GLOSSARY

Glossary of Massachusetts Legislative Terms

N.B. All terms in Bold Print have their own entry.

After vote: (AV) The House is allowed five minutes after a RollCall Vote is taken for a Representative to add his/her vote.This after vote is not counted in the official tally, but is recorded asan AV in the printed Yeas and Nays. (SealsoRoll Call Vote and Yeas and Nays)
Amendment: Change, addition or deletion in the wording of a Billunder consideration either in Committee orin Chamber. (See also Committee, Chamber, SecondReading and Third Reading)
Approved by the Governor: The signature of the Governor on an engrossed enacted Bill.The Bill becomes law in ninety days unless there isan Emergency Preamble. (See also Emergency Preamble)
Bill: Document which proposes a change in existing statutes and/or introducesa new statute. The bill accompanies th Petition.Bills are bound in the Legislative Documentsvolumes in the State Library. (See also Petition and Legislative Documents)
By request :: This phrase, found after the name of a legislator in the sponsor sectionon the top of a printed Bill, indicates that the legislatordoes not endorse the Bill which s/he introduced as the result of the rightof Free Petition. (See also Free Petition)
Calendar: Also called the Orders of the Day (O.D.), the calendar is the daily agendaof the House and Senate. (See also Orders of the Day)
Chambers: The two meeting places of the House and Senate where the formal businessof the day is conducted. Chamber galleries are open to the public.
Committee: Consists of members of the House and Senate (JointCommittees) or House or Senate members only (StandingCommittees). Joint committees study and research Billsunder their consideration, hold public hearings and report on Bills.(See also Committee Report)
Committee report: The report is not a written document but the recommendation of a Committeethat a bill ought to pass (OTP), ought not to pass (ONTP),or ought to pass with an amendment (OTPWA). (See also Committee)
Conference Committee: A small special committee appointed by the leadership to iron out differencesbetween the House and Senate versions of a Bill. Threemembers of each branch make up the committee. Their report must eitherbe accepted or rejected, it cannot be amended.
Emergency Preamble: Means by which a Bill becomes a law upon the signature of the governorinstead of the usual ninety-day waiting period. (See also Approved by theGovernor)
Enactment: Final approval of an Engrossed Bill by both branches. Enacted Bills aresent to the Governor by the Senate. (See also Engrossment)
Engrossment: (Eng.) After passage by both branches the Bill is passedto be engrossed. Engrossment is the procedure whereby the Bill is typed in simulated script on special paper in the Engrossing Division.The engrossed Bill is voted upon for enactment. (Seealso Enactment)
Filing Date: Petitions and their accompanying Billsor Resolves for the next session must be filed withthe Clerk of the House or Senate on or before the first Wednesday in Novemberin non-election years (odd numbered years), and on or before the firstWednesday in December during election years (even-numbered years). (Seealso Late Filed Bills)
First Reading: This is the first of three mandatory readings in each branch of the GeneralCourt. This reading is the account of the CommitteeReport delivered by the Clerk of the House or Senate. (See also SecondReading and Third Reading)
Free petition: In Massachusetts all citizens have the right to petition the state legislature.This procedure is called the right of free petition. A citizen drafts andfiles a Petition and accompanying Bill.A legislator sponsors the Bill in the GeneralCourt. If a legislator disagrees with the contents of the Bill, he/shemay indicate this by placing the phrase By request after his/her name.(See also Petition and Bill)
General Court: The official name for the Massachusetts legislature, usually used whenreferring to both branches. It is also sometimes called the Great and GeneralCourt.
Governor's Message: The manner in which the Governor may introduce his/her proposals for legislation.The message is written in letter format to the GeneralCourt, and the Bill accompanies the message. Thesedocuments are assigned one Bill number and are also contained within theBills in the LegislativeDocuments volumes in the State Library. (See also Legislative Documents,Bills and General Court)
Joint Committees: The following are the joint committees of the GeneralCourt: Banks and Banking; Commerce and Labor; Counties; Criminal Justice;Education, Arts and Humanities; Election Laws; Energy; Federal FinancialAssistance; Government Regulations; Health Care; Housing and Urban Development;Human Services and Elderly Affairs; Insurance; Judiciary; Local Affairs;natural resources and Agriculture; Public Safety; Public Service; StateAdministration; Taxation; Transportation.
Journals: The Journals of the House and Journals of the Senate are the official accountof the daily sessions of the General Court.The Journals contain the procedural information of the process of legislativeevents. The Journals do not contain debate. (See also General Court)
