Understanding State House terms

A look at some of the terms you might here bandied about in the halls of the State House.

Act — A bill that has passed both houses of the General Assembly, signed by the governor or passed over the governor’s veto or becomes law without his signature

Act — A bill that has passed both houses of the General Assembly, and has been signed by the governor or passed over the governor’s veto or becomes law without his signature

Adjournment — End of a session for a day

Adjournment sine die — Final end of a regular or special session with no date set for reconvening

Amendment — Any change made or proposed in a bill by adding, changing, substituting or omitting

Appropriate — To allocate money

Appropriation — Money allocated for various departments of government set aside by formal action for specific use

Bill — Draft of proposed law presented to the Legislature for consideration

Bill history — Record of all action on any legislative measure

Calendar — List of pending legislation, according to the order of business scheduled for consideration on a legislative day; printed daily

Call to order — Notice indicating the Legislature is in session; also used to call a disorderly member to order

Caucus — An informal meeting of a group of the members, sometimes called on the basis of party affiliation

Censure — An act to officially reprimand an official for actions while in office

Cloture — A parliamentary procedure invoked to limit or end debate

Commit — The referral and sending of a bill to committee or delegation

Committee report — An official report from a committee; recommendations may be favorable; favorable with amendment; majority favorable, minority unfavorable; majority favorable with amendment, minority unfavorable; or unfavorable

Committee report — An official report from a committee. Recommendations may be favorable; favorable with amendment; majority favorable, minority unfavorable; majority favorable with amendment, minority unfavorable; or unfavorable

Companion measure — Identical bill introduced in both houses

Concurrence — When one house agrees to a proposal or action that which the other house has approved

Concurrent resolution — Affects the action of the General Assembly and its members; does not carry an appropriation and does not have the force of law, but records the sense of the two houses

Conference committee — Composed of three members of each house to resolve differences on an amended bill; reports recommendations or amendments back to the houses for further action

Confirmation — Approval by Senate and/or House of an executive appointment
Conflict of interest — Untenable position that threatens the ability of a legislator to vote or act impartially

Constitutional amendment — Joint resolution passed by two-thirds vote of each house that affects the constitution and requires approval by voters

Contingency fund — Money set aside for unforeseen expenses during the fiscal year

Co-sponsor — One of two or more members proposing a bill or resolution

Debate — Discussion according to parliamentary rules

Debate adjourned — Postponement of the matter, which may be brought up for consideration later

Desk is clear — Statement by presiding officer, prior to adjourning, that there is no further business

Died in committee — The defeat of a bill in committee by not returning it to the House or Senate for action

Dilatory — A delaying tactic using parliamentary procedure to prevent action from being taken

Division of the question — Procedure to separate a matter into two questions

Executive session — A session excluding all persons other than members and staff personnel authorized to remain

Filibuster — A strategic device by which a minority can control the floor through “extended debate” on a measure by either delaying or preventing passage

Fiscal year — July 1-June 30

Floor — That portion of the assembly chamber reserved for members and officers of the assembly

Gallery — Balconies or other specific areas of chambers for visitors to view the proceedings of the Legislature

Germaneness — The relevance or appropriateness of amendments, speeches, etc.

Grandfather clause — Laws often contain a clause exempting persons from having to comply

Hold harmless clause — That portion of a bill which provides that an existing activity will not suffer financially from a reduction in funding

Hopper — A depository for bills awaiting introduction

Indefinite postponement — A way of disposing of a proposal for the session of the General Assembly

Joint resolution — Has the same force of law as an act, but is a temporary measure, dying when its subject is completed; requires the same treatment as a bill

Lay on the table — Postponement of the matter before the house, which may later be brought up for consideration by an appropriate motion

Lobbyist — A representative of a special interest group whose function is to influence legislation affecting his special interest

Majority report — A report Report that which reflects the thinking of a majority of the committee members on an issue

Memorial — The method by which the Legislature speaks to Congress and other governments or agencies

Message — An official communication from one house to the other or from the governor to the Legislature, usually transmitting bills or resolutions; messages become part of the official journal.

Minority report — A report that which reflects the thinking of the members not favoring the majority position on an issue

Morning hour — The period prior to taking up the calendar when consideration of any matters not on the calendar occurs

Motion — Formal proposal offered by a member of the House or Senate

Nonconcurrence — Non-concurrence — When one house refuses to agree with the other on a bill or resolution that which the other house has amended

Objection — On any statewide uncontested bill or joint resolution, five members must object or request debate, or express a combination of the two to delay action, primarily used to allow time to read the bill or joint resolution, draft an amendment, etc.

Out of order — Not being conducted under proper parliamentary rules and procedures

Pages — Persons stationed at the front of the chamber and available to assist the members

Point of order — A statement calling attention to an alleged breach of order or parliamentary procedure

Point of personal privilege — A statement defending the rights, reputation or conduct of a legislator in his or her official capacity

Postpone to a day certain — To defer consideration to a specific later time or day

President — The lieutenant governor is the presiding officer in the Senate and is referred to while presiding as “Mr. President.”

President pro tempore — The person elected by the Senate to have the same powers as the president in the latter’s absence

Previous question — A motion to close debate and bring the pending question to an immediate vote; if approved, debate is cut off at the end of two hours, equally divided between the opponents and proponents

Quorum — The required number of members present to transact business, which is 63 out of 124 House members and 24 out of 46 senators.

Ratify — To approve and make valid; after a bill has received three readings in each house, ratification comes after bills are signed by the presiding officers and clerks of each chamber.

Recommit — To send back to committee

Reconsideration — A process in which where a measure previously adopted or defeated can be reopened, within the same day or the next legislative day only, and acted upon again

Request for debate — On any statewide uncontested bill or joint resolution, five members must object or request debate, or express a combination of the two, to delay action; primarily used to allow time to read the bill or joint resolution, draft an amendment, etc.

Resolution — Non-binding Nonbinding expression of the sense of the House or Senate

Roll call — The recorded vote on an issue; in the House, by electronic voting system, in the Senate, by voice vote

Seniority — A custom sometimes used in making committee assignments on the basis of based upon length of service

Sergeant at arms — An officer elected by each house to maintain order under the direction of the presiding officer

Sine die — Final adjournment

Skeleton bill — A measure introduced in outline form, substance being added to it at a future date

Speaker — Presiding officer and chief administrative officer of the House; elected by the body

Speaker emeritus — A past speaker of the House, an honorary title

Speaker pro tempore — Substitute presiding officer, taking the chair Chair on request of the speaker in his absence; elected by the body

Sponsor — Legislator who introduces a bill, amendment or resolution

Stand at ease — A term referring to that situation in which the body does not recess or adjourn but suspends its deliberations for indeterminate periods of time

Statutes — Laws enacted by the General Assembly; a law is enacted after it is passed by both the House and the Senate

Stopping the clock — A practice of lengthening the hours of the legislative day irrespective of the passing of the hours of a calendar day by stopping the clock

Strike out — The deletion of Delete language from a bill or resolution

Sunset — Expiration date of a measure

Table — A means of disposing of a bill or other matter

Take a walk — To purposely be absent to avoid voting on a measure

Uncontested — Refers to a bill or joint resolution on which members have not objected, requested debate, or expressed a combination of the two

Veto — The action of a governor in disapproval of a measure; on its return to the Legislature, each house either sustains the veto or overrides it

Veto override — To pass a bill over governor’s veto requires a two-thirds vote of members present and voting of both houses acting separately

Without recommendation — A committee report which is neither favorable nor unfavorable

Yield — Relinquishing of the floor to another member to speak or to ask a question

SOURCE: S.C. General Assembly