Does it matter if your bill is first?
When legislation is introduced at the General Assembly, it is numbered, with House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 starting things off.
Dome wondered if there was a correlation (probably not a causation) with the first bills filed. Perhaps they were more likely to be well-prepared or have some favor with leadership.
The first bill in each chamber simply lays down the rules they'll follow during the session. But as it turns out, being the second, third, fourth or even fifth bill doesn't do much good in the House.
In 2007, H.B. 2 failed to incorporate the community of Corolla, H.B. 3 failed to add a tax credit for long-term care insurance and H.B. 4 did not amend one-stop voting days. Only H.B. 5 passed — and all it did was honor the late Rep. Bernard Allen.
Things were a little different in the more tightly controlled Senate.
That same year, S.B. 2 did not change the lottery formula, but S.B. 3 successfully promoted renewable energy. While S.B. 4 collected more data on race and public health, S.B. 5 did not change laws on methadone and second-degree murder.
The lesson? Representatives, take your time. Senators, get a move on.
Blog RSS feed
