Right now, the legislative committees are hearing lots and lots of bills—so far, 406 bills have been filed in the house, and 393 in the senate! All this in a 60-day legislative session.
But how does a bill go from being heard in a committee to becoming law?
Once a bill has passed its assigned committees in one chamber of the legislature, it is ready to go to that chamber's floor to be voted on by the entire house or senate. (This is called a floor vote.)
If the entire house or senate passes the bill, it then goes to the other house. There, it must pass that house's committees and then be voted on by the entire chamber.
If the bill has passed both the house and the senate, it heads to the governor’s desk, where she can either veto it or sign it into law.
For a more detailed look at the legislative process, click here.