Bill pre-filing has begun in Little Rock

Bill pre-filing has begun in Little Rock

In 2015, legislators filed more than 2,000 bills. Before the session ended, more than a thousand amendments had also been filed.

Although Regular Sessions can be extended with a vote by ? of General Assembly, they are originally scheduled to last 60 days.

One of the ways we expedite the legislative process is to allow is bill pre-filing. The pre-filing process allows bills to be prepared and introduced before regular session convenes. It increases the efficiency of the legislative process in several ways:

• Legislative staff have more time to draft legislation.

• The paperwork that is necessary for a bill’s official introduction—for example, gathering sponsor signatures — can be completed early.

• Presiding officers have more time to consider to which committee a bill will be referred.

• Committees may begin work immediately when session convenes.

Arkansas is one of 35 states that allows bills to be filed in advance of the session.

Members began filing bills on November 15 for the 2017 Regular Session. Since that time, more than 20 bills have been filed in the House. The focus of the bills ranges from school bus safety to specific tax cuts. We have provided a link to all of the legislation filed thus far at www.arkansashouse.org. Once the bills are filed in the clerk’s office they are scanned into the system and available for review on the website within seconds.

The Speaker of the House assigns the bills to their appropriate committee. He will send the bills that have been pre-filed to the appropriate committees on the first day of the session. The Speaker will also his selection of committee chairs on that day. The make-up of the committees was determined earlier this month and can also be found on our website.

The 2017 Regular Session begins on January 9. The House streams all House committees held in the Capitol during session and all House floor sessions live.

From State Representative Milton Nicks