Frequently Asked Questions about Appropriations Committees’ Actions

Frequently Asked Questions about Appropriations Committees’ Actions By Chris Micheli

            For bills on the Suspense File, what are the three main actions taken by the Appropriations Committees? Historically, there were three actions that the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees took on measures pending on their respective Suspense Files: Do Pass; Do Pass as Amended; or Hold in Committee.

What is an additional action that is taken for bills on the Suspense Files? In recent years, a fourth action has been used to distinguish between two types of holding measures on Suspense: a “2-year bill.”

            For bills that are not placed on the Suspense File, what the actions taken? There can be one of the following actions: Do Pass, Do Pass as Amended, Consent, or “28.8 to the Floor” (only in the Senate).

What is the monetary threshold for a bill to be sent to the Suspense File? It is $50,000 in the Senate, and $150,000 in the Assembly.

What does Senate Rule 28.8 provide? SR 28.8 allows the Senate fiscal committee chair to send measures directly to the Senate Floor if there are no significant costs or revenue loss attributable to the measure.

What are the types of amendments used by the respective Appropriations Committees? They are either author’s amendments or committee amendments.

What are the two types of “hold in committee” actions taken? The two fiscal committees distinguish bills that are held, just during the first year of the session. When the committees do not pass a bill off the Suspense File, they either hold the bill, which means the measure is dead for the Session, (of course, the same or a similar bill can be introduced in the second year of the session), or the measure is deemed a 2-year bill (which are actually called “carryover bills” in the state Constitution), and those bills will be voted upon in January at the start of the second year of session.

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