The Life of a Bill on Capitol Hill
by Senator Brent Hill
The 2009 session of the Idaho Legislature convenes on January 12. Unless we recently attended the fourth grade, many of us have forgotten how Idaho government works. A quick review of the process a bill goes through to become law might be helpful.
Idaho’s population, which exceeded 1.5 million this year, has been geographically divided into thirty-five Legislative Districts. Each district, comprised of approximately 43,000 citizens, is represented by one senator and two representatives. Madison and Fremont Counties, excluding one precinct in Island Park, constitute Legislative District 34.
Government of the People
Unlike many larger states that elect career legislators, Idaho has a “citizen” legislature: farmers, entrepreneurs, teachers, lawyers, and even an accountant that take time from their livelihoods to represent their friends and neighbors at the State Capital in Boise. The legislative session begins each year on the second Monday in January and usually continues until around the end of March. (The longest session lasted until May 3 in 2003.)
Stuck in committee
Passing legislation requires bills to undergo a complex process designed to weed out unnecessary and undesirable law changes. A bill can originate in either the 
Senate or the House of Representatives where it is assigned to one of ten Senate or fourteen House committees. The most critical part of the legislative process occurs within these committees. Each committee meets daily or every other day to review bills, discuss their merits, and gather public comment. The chair of each committee decides whether and when to hold a public hearing on each measure. If the chair grants it a hearing, the committee members can kill the bill or send it to the full house for a vote.
Sit and wait while Senators debate
In the Senate or House chambers, only legislators can debate the bills, but the public can view the proceedings from the gallery in the State Capitol or over the Internet at http://idahoptv.org/leglive/. If the legislation passes the first body by a majority vote, it then goes to the other body where it is again assigned to a committee for the whole process to be repeated. A bill can be defeated by the members of either the Senate or House committee or by a vote of the full Senate or House. If it survives those four votes, it must then be approved by the governor to become law. It usually takes several weeks for a bill to proceed through this process and the chances of a bad measure surviving are mitigated. In 2008, the Legislature considered 635 bills, but only 402 (many of which were simple budget or “housekeeping” measures) successfully became law.
When the people speak
Our legislators have been elected to represent us and they welcome our input. We owe it to ourselves and to them to share our opinions and ideas. During the legislative session, they can be contacted by calling 1-800-626-0471 or emailed at:
Senator Brent Hill: bhill@senate.idaho.gov
Representative Dell Raybould: draybould@house.idaho.gov
Representative Mack Shirley: mshirley@house.idaho.gov
Our elected officials need to hear about our concerns. As John Adams admonished, “Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.”