How a bill becomes a law

Indiana's legislative process is much like that at the federal level, but with a few rules specific to our state, outlined in our state constitution. (Read about the federal lawmaking process in a quick summary or extreme detail.)

At the beginning of each session of the Indiana General Assembly, deadlines are set for each step of the legislative process (outlined below). A bill must advance before these deadlines; if not, it dies. When Indiana's legislature adjourns at the end of the session, every bill that has not been passed by both chambers and sent to the governor dies. If the author of a dead bill wishes to reintroduce the same legislation in the following session, he may do so. However, he can't pick up the bill where it was left in the previous session; the bill must start the process all over again in the new year.

The outline below will give you the basic idea of how a bill becomes a law. For offline reference, download the related Indiana Department of Administration pdf.

House of origin 

• A senator or representative authors a bill and offers it for First Reading, when it is read by title to the full legislative body. The bill is then given to either the President Pro Tempore or the Speaker of the House, who assigns it to a committee.
• In committee, the committee chair decides whether an assigned bill will be heard. If so, a public meeting is held, testimony heard, and amendments offered. The committee votes on amendments, and votes on the bill itself.
• If the bill passes in committee, it goes back to the floor for Second and Third Readings. At this point, any senator or representative can offer amendments or debate the merits of the bill. The bill itself is voted on.

The second chamber 
If a bill passes in the house of origin, it is sent to the other chamber where it goes through the same procedures as outlined for the house of origin.

Amendments 
If the second chamber amends and passes the bill, it goes back to the house of origin. There the legislators can concur with the amendments or reject them. If there are no amendments, it is sent to the governor to be signed. If the house of origin rejects the amendments from the other chamber, the bill goes to a conference committee.

Conference committee 
Conference committees have members from both chambers that work to create a compromise that both houses will agree to. Once the bill has been altered by the conference committee, it returns to both chambers for a final vote. If both houses pass the amended version, it is sent to the governor.

The Governor 
The governor can do one of three things with a bill:

• He or she can sign the bill, which makes it a law.
• The governor doesn't take any action on the bill at all for seven days, at which point the bill becomes law without a signature.
• The governor can also veto the bill. If that happens, the Senate and House can override the veto with a majority of votes in both chambers. If a majority of senators and representatives vote to override the veto, the bill becomes law even without the approval of the governor.