Late Filed Bill: A Bill which is filed after the FilingDate with the Clerk of the House or Senate, and approved by 4/5 ofthe members of the branch where the bill is introduced. (See also FilingDate)
Legislative Documents: The bound volumes of the Bills, Resolves,Governor's Messages, and other legislative documents.(See also Bills, Resolves and Governor's Messages)
Negatived: The rejection by the members of the General Courtof a motion by a negative vote. (See also General Court and Roll Call Vote)
Paired votes: Two Senators may combine or pair a negative vote with a positive vote,and therefore cancel each other out. One Senator must be present for theactual vote, and paired votes are not counted as part of the official tally.(See also Yeas and Nays and Roll Call Vote)
Petition: Formal document to request consideration of a proposal to the legislature.The proposal, usually a Bill or a Resolve,accompanies the petition. (See also Bill and Resolve)
Pocket Veto: If, after the General Court has Proroguedthe Governor fails to sign any Enacted Bills or Resolveson his/her desk within ten days they do not become law. This lack of signatureby the Governor is called a pocket veto. (See also Enactment and Prorogation)
Prevailed: The acceptance of a motion by the members of the GeneralCourt by a positive vote. (See also General Court and Roll Call Vote)
Prorogation: The formal adjournment of the yearly session of the legislature by theGovernor. If the General Court is not proroguedbefore the first Wednesday of January (the first day of the new session)the ending session is automatically dissolved at midnight on the Tuesdaybefore the first Wednesday of January.
Public hearings: Forum for discussion and testimony by the public to the Committeewhich is considering a Bill. No transcripts of hearings are kept. (Seealso Committee)
Quorum: The number of members needed to conduct the sessions. A RollCall Vote may be called if there is a request to determine if a quorumis present. (See also Roll Call Vote)
Redraft: New version of a Bill which shows substantial changes. Redrafts have differentBill numbers from the original Bill. (See also Reprint)
Reprint: Corrected copy of a Bill which shows the changes in a Bill which are ofan editorial nature. Corrected reprints have the same Bill number as theoriginal. (See also Redraft)
Reporting Date: The date, the last Wednesday in April, on which all Bills must be reportedout of joint Committees. This rule maybe suspended to extend the reporting date. (See also Suspension of Rules)
Resolve: A document which requests an action of a less general nature than a Bill,such as the creation of a special commission. Petitionmust accompany the resolve, as with a Bill. (See also Petition and Bill)
Resolution: Statement of the House or Senate or both branches together on a particulartopic or event of concern to them. The titles of resolutions are foundin the Journals. (See also Journals)
Roll Call Vote: A recorded vote of the House or Senate, also called Yeasand Nays. All other votes are unrecorded voice votes. (See also Yeasand Nays)
Second reading: At this time the floor of the chamber is opened for discussion and debateon the merits of a Bill. Amendments frequentlyoccur during this time. A favorable vote is needed to send the bill toits Third Reading. (See also First Reading and ThirdReading)
Standing Committees: The standing committees of the Senate are: Rules; Ways and means Administration;Bills in the Third Reading; Ethics; Post Audit and Oversight; Science andTechnology; Steering and Policy. The standing committees of the House are:Rules; Ways and means; Bills in the Third Reading; Ethics; long-term Debtand Capital Expenditures; Personnel and Administration; Post Audit andOversight; Science and Technology; Steering, Policy and Scheduling.( Seealso Committees)
Study Order: Means by which Bills are sent back to the jointCommittees for further investigation and study. (See also Bill andCommittee)
Suspension of Rules: The procedural rules of the House and Senate may be suspended by the membersin order to expedite the daily business.
Third reading: After a vote of approval for the Bill's second reading it is sent to theBills in Third Reading Committee to be reviewed. This Committeechecks the contents of the Bill for legal technicalities and proper citations.After the Bill is released by the Bills in Third Reading Committee it isread for the third and final time in Chamber whereit may again be debated and Amended. (See also First Readingand Second Reading)
Yeas and Nays: The Roll Call Votes of the members of theHouse and Senate. Roll Calls for the Senate are found in the Journals ofthe Senate on the day on which the vote was taken. Roll Calls of the Houseare assigned a Yea and Nay Supplement number and are printed separately.When the bound volumes of the House Journals are printed the Yeas and Nays are included in the last volume at the end ofthe book. (See also Journals and Roll Call Vote)