44 /Legislature

may be favorable (with or without amendment),
unfavorable, or without recommendation. Having
been "voted out of committee," the bill now returns
to the floor of its chamber of origin accompanied
by a report of committee action.

CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORT
(2ND READING OF BILL)

After consideration of committee amendments,
the bill is then open to amendment from the floor.
There, committee action may be reversed, although
this happens infrequently. Second reading is com-
pleted when the presiding officer orders the bill,
with any adopted amendments, printed for third
reading.

FLOOR VOTE ON BILL
(3RD READING OF BILL)

No amendments may be presented on third
reading. In the chamber of origin, a recorded vote
is taken to pass or reject the bill. To pass, the bill
must receive a majority vote of the elected member-
ship.
The bill then passes over to the opposite cham-
ber, has its first reading, and is assigned to a com-
mittee for a hearing. The procedure followed is
identical with that of the chamber in which the bill
originated, except that amendments may be pro-
posed during second and third readings. If not
amended in the second chamber, final passage may
occur without reprinting.

If amended in the second chamber, the bill is
returned to the chamber of origin so that house may
consider the amendments. If the chamber of origin
votes to concur with the amendments, the bill is voted
on as amended and action is complete. The bill is
reprinted, or "enrolled", to include the added amend-
ments before being submitted to the Governor.

If the chamber of origin votes to reject the
amendments, the amending chamber may be asked
to withdraw its amendments. If it refuses, either
chamber may request that a conference committee
be appointed to resolve the differences between the
two chambers.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Appointed by the Senate President and the
House Speaker, a conference committee consists of
three members of each house. The committee re-
ports back to both chambers where its recommen-
dations are adopted or rejected without
amendment. If the report is adopted, the bill is
voted upon for final passage in each house. If the
report is rejected by either house, the bill fails.

CONSENT CALENDAR

The Senate and the House of Delegates may
adopt a "consent calendar" procedure if members

of each house receive reasonable notice of the bills
placed on each consent calendar. The consent cal-
endar is a list of bills to be read and voted upon as
a group (Const., Art. II, sec. 17; Art. III, secs. 27,
28). This procedure greatly expedites the legislative
process. In 1988, the Senate revised its rules to
place bills and joint resolutions on consent calen-
dars by category as they are voted out of committee
(Senate Rule 55). The House of Delegates still
retains a Consent Calendars Committee to deter-
mine which bills and joint resolutions may be in-
cluded on consent calendars (House Rules 18 and
55).

EFFECTIVE DATE OF LAWS
All bills passed by the General Assembly become
law when signed by the Governor, or when passed
over the Governor's veto by three-fifths of the
membership of each house. According to the Con-
stitution, laws thus approved take effect on the first
day of June after the session in which they were
passed, except when a later date is specified in the
act, or the bill is declared an emergency measure.
For many years, most laws took effect July 1. Dur-
ing the 1992 Session, October 1 began to be used
as the standard effective date for legislation. Emer-
gency bills, passed by three-fifths of the total num-
ber of members of each house, become law
immediately upon their approval by the Governor.

All bills, except the budget bill and constitu-
tional amendments, must be presented to the Gov-
ernor within twenty days following adjournment of
a session. The Governor may veto such bills within
thirty days after presentation. If the Governor does
not veto a bill, it becomes law. The budget bill,
however, becomes law upon its final passage and
cannot be vetoed. Constitutional amendments also
cannot be vetoed; they become law only upon their
ratification by the voters at the next general elec-
tion.

VETOED BILLS

The power to override a veto rests with the
General Assembly. If the Governor vetoes a bill
during a regular session, the General Assembly
immediately considers the Governor's veto mes-
sage. If the Governor vetoes a bill presented after
the session, the veto message must be considered
immediately at the next regular or special session of
the legislature. The General Assembly may not
override a veto during the first year of a new legis-
lative term since the bill would have been passed by
the previous legislature (Const., Art. II, sec. 17). A
three-fifths vote of the elected membership of both
chambers is necessary to override a veto.