Digest: March 22nd

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It’s Crossover Day!

 Early in my career advocating/lobbying for nonprofits in Annapolis, I heard a saying that has stuck with me: “There are millions of ways to kill a bill, only one way to pass it.” This refers to the fact that every bill must survive every stage of a defined process in order to become law. There are no shortcuts, and you have to pass every milestone – and do so before the 90-day session runs out. 

At this point in the session (3 weeks to go), a lot of people have misconceptions about what has to happen with our priority bills. For example, when the same bill is introduced in both the House and Senate, it is not enough that each house pass its version of the bill. One bill has to be passed by both houses with exactly the same wording in order to be sent to the Governor for signature. However, both bills do not need to pass; one will do (even though our legislators often pass both as a courtesy to give both the House and Senate sponsors credit for passage.

What happens if a bill misses a deadline?

Today is the official “crossover date,” the day by which any bill is supposed to cross over from its house of origin to the other house. Does this mean that any bill that misses the crossover is dead? No, but it makes it more difficult to pass. Any bill received by the other house after today will be referred to the chamber’s Rules Committee instead of its normal standing committee. The Rules Committee would then need to re-refer the bill to the standing committee before it could be considered. While not an insurmountable barrier, it at least causes a delay, and the end of the session is in sight. The receiving chamber’s standing committee would then need to hold a hearing and vote on the bill. For any bill that was cross-filed and the companion bill was already heard by the committee, the hearing will be more of a formality. But any non-cross-filed bill will be heard for the first time, creating further delay. Since the clock is such an important factor in the last three weeks, any delay can scuttle a bill. 

Many of our priority bills have passed or are passing from one chamber to the other, so we are optimistic that many will pass before the General Assembly adjourns Sine Die at midnight on April 12. Let’s keep up the great work contacting lawmakers that many UUs have done so far.

Stephen Buckingham, UULM-MD Chair 

Bill Passing 101

As our state lawmakers have been scrambling to pass their legislation before Crossover day, let's take a minute and explain the process. 

Every bill gets 3 readings on the chamber (House or Senate) floor:

• First reader - when the bill is introduced and is referred to a standing committee that handles its particular subject. The Committee holds a public hearing on the bill, and the Chair schedules a voting session when there appears to be enough support on the committee. During the voting session, amendments may be offered for adoption or rejection. Then they vote on the bill. If the committee gives the bill a “Favorable Report,” it goes back to the Chamber, along with any amendments they have adopted. 
• Second reader - Once the bill is reported out of Committee, any committee amendments are adopted, and the chamber adopts the committee's favorable report, then they consider any amendments from the floor. If the bill passes the chamber on Second reader, the bill is ordered reprinted for Third reader (incorporating any approved amendments).
• Third reader (and final passage in the chamber) - no amendments are allowed at this time in the house of origin; just an up or down vote. Amendments are also allowed in the opposite chamber on Third reader.
• First reader in the other chamber – If the opposite chamber changes the bill, it must go back to the original chamber to accept or reject the changes. If the chambers don’t agree, a conference committee must be appointed to work out a solution. In the waning days of a session, having a bill “go to conference” can result in failure for lack of time.

After a bill passes in one of the chambers of the General Assembly, it then goes through the same procedure in the other Chamber. Both chambers have to pass the exact same bill and then the bill goes to the Governor, who has until the end of May to sign the bill into a law, let the bill become a law without his signature or veto the law.  

If the Governor vetoes the law, and the General Assembly is still in session, both chambers can override his veto with a 2/3 majority. If they are not in session, they will not be able to override the veto until the beginning of the next Legislative Session.