member or members to request to have bills drafted. |
| Monday, February 1st
- Last day for Committees, except House Appropriations, Calendar and
Printing and Taxation, House and Senate Federal and State Affairs, Senate
Ways and Means, or other select committee, when authorized, to REQUEST to
have bills drafted. |
| Wednesday, February 3rd
- Last day for Individuals to INTRODUCE bills. |
| Friday, February 5th
- Last day for Committees, except by committees listed above, to
INTRODUCE bills. |
| Saturday, February 20th (TURNAROUND
DAY)
- Last day to CONSIDER BILLS IN HOUSE OF ORIGIN, except by House
Appropriations, Calendar and Printing and Taxation, House and Senate
Federal and State Affairs, Senate Ways and Means, or other select
committee, when authorized. |
| Wednesday, March 24th
- Last day to CONSIDER BILLS NOT IN HOUSE OF ORIGIN, except by committees
listed above. |
| Tuesday, April 6th
- No bills considered after this date except BILLS VETOED BY GOVERNOR,
OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS ACT AND OMNIBUS RECONCILIATIONS SPENDING LIMIT
BILL. |
| Veto session approximately 2 1/2 weeks after
last day of regular session.. |
| To be announced
Sine Die–last day |
|
