Glossary
Legislative language can be its own dialect. Here is what the words mean, in plain language.
How bills move
- Became law
- A bill passed both chambers and was signed, or became law without a signature.This is the last lane on CORA's progress bar. A vetoed bill stops one step short of it.
- Chamber
- One of the two halves of a legislature, such as a House or a Senate.Texas and the U.S. Congress both have two chambers. Most bills must pass both, in the same wording, before they can become law.
- Committee
- A small group of legislators that reviews bills on one subject before the full chamber sees them.Most bills stop here. A committee can change a bill, vote it forward, or simply never take it up — which quietly ends it.
- Conference committee
- A temporary group that settles the differences when each chamber passes a different version.
- Engrossed
- A bill has passed one chamber and moves to the other for consideration.CORA shows this stage as "Passed one chamber". You may still meet the word "engrossed" in official records.
- Enrolled
- A bill has passed both chambers and is ready for the governor or president.CORA shows this stage as "Passed both chambers". The executive can then sign it, veto it, or in some cases let it become law unsigned.
- Floor vote
- A vote taken by every member of a chamber, not just a committee.
- Hearing
- A public meeting where a committee takes testimony and questions on a bill.Hearings are usually open to the public, and many allow written or in-person testimony. They are the most direct way to be heard early.
- Introduced
- A bill has been filed and given a number. Nothing has been voted on yet.Most bills never move past this stage. Being introduced is a start, not a sign that it will pass.
- Last action
- The most recent official step recorded for the bill, with its date.It can be anything from a committee referral to a signature. The History tab lists every step before it.
- Markup
- The meeting where a committee goes through a bill and votes on changes.
- Precinct
- The small voting area your address falls in. It decides your election-day polling place in some counties.Counties number their own precincts. During early voting you can use any site in your county. On election day, countywide-polling counties let you vote at any site in the county. Others send you to your assigned precinct.
- Quorum
- The minimum number of members who must be present for a vote to count.Without a quorum, business stops. Walkouts that deny a quorum are themselves a legislative tactic.
- Roll call
- A recorded vote showing how each member voted by name.Roll calls are what let you check your own representative's vote. Not every vote is recorded this way.
- Session
- The period when a legislature meets to do business.Texas holds a regular session every two years, plus special sessions the governor may call. Bills that do not pass by the end of a session usually die.
- Veto
- A governor's or president's refusal to sign a bill, which usually stops it.A legislature can sometimes override a veto, but that takes a larger majority than passing the bill did.
- Yea, nay, NV
- Yea is a vote for, nay is a vote against, NV means present but not voting.Absent members are counted separately. A bill needs more yeas than nays, and sometimes a set share of the whole chamber.
Bills and documents
- Amendment
- A change to a bill's text, proposed and voted on before the bill moves ahead.Amendments can be small wording fixes or large rewrites. A bill may be amended many times. The version that becomes law can look very different from the first draft.
- Bill type
- What kind of measure it is, such as a bill or a resolution.Most items are plain bills. Resolutions and proposed constitutional amendments follow different rules, so the type is shown with each bill.
- Resolution
- A measure that states a position or handles internal business, often without becoming law.Some resolutions do carry legal weight, like those that propose changes to the constitution. Many are just formal statements of opinion.
- Statute
- A law already on the books, passed by a legislature.Most bills change an existing statute rather than creating something new. That is why bill text often reads as edits to older law.
People and places
- Co-sponsor
- A legislator who formally adds their name to a bill someone else wrote.Co-sponsors signal support. A long co-sponsor list can hint that a bill has momentum, though it does not guarantee a vote.
- Constituent
- Someone who lives in the district a legislator represents.You are a constituent of the officials elected from where you live. Offices tally constituent contacts separately from everyone else's.
- District
- The geographic area a legislator is elected to represent.Your address decides your districts. You usually sit in several at once — state house, state senate, and congressional.
- Incumbent
- The person who holds the office now and is running to keep it.On your ballot, an incumbent links to their record, so you can see what they did with the seat.
- Jurisdiction
- Which government the bill belongs to, such as Texas or the U.S. Congress.
- Party
- The political group a candidate or legislator belongs to, shown as D, R, I, L, or G.D is Democrat, R is Republican, I is Independent, L is Libertarian, and G is Green.
- Sponsor
- The legislator who introduces a bill and leads the effort to pass it.Texas calls the sponsor the author. CORA labels this person the primary sponsor on every bill.
Money
- Appropriation
- Money that a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose.A law can create a program without funding it. The appropriation is the separate step that actually assigns the money.
- Fiscal note
- An official estimate of what a bill would cost or raise if it became law.
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