How They Voted/Legislation
First, a couple of quick terms:
LSR - Legislative Service Request - basically the rough draft for Bills. These may be placeholders, concepts that need refinement, or they may become official Bills.
HB or SB - House Bill or Senate Bill. These go to committee to get a recommendation to take to the floor for a vote.
ITL or OTP - These are committee recommendations. Inexpedient to legislate - committee feels Bill should not pass. Ought to Pass - committee feels it should pass.
Laid on Table - sets the bill aside for another year...
Consent Calendar - If a committee gives a unanimous vote the Bill goes on the consent calendar before the House. All Consent Calendar bills are voted on in a batch, as unanimously recommended. Any Representative can ask to have a Bill removed to the Regular Calendar. Individual votes are not recorded.
Regular Calendar - Committee votes were not unanimous. There is a Roll Call vote recorded. The calendar for the week will typically have majority and minority opinions printed with the bill description.
Roll Call Vote - The votes of each Rep or Senator are recorded.
Committee of Conference - If the non-originating body (House or Senate) amends and passes a bill it is sent back to the originating body. Now the decision is either to concur and the bill goes to the Governor's desk, or non-concur. If non-concur it is either left to 'die' or a Committee of Conference is appointed with members from both houses to work out an agreement. After a Committee of Conference both houses have to vote on it again.
How to find results:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ The top-right box is the 'State Legislation Dash Board'. It includes:
LSR Search -
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search LSR's (Legislative service requests) are proposed topics for legislation. Search by title key word, LSR number or select a member to see what they filed. These may look very different when and if they are voted on as bills, but the can be telling of legislators' priorities.
Bill Search -
There are several Bill search options. The bottom item in the Legislation Dash Board is to find a bill by number -
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/nhgcrollcalls/ Read the text, amendments, who proposed them and (if there was a roll call vote) who voted for or against. When you find the correct Bill results look to the left and select "Docket". This shows a timeline of votes, amendments and decisions - read the amended version as amendments can change the original bill dramatically.
Voting Record - search by Bill number, session date or legislator's name.
Crossover Day - March 29th this year. On this date the House Bills passed move to the Senate and vice versa. The ones passed by both houses move on to the Governor and Executive Council (for those with fiscal impact).
Calendar - Both the House and Senate publish calendars. They include when committees meet, and which bills are to be voted on for any particular day. Consent calendar votes are listed first, then Regular calendar. Regular calendar items usually have a majority and minority opinions from the committee noted and are very helpful to understand the Bill.
You can go to the website of the NH General Court http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ to find out about a specific bill or topic or to examine how your Representatives voted. Check over the House or Senate calendar to see what supporters and dissenters on the committees had to say. When you look ahead to the next week you have the chance to contact your legislators before they vote. See the House and Senate Dashboards for "Find Your Representative/Senator" links. When you go to member's individual page you will find email addresses as well as phone and addresses.
LSR - Legislative Service Request - basically the rough draft for Bills. These may be placeholders, concepts that need refinement, or they may become official Bills.
HB or SB - House Bill or Senate Bill. These go to committee to get a recommendation to take to the floor for a vote.
ITL or OTP - These are committee recommendations. Inexpedient to legislate - committee feels Bill should not pass. Ought to Pass - committee feels it should pass.
Laid on Table - sets the bill aside for another year...
Consent Calendar - If a committee gives a unanimous vote the Bill goes on the consent calendar before the House. All Consent Calendar bills are voted on in a batch, as unanimously recommended. Any Representative can ask to have a Bill removed to the Regular Calendar. Individual votes are not recorded.
Regular Calendar - Committee votes were not unanimous. There is a Roll Call vote recorded. The calendar for the week will typically have majority and minority opinions printed with the bill description.
Roll Call Vote - The votes of each Rep or Senator are recorded.
Committee of Conference - If the non-originating body (House or Senate) amends and passes a bill it is sent back to the originating body. Now the decision is either to concur and the bill goes to the Governor's desk, or non-concur. If non-concur it is either left to 'die' or a Committee of Conference is appointed with members from both houses to work out an agreement. After a Committee of Conference both houses have to vote on it again.
How to find results:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ The top-right box is the 'State Legislation Dash Board'. It includes:
LSR Search -
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search LSR's (Legislative service requests) are proposed topics for legislation. Search by title key word, LSR number or select a member to see what they filed. These may look very different when and if they are voted on as bills, but the can be telling of legislators' priorities.
Bill Search -
There are several Bill search options. The bottom item in the Legislation Dash Board is to find a bill by number -
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/nhgcrollcalls/ Read the text, amendments, who proposed them and (if there was a roll call vote) who voted for or against. When you find the correct Bill results look to the left and select "Docket". This shows a timeline of votes, amendments and decisions - read the amended version as amendments can change the original bill dramatically.
Voting Record - search by Bill number, session date or legislator's name.
Crossover Day - March 29th this year. On this date the House Bills passed move to the Senate and vice versa. The ones passed by both houses move on to the Governor and Executive Council (for those with fiscal impact).
Calendar - Both the House and Senate publish calendars. They include when committees meet, and which bills are to be voted on for any particular day. Consent calendar votes are listed first, then Regular calendar. Regular calendar items usually have a majority and minority opinions from the committee noted and are very helpful to understand the Bill.
You can go to the website of the NH General Court http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ to find out about a specific bill or topic or to examine how your Representatives voted. Check over the House or Senate calendar to see what supporters and dissenters on the committees had to say. When you look ahead to the next week you have the chance to contact your legislators before they vote. See the House and Senate Dashboards for "Find Your Representative/Senator" links. When you go to member's individual page you will find email addresses as well as phone and addresses.