Abbreviations
HB – House Bill
HJR – House Joint Resolution
HP – House Petition
HR – House Resolution
SB – Senate Bill
SJR – Senate Joint Resolution
SP – Senate Petition
SR – Senate Resolution
No data available – Information on the bill could not be located in the House and Senate journals nor in the permanent bill file
Bills and Resolutions
Titles
Due to amendments and substitutions, the content of a proposed bill can change many times before its eventual passage. These new versions are often accompanied by changes in the bill’s title. If your search returns a different bill title than expected, keep in mind that it may be an earlier or later draft of the bill.
Numbering
Over the years the method of numbering bills was altered, making it easier to distinguish bills introduced by the House from those introduced by the Senate. When the House and Senate bill numbers were going to overlap during the 1967 session, the Senate’s numbering was advanced by several thousand, which explains the jump from SB1999 to SB10,000 that year. The gap between the chambers’ numbering was widened again prior to the following session in 1969, as shown below. At the same time, the numbering of bills and resolutions introduced during special sessions was changed in both chambers. After the regular session ends, the numbering advances by tens, hundreds, or thousands to differentiate the beginning of special sessions occurring in the same calendar year.
1913-1958
House Bills: numbered beginning with 1
Senate Bills: numbered beginning with 1
1959-1967
House Bills: numbered beginning with 2001
Senate Bills: numbered beginning with 1
1969-present
House Bills: numbered beginning with 5001
Senate Bills: numbered beginning with 1
Errors
During earlier sessions, multiple bills would sometimes be assigned the same number in error. To avoid confusion while still including each bill, the misnumbered bills are listed in a separate table at the bottom of the page along with bills intentionally continued from previous sessions.
Carryover Discussion
The continuation of bills from one session to another occurs most frequently, though not exclusively, for amendments to the state constitution. Previous versions of the constitution required this continuation, while the current constitution makes it dependent on how large the majority is when the legislature votes on the proposed amendment. These bills are included in the session when they were introduced and also in a separate table at the bottom of the page reserved for carryover discussion and errors.
Committees
Committee Names
As the topics of legislation have evolved, the committee names have changed to reflect these shifting concerns. Sometimes subject areas were grouped together in a single committee for efficiency only to be separated again later. Although the changes are sometimes small, this database attempts to accurately reflect the name of the committee as it existed while considering each bill.
Sessions
Regular Sessions
Regular legislative sessions were held during odd-numbered years from 1887 to 1970, when a constitutional amendment made the sessions annual.
Special Sessions
Special legislative sessions are convened as needed during the rest of the year and focus on more specific purposes than regular sessions.
Veto or Trailer Sessions
Veto sessions are held for the sole purpose of reconsidering and overriding gubernatorial vetoes from the previous session. They are not typically included in the official count of legislative sessions.