Oregon Citizens Guide - tracking measures

Resources Used to Track Measures during a Current Session

Information on measure history and status, measure introduction and action by members, committee schedules and agendas, third reading notices, and measure indexes is contained in various legislative documents. These documents make it possible to track measures during a current session.

Resources:
Click here to access many of these documents online.
Measures

Bill: Draft of proposed law introduced in the Legislature for enactment.

The numbering of bills begins over again during each session. Senate bills are numbered starting with 1, House bills start at 2001. When a bill amends existing law, the language in [italics] and [bracketed] is being removed; [bold] type indicates new language.

By law, revenue-raising measures originate in the House. Appropriations bills may be introduced in either house; House appropriations bills begin with 5001 and Senate appropriations bills begin with 5501.

Forms of bills:

—Introduced (initial version of proposed legislation)
—Engrossed (proposed legislation as amended)
—Enrolled (final version after enactment, ready for signing by the Speaker, Senate President, and the Governor)

• Memorial—Measure which makes recommendation or expresses opinion to the President of the United States, Congress, legislatures of other states, etc. If drafted for consideration by both houses, it is termed a joint memorial.

• Resolution—A measure used by a single house to take action affecting its own procedure or expressing an opinion.

Legislative Measures—Status Report

(Senate Measures—Status Report, House Measures—Status Report)

The Legislative Measures – Status Report contains the history and current status of all measures introduced. It also includes a General Legislative Summary, which lists measures introduced by individual members, actions taken by individual members, actions taken by individual committees, and other information.

The cumulative Legislative Measures – Status Report is issued daily beginning the second day of session until a decision is made to issue a cumulative measure status report on Mondays only, with daily supplements published Tuesday through Friday. The supplements are cumulative for that week only. Monday’s cumulative measure status report is later divided into House and Senate versions.

Weekly Cumulative Index to Legislative Measures

This publication indexes measures by subject and also contains tables of existing laws (ORS) that have been amended, repealed, or added to by proposed measures. It is published each Monday during session.

Joint Legislative Schedule

Published daily, the Schedule contains a list of scheduled committee hearings and agendas, third reading notices, and an index of measures scheduled for hearings.

Committee Minutes

Minutes can be used to find out more information about a bill. Committee proceedings are taped and then tape logs are created and filed in committee minutes binders maintained by Committee Records available in Room 454. Exhibits and testimony are included.

Steps to tracking measures during Session:

| by bill number | by subject |

To track measures (referred to as bills from this point forward), you need either a bill number or the subject of the bill. (See Attachment B.)

A. If you have a BILL NUMBER:

Step 1. Go directly to the latest Measure Status Report and look up the bill. The Measure Status Report shows the history of the bill.

Sponsors—The legislators who have "signed on" to a bill. The first name is the chief sponsor. Legislation may be introduced by a legislator at the request of a citizen, state agency, or legislative interim committee.

First reading—The first reading occurs when a bill is introduced in either house. It is then referred to a committee.

Committee referrals are made by the President and Speaker

Committee hearings and work sessions

Committee action—In order for a bill to go to the floor for a vote, or be "reported out" of committee, a committee report must be signed by the chair. It is accompanied by a staff measure summary, a revenue analysis, and a fiscal impact assessment. Any amendments to the bill are printed and the bill may be reprinted to include the amendments. The bill is now called an engrossed bill. Letters are given to new versions, i.e. HB 2001, A-Engrossed. Staff measure summaries are written for all versions of bills.

Second and third readings—The second reading occurs when the committee brings the measure back to the respective house. The third reading takes place before the vote.

Floor action—When a bill comes out of committee, a member "carries" the bill on the floor, recapping what the committee did and urging an aye vote. The person who carries the bill does not have to be a sponsor. Note vote tallies.

Effective date—The regular effective date of a measure is January 1 of the year following passage of a measure. Some measures may contain a provision, such as an emergency clause, that specifies an earlier effective date.

Session laws chapter number—This number is assigned by the Secretary of State. It is different from the ORS number.

Step 2. Note committee name and dates of hearings and work sessions.

Step 3. Go to the committee minutes. Current committee minutes and forms for requesting tape duplications are available from Committee Records (Room 454) or the Legislative Library (Room 347).

B. If you have a SUBJECT:

Step 1. Go to the Weekly Cumulative Index (subject index), locate the subject and note the bill number. If you can't find the bill, think of all possible terms to describe the subject.

Step 2. With the bill number, refer to the appropriate Measure Status Report.

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Retrieving Legislative History from Past Sessions:

Resources:
Click here to access many of these documents online.

·Final Legislative Calendar/Final Legislative Measures;Status Report

This is published about six months after the adjournment of session. It contains information on the final status of all measures, including those that do not pass, along with a short abstract of the measure’s intent and a chronological list of actions. The Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures—Status Report gives other useful information in table form. One table enables you to tell which sections of ORS would be affected by the passage of a measure. A subject index is included.

· Oregon Laws

This is the bound final version of the laws from a single session. The arrangement is by session law chapter number, which does not correspond to chapters in ORS. These volumes contain several handy tables and a subject index.

· Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS)

This is the current Oregon law, with a new edition issued after each biennial legislative session. The legislative history since 1953 is at the end of each section in brackets. The Oregon and U.S. Constitutions are in volume 12. Tables are in volume 15. Explanation of an ORS cite: 123.321 The numbers to the left of the period are chapter numbers and the numbers to the right of the period are section numbers.Steps To Retrieving Legislative History:You can research legislative history if you have any one of the following four pieces of information: bill number, subject of the bill, Oregon Laws Chapter number and year, or ORS citation.

A. If you have a BILL NUMBER:

Step 1. You will need to know the session year the bill was introduced since bill

numbers are recycled each session.

Step 2. Go to the Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures—Status Report and look up the bill. The Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures—Status Report shows the history of a bill, including which committees the bill was referred to and what the final outcome of the bill was. The Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures—Status Report is divided into Senate and House sections and arranged by bill number.

Step 3. Note committee name and the dates of the hearings and work sessions.

Step 4. Go to the committee minutes. Remember, minutes and tapes can be used to find legislative intent. Tapes and printed minutes from past sessions are available from the Secretary of State, Archives Division, 800 Summer St., Salem, OR 97301, 503-373-0701. Committee minutes are also available online from 1991 - present on the Archives Division website: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/legislativeminutes/legminutes.html

B. If you have a SUBJECT:

Step 1. Go to the Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures — Status Report. Look in the subject index to find the bill number. Using the bill number, go into the main body of the Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures — Status Report.

Step 2. Note the dates of the hearings and work sessions.

Step 3. Go to the Committee Minutes.

C. If you have the CHAPTER NUMBER:

Step 1. Look up the chapter in the Oregon Laws for that year. The bill number is cited at the beginning of the chapter.

Step 2. Go to the Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures — Status Report, look up the bill and note the dates of hearings and work sessions.

Step 3. Go to the Committee Minutes.

D. If you have an ORS CITE:

Step 1. Go to the end of the ORS section where the Oregon Laws chapter and year are cited.

Step 2. Look up the chapter in the Oregon Laws for that year. The bill number is cited at the beginning of the chapter.

Step 3. Go to the Final Legislative Calendar/Final Measures — Status Report, look up the bill, and note the dates of hearings and work sessions.

Step 4. Go to the Committee Minutes. return to top