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• Legislative Basics

      1)  Glossary of Legislative Terms  
      2)  How a Bill Becomes a Law
      3)  AORN Action Steps

In addition, grassroots members should become familiar with how to read a bill and how a regulatory process works.

HOW TO READ A BILL

Bills and legislation have unique formats and designs that vary from the federal to state legislatures as well as among state legislatures. However, there are components to legislation that are uniform and consistent and should be available despite the legislature. Each piece of legislation should be assigned a "bill number" which should appear near the top of the bill. Each piece of legislation should also identify the sponsor and the title of the bill if there is one. Legislation should have the date the bill was offered or introduced as well as a proposed effective date should the legislation pass. The body of the legislation may include a legislative intent or purpose which summarizes the problem or idea identified by the legislature for which the legislation is purported to address. The remaining body of the bill should contain the specific terms, requirements, provisions, and consequences of the legislation. Often times, a bill will contain mark-up notations such as "strike-outs" for language that is to be omitted and the language that is to be added is often bolded, underlined, or capitalized.

Below, are some examples of bill components and mark-ups.

      1)  Federal - Elements of a Federal Bill
      2)  Alaska - How to Read a Bill
      3)  Washington - How to Read a Bill

HOW THE REGULATORY PROCESS WORKS

After legislation is passed, agencies within the federal and state government must implement policies and procedures to implement the law. These policies and procedures are known as rules and/or regulations and are issued and implemented through the administrative process - also referred to as the regulatory process. An agency issues rules and regulations to provide for specific implementation methods, interpretations, definitions, and compliance or enforcement provisions of the new law. Agencies also review and revise their rules on a scheduled basis or as necessitated by new circumstances. The administrative process provides multiple opportunities for public involvement and by its very nature is considered a public process. Below is a brief overview of the administrative process as well as links to documents that depict the process within both the federal and state governments.

Agencies issue notices of intent for rule making and rule review. This notice establishes a time frame by which the rules will be developed or amended and specifies dates for public hearings and written comments. Public comments can be submitted in writing in compliance with the agencies policies - some agencies require specific formats for written comments. Public hearings will often be scheduled for testimony by parties both in favor and in opposition of the proposed rule or amendment. The agency must then consider all comments and respond to them before issuing the final revised or new rule. Below are charts that describe this process at the federal and state levels.

      1)  Federal Office of Management and Budget Reg Map
      2)  California Regulatory Process
      3)  Utah Regulatory Process