The legislative process is started when ideas generate significant interest among citizens of North Carolina, who in turn, convince our elected officials that new laws are needed or existing laws need to be changed. Ideas may be generated from individuals, special interest groups, state agencies, legislators, and even the Governor’s office. The following process must be followed in order for a bill to become a law:

(1)   INTRODUCTION

A member, or members, of either the House or the Senate of the North Carolina General Assembly introduces a new piece of legislation or law. The legislation is assigned a bill number. Numbers are assigned to the legislation in the order in which the legislation is introduced. For example, the 100^th bill introduced in the House it would be HB100, (House Bill 100) the 65^th bill introduced in the Senate is SB65 (Senate Bill 65).

(2)   READING

After the bill is introduced and given a number, the title is read for its first reading in the chamber of origin (either House or Senate) and referred to the appropriate committee for consideration.

(3)   COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION AND REPORT

Once the bill is assigned to the appropriate committee, it is put before the legislators who are members of that committee. Staff of the General Assembly explain the nature of the bill and the existing law that governs the particular piece of legislation. Members of the public and lobbyists attend these meetings to provide information to legislators regarding the myriad facets of the proposed legislation. Legislators discuss the proposed legislation. At this point, the legislation may be given a favorable report (approved in its original form), amended and then given a favorable report, changed completely then given a favorable report (a committee substitute), or given an unfavorable report (rejected in its original form). Sometimes, when a decision cannot be reached a subcommittee may be formed to consider the legislation and receive additional information and input on the bill. In other instances, after given a favorable report, the legislation is sent to another committee for consideration. Once a bill is given an unfavorable report, it is no longer eligible for consideration.

(4)   SECOND READING

Once passed out of committee and/or subcommittee the bill is sent back to the floor of its originating chamber and the title is again read for the entire membership. During this reading, the bill sponsor explains the bill. At this time, members may debate, add amendments and vote to pass or not pass the bill.

(5)  THIRD READING

The third reading of the bill allows for more debate and/or additional amendments to the bill before the final vote of the members is taken. For many bills, second and third reading occur on the same day. For budget and tax bills, however, second and third reading must occur on two separate days.

(6)   PASSAGE

If the bill passes the chamber in which it was introduced, it is then sent to the chamber for consideration and the process begins again.

(7)   CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

If after consideration in the other chamber, the bill is changed in any way, a Conference Committee is created from members of both the House and Senate to resolve the differences in the versions of the bill. After a compromise is reached, the Committee adopts a Conference report which must be voted on by each chamber. This process usually happens with the budget bill.

(8)  VETO & ENROLLMENT

The final step in which a bill becomes law is enrollment: the process after both chambers have approved the bill and it is signed by the presiding officers (the Speaker in the House and the President of the Senate). One caveat to this process is that in 1996 the citizens of North Carolina voted to give their Governor the authority to veto almost any piece of legislation. However, certain legislation is exempt from veto power: amendments to the NC and US constitutions; joint resolutions; appointments to public office, redistricting and local bills. These bills become law when ratified and signed by the presiding officers of both chambers. All other bills are subject to veto by the Governor.

Once the bill is received by the Governor, it can be vetoed within:

10 calendar days if the General Assembly is in session;
30 calendar days if the General Assembly has adjourned sine die (at the conclusion of a session with no day to reconvene);
30 calendar days if legislators have adjourned for more than three days to reconvene later (days include weekends and holidays);

If the Governor does not veto the bill within these limits, it automatically becomes law.

If the Governor vetoes the bill, it must be done within the time limits listed above. The veto must be explained in a message and the bill must be returned to the chamber in which it was introduced. The General Assembly must immediately proceed to reconsider the bill. At this point, the bill cannot be amended, the General Assembly can only vote to affirmatively or negatively override the veto. Affirmative votes from 3/5ths of the members of each house are needed to override the veto. If the General Assembly is not in session, a process for them to reconvene is available. If the General Assembly does not reconvene, the matters cannot be considered.

(9)   CHAPTERING

On the day a bill becomes law, its number changes to a Session Law. A session law is the year that the bill became law and the number in which it was approved as such (i.e. Session Law 1999-395).