Tips for reading bills

A bill is the proposal for the creation, amendment or repeal of a law. With few exceptions, statutes must be enacted through a bill and must be passed by both legislative chambers in identical form.

Reading a bill is easier when you understand the following characteristics:

• Measure Number: Measure numbers are assigned by the secretary of the Senate or the chief clerk of the House and are used to identify the bills during the legislative process.
• Summary: Legislative Counsel drafts a short summary of the bill that briefly identifies what the bill does.
• "Relating to" clause: By Oregon Constitution, all bills must contain only one subject that must be expressed in the title of the bill. This subject is stated within the "relating to" clause. Once the bill has been assigned a measure number, the clause may not be altered during the legislative process. Almost any other part of the bill may be altered by amendment.
• Italicized and bracketed language is being proposed for deletion.
• Bolded language is being proposed for addition.

A complete Guide to Reading a Legislative Measure can be found on the Oregon State Legislature’s website. We encourage you to take a look at it.

- Oregon School Boards Association