12/20/2011
Research Memo
11 RM 046
Date:
November 10, 2011
Author: Michael Swank, Research Analyst
Re:
Legislatures' Dual Referral for Revenue-Raising (fiscal impacting) Bills
QUESTION
1. What are other state's practices for referring revenue-raising legislation (or fiscal impacting bills)
to one or more specific committees for review prior to passage?
ANSWER
1. Each state generally follows the practice of assigning financially-focused bills or bills with
accompanying fiscal impact to one or more committees for consideration. Though some states
separate requirements for revenue focused bills, other states include such bills with other bills as
having "fiscal impact." This means that revenue bills may be treated similarly to
expenditure/appropriations bills that may expand programs and government functions as well as
direct appropriations bills where money is allocated for expenditure.
With the assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures, LSO submitted the following series
of questions to be asked of the states' house and senate staffs for clarification of bill referral practices:


Does your chamber have a requirement that any bill containing a revenue or revenue-raising
provision be referred (or re-referred) to a tax or other fiscal committee?
o
If yes, is the requirement set by chamber rule or tradition?
o
If by chamber rule, what is the number of the rule? (Please provide example rule text if
possible)
If a bill contains both policy and revenue provisions (and therefore could be referred to two or more
committees), is there a typical order in which the bill is referred? For example:
o
a) the bill typically is referred to any policy committee(s) first; the tax or other fiscal
committee would receive the bill after all policy committee consideration
o
b) the bill typically is referred to the tax or other fiscal committee first; any policy
committee(s) would receive the bill after tax/fiscal committee consideration
o
c) another process is used (please describe).
WYOMING LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE • 213 State Capitol • Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002
TELEPHONE (307) 777-7881 • FAX (307) 777-5466 • EMAIL • [email protected] • WEBSITE http://legisweb.state.wy.us
PAGE 2 OF 4
Table 1, below, summarizes 20 states for which bill referral practices were provided on how each state
may assign bills with fiscal impact to specific committees. Shaded states represent western states and
states contiguous to Wyoming.
Table 1. States' Legislative Rules for Referral (or Dual Referral) of Legislation with Fiscal Impacts.
Revenue or
State 1
Rule Type
Expenditure
Rule Description
Focus
Alabama
Senate Rule
Expenditure
Bill or resolution may be directed to bill other than finance or
taxation committee if deemed necessary; may be re-referred to
appropriate finance or taxation after given second reading
Alaska
Uniform Rule Both
All bills involving appropriations, revenues or bonding must be
referred to the Finance Committee before they can advance to
second reading
Arkansas
Senate Rule
Revenue
Bills are assigned to committees for which the policy is most
germane; bills related to levy, increase, reduction, collection,
enforcement, and administation of taxes and other revenue
producing measures will be referred to the Revenue and Taxation
Committee; generally these considerations outweigh other policy
issues in a bill that may be referred to other policy committees
California
Joint Rule
Both
Bills must be referred to the fiscal committee if they: 1)
appropriate money; 2) result in substantial expenditure of state
money; 3) result in substantial loss of state revenues; or 4) result in
substantail reduction to expenditures
Colorado
State
Both
All bills raising revenue shall originate in the House but the Senate
Constitution;
may propose amendments; generally, bills with fiscal impact
House
greater than $5,000 (increase or decrease) are routed to the finance
Tradition
(revenues or expenditures) and/or appropriations (expenditures)
committees; bills created during interim are routed to the
Legislative Council
Delaware
House Rule
Expenditure
Bill containing appropriations or may involve net financial loss or
obligation of $50,000 or more in any one of the next 3 fiscal years,
shall be reported to the Appropriations committee
Hawaii
Senate Rule
Both
Ways and Means Committee has purview of bills related to overall
state financing policies – revenue enhancement, taxation, cash and
debt management, and government structure and finance
Idaho
House
Revenue
Bills related to revenue provisions are assigned to the appropriate
Tradition
fiscal committee
Illinois
House
Both
Most revenue related bills are assigned to the Revenue and Finance
Tradition
Committee, but some will be referred to the Executive Committee;
appropriations bills would be referred to different appropriations
committees, but would still need review from the Revenue and
Finance Committee
WYOMING LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE • 213 State Capitol • Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002
TELEPHONE (307) 777-7881 • FAX (307) 777-5466 • EMAIL • [email protected] • WEBSITE http://legisweb.state.wy.us
PAGE 3 OF 4
Table 1 (continued). States' Legislative Rules for Referral (or Dual Referral) of Legislation with Fiscal
Impacts.
