LSB Bill Drafting Service

Central Nonpartisan Legislative Agencies: 76-1

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE LEGAL AND COMMITTEE SERVICES DIVISION

Bill Drafting

The LSB employs legal counsels and research analysts to provide bill drafting services for legislative committees and for individual legislators. A legislator who wishes to have a bill drafted may obtain a salmon colored bill request form from the LSB, from the back of the chambers, or from a caucus research area. After completing the form, the legislators may have the request delivered to the LSB or may visit personally with a drafter about a bill request. Although legislators may file bill requests with any drafter, most drafters specialize in specific subject matter areas. Bill draft requests are reviewed within the LSB and assigned to a specific drafter.

If a legislator perceives a problem in a specific area, the legislator may visit with an LSB drafter about the present law and the manner in which the legislator's proposals might be implemented.

Although the contents of all bill drafts are confidential, the fact that a legislator has requested a bill draft on a topic is public information and is listed in the LSB computer tracking system. If a legislator desires that information not be revealed about a bill draft request, the legislator may note that on the request form. The bill request will be assigned a confidential request number and will not be listed in the public LSB tracking system. Information about the contents of a specific bill draft will not be revealed to anyone by the drafter without requesting the legislator's permission.

Occasionally, identical requests are made by more than one legislator. When this occurs, the LSB drafter will inform the legislators requesting the drafts and the requesters may desire to sponsor the legislation jointly or a requester may modify the request.

The rules adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives specify a deadline date for filing requests for individually sponsored bill drafts with the LSB. In both chambers, members cannot file requests for drafting bills to be introduced that session with the LSB after Friday of the seventh week during the odd-numbered session and after Friday of the second week during the even-numbered session. These deadlines for drafting bills do not apply to committee chairpersons requesting that bills be drafted for their committees.

A legislator may request that a bill be drafted for the even-numbered year at any time after the deadline for filing requests during the odd-numbered year has passed. The bill will probably not, however, be drafted until the odd-numbered session is completed.

When a bill draft is completed, the proper number of copies for introduction is made by the LSB and bill packet is made with a pink index card attached and is sent to the requesting legislator. The pink card is then signed and returned to the LSB to indicate receipt by the legislator.

The legislator should review the bill draft carefully to determine that the bill draft meets with the legislator's specifications and should contact the bill drafter with any questions or changes. The legislator is under no obligation to introduce the bill draft and may wish to consult with constituents or other legislators or obtain additional sponsors.

Once the legislator decides to file the bill draft for introduction, the legislator needs to submit the draft to the appropriate office for the draft to receive a Senate or House File Number and have the bill draft reviewed by the chamber's Legal Counsel Office.

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Last update: 1995
URL: /DOCS/GA/76GA/LSB/LegHandbook/NonLegAgencies/LSBServices/BillDrafting.html
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