Bill Types
One way of filtering the bills in your bill sheet is by bill type.
But what are the different types of bills? A bill, resolution, study bill, and memorial are all types of legislative proposals that can be introduced in a legislative body. However, there are some key differences between them.
Bill
A bill is a proposed law that, if enacted, would become a statute. Bills are introduced by members of the legislature and are subject to a number of procedural steps before they can become law. For example, bills must be assigned to committees, debated, and voted on by both chambers of the legislature.
Resolution
A resolution is a formal expression of opinion, intent, sentiment, or decision by a legislative body. Most resolutions do not have the force of law. Resolutions are used for setting rules for a chamber, creating committees, and expressing the legislature's views on a variety of issues. Often resolutions are filed with the Secretary of State as their final step.
- Joint Resolutions: Usually bill numbers with a J in them or H.J. Res. or S.J. Res. in Congress. Joint resolutions require the approval of both Chambers but usually don't require approval by the Executive's, except in Congress where they are used for continuing or emergency appropriations. In the states Joint Resolutions are most often used for matters involving both houses, such as appointing joint committees or issuing joint statements of opinion (congratulations, statements of support, or "advice" for Congress or the President).
- Concurrent Resolutions: Usually bill numbers with a C in them or H.Con.Res. or S.Con.Res. in Congress. Concurrent Resolutions must pass both chambers but don't require the signature of the executive and do not have the force of law. Concurrent resolutions are generally used to make or amend rules that apply to both chambers or other business of the legislature. Can also be used to propose changes to the constitution.
- Simple Resolutions: Usually bill numbers with an R in them, EXCEPT Congress where HR is a normal bill; H.Res. and S.Res are simple resolutions. A simple resolution addresses matters entirely within the prerogative of one chamber, such as revising the standing rules of that chamber or creating committees. Simple resolutions are also used to express the sentiments of a single house. Simple resolutions do not require the approval of the other chamber nor the signature of the executive and they do not have the force of law.
Memorial
A memorial is a formal statement of respect or remembrance for a person or event. Memorials are typically introduced in response to the death of a public figure or to commemorate a significant event. For example, a memorial could be used to honor a fallen soldier or to mark the anniversary of a natural disaster.
Other
The vast majority of bills fall into one of the above categories -- there are well under 1,000 bills in the "other" bill type category out of the over 1.5 million bills in our database. The "other" category includes primarily Claims with a handful each of executive orders, initiatives, petitions, remonstrations, proclamations, commendations, and addresses. Since some of these types have the effect of law, and there's hardly any "other" bills anyway, we recommend leaving the "other" checkbox checked.
How Can You Use the Bill Type Filter?
How you might take advantage of the bill type filter depends on what you are trying to do:
Advocacy
If you want to have influence on a social topic you will probably want to track all bill types besides memorials. Resolutions supporting (or opposing) your point of view can be important indicators of progress on your issue, and study bills are a legislative nursery leading to future bills. If you are advocating for more business related reasons you might leave out resolutions since they don't have any real world impact.
Compliance
If you only need to know about new laws so you can follow them, you only need to worry about bills so leave out resolutions and everything else. It's a good idea to leave in "other" bills too, just in case.
Informing
If you are trying to keep a group of people informed about what's going on in a certain subject area right now, you will want to include bills, resolutions, and "other" bills. Study bills won't become law this session and might be confusing or distracting to your audience -- or maybe not, you be the judge.
Research
If you are interested in identifying legislative trends, you might want to keep all bill types in your bill sheet, besides memorials, to give you the best idea how often a given topic is coming up. Increasing numbers of resolutions and study bills on a topic indicate increasing legislative interest which may well lead to future bills and eventually laws. Don't forget about the "row group" feature at the top of your bill sheet to quickly get a count of each type of bill. You can use the "session years" timeline on the query tab to peruse old bills and count how many of each type of bill there was in previous years too -- and if they passed. Another option for comparing this year to previous years is to copy your bill sheet using the copy button on the manage tab and set each copy of the bill sheet to a different legislative session.