Revenue or
1
State
Rule Type
Expenditure
Rule Description
Focus
Indiana
House Rule
Both
Any bill with an annual fiscal impact in excess of $50,000 may be
referred to the Ways and Means Committee before it is eligible for
second reading
Kentucky
State
Revenue
Revenue bills must originate in the House with the Senate able to
Constitution
amend if amendment only addresses revenues; revenue related bills
are referred the policy committee first and then re-referred to the
Appropriations and Revenue Committee to report back to the floor
Louisianna
House Rule
Revenue
Bills originating in the Senate that produce a net decrease in fees or
increases fees or taxes or authorizes an increase of $500,000 or
more annually in any 1 of the next 3 fiscal years are reported to the
Ways and Means Committee
Massachusetts
House Rule
Both
Revenue related bills are referred first to the Revenue Committee
and thereafter referred to the Ways and Means Committee; the
Ways and Means Committee has authority over bills involving
expenditures of public monies, grants of public property, or bills
that otherwise affect the states finances
Minnesota
House Rule
Both
A bill that directly, substantially and specifically affects present or
future financial obligations, budget policy, or revenue of the state
must be referred to the appropriate Finance or Tax Committee
before it receives it second reading; after these initial referrals,
these bills will ultimately be referred to the Ways and Means
Committee to report back to the House Speaker
Nevada
House Rule
Revenue
Bills changing the tax structure are referred to the Taxation
Committee, unless introduced during the last days of session they
are referred to the Fiscal Committee; revenue related bills required
dual referral are referred to the policy committee first and then to
the tax committee
New Hampshire House Rule
Both
All bills appropriating state money shall be referred to the
Committee on Finance; all bills affecting revenues may be referred
to the Committee on Finance; whether approriations or revenue
bills, these bills are referred to their appropriate policy committees
first; also, all bills affecting state revenues and fees shall be
referred to the Ways and Means Committee
WYOMING LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE • 213 State Capitol • Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002
TELEPHONE (307) 777-7881 • FAX (307) 777-5466 • EMAIL • [email protected] • WEBSITE http://legisweb.state.wy.us
PAGE 4 OF 4
Table 1 (continued). States' Legislative Rules for Referral (or Dual Referral) of Legislation with Fiscal
Impacts.
Revenue or
1
State
Rule Type
Expenditure
Rule Description
Focus
North Carolina
House Rule
Both
Bills with fiscal impact (appropriations) will be referred to the
Appropriations Committee upon report from other standing
committees for the following reasons: 1) bill contains an
appropriation; 2) requires future substantial state monies from the
General fund or Highway Fund to implement the bill; bills with
fiscal impact (revenues) will be referred to the Finance Committee
upon report from other standing committees for bills that raise
revenues, reduce revenues, levy a tax, authorize the levy of a tax,
an assessment, or a fee, or authorizes the issuance of bonds or
notes
Tennessee
House Rule
Both
Any bill with a fiscal impact of $100,000 or more shall be referred
to the Finance, Ways and Means Committee after consideration by
the appropriate standing committee
Vermont
House Rule
Revenue
Revenue related bills are referred to the Ways and Means
Committee; additional referrals may take place on different floor
readings, but generally dual referral moves a bills to the policy
committee first before the Ways and Means Committee
Washington
Senate
Both
Revenue related bills are referred to fiscal committees; in the
Tradition;
house, all bills having direct appropriation are referred to the
House Rule
appropriate fiscal committee; if dual referral is necessary, a bill
will be referred first to the policy committee and then to the fiscal
committee in both chambers; the Ways and Means Committee also
has discretion to "pull" bills from other standing committees if it
determines a bill will have a fiscal impact – the Ways and Means
Committee can also option not to review a bill that has been
referred to it
Source: LSO Research summary of National Conference of State Legislatures information.
1
Ohio and Utah replied, but do not have specific referral requirements for revenue related bills.
If you need anything further, please contact LSO Research at 777-7881.
WYOMING LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE • 213 State Capitol • Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002
TELEPHONE (307) 777-7881 • FAX (307) 777-5466 • EMAIL • [email protected] • WEBSITE http://legisweb.state.wy.us