4.  BILLS

4.1  Introduction of a Bill

     Bills are either sponsored by individual members of the legislature or by committees of the legislature. Although an individual member’s bill will not be heard by a committee until it has been formally introduced, the committees often hear “proposed committee bills” or “PCBs.” While these bills may eventually be formally introduced as committee bills, they are initially heard by the committee before introduction for refinement and to avoid some of the technical amending procedures required of introduced bills.

     Often a bill is substantially amended in committee, and it becomes a committee substitute. The committee substitute also may be amended into a new committee substitute, either in the same committee or when it is heard by another committee. Consequently, because some bills may be heard by as many as three committees, the final bill heard by the full house may be referred to as “the Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for House/Senate Bill xxx.”

     Depending upon the author’s approach, an article may discuss the legislation either by reference to the bill or to the act. However, the recommended course is for the basis of the discussion of passed legislation to be the act, with unpassed or earlier versions of the legislation discussed as the bill.

4.2  Passage of a Bill

     Not all bills are passed by the legislature. In the final days of the legislative session, however, bills that die on the calendar or in committee may nevertheless become law. This occurs by amending another bill to include a second bill, in full or in part, or by including the thrust of the bill in the proviso language to the Appropriations Act. Technically, when a bill is amended to include all or part of another bill, the amendment form is to state the number of the bill that is being amended onto the host bill. The procedure surrounding the amending of a bill onto another bill is complex, but in general, the bill must have passed its first committee of reference and be on the same subject as the host bill. For a more technical overview on the rules surrounding the passage and amending of bills, see The Rules of the Florida House, available at www.myfloridahouse.gov, and the Florida Senate Rules and Manual, available at www.floridasenate.gov.

4.3  Passed Bills

4.3.1  In Text

     Textual references to passed bills that include the bill’s number should be spelled out and capitalized. If the textual discussion does not include the bill’s number, do not capitalize the phrase “bill.”

►    House Bill 601 was signed by Governor Crist on June 30, 2008.

►    The bill amended the Condominium Act, making mandated improvements, such as fire safety equipment, common expenses of a condominium association.

4.3.2  In Footnotes or Stand-Alone Cites

     Each time a bill is cited in a footnote, give its year.

►    Fla. SB 20 (1985).

4.3.3  Bills with Numbered Sections

(a) Basic form. The basic form is:

►    Fla. HB 237, § 4 (1994).

(b) Bills with subsections. Sections of bills frequently have subsections that correspond to their proposed location in the Florida Statutes. Retain the parentheses surrounding the subsection numbers, as well as those surrounding further subdivisions. The use of a parenthetical to indicate the proposed location of the subsection in the Florida Statutes is recommended.

►    Fla. CS for HB 1907, § 5(1) (1996) (proposed Fla. Stat.§ 106.024(1)).

4.3.4  Bills Without Numbered Sections

     Joint resolutions (HJR and SJR) do not include numbered sections: they only enumerate the proposed or amended constitutional language. Because these resolutions lack numbered sections, indicate the page number of the resolution where the proposed language appears, and pinpoint the proposed changes to the constitution in a parenthetical notation.

►    Fla. HJR 953 (1989) at 1-2 (proposed Fla. Const. art III, § 19(a)).

4.3.5  Special Rule—Page and Line Form

     If the section is long, particularly with appropriations or omnibus bills, it is helpful to the reader to provide additional information. After citing to the section, indicate the page and line number, or line item, where the reference is located in the bill if appropriate. “Line” is abbreviated using BluebookTable T.16.

►    Fla. HB 1750, § 2.1, at 266, l. 2004 (1989).

4.4  Parentheticals

4.4.1  Changing or Proposing Citations

     Parentheticals for bills should be in the form “proposed” for new statutory enactments, or “proposed amendment to” for amendments or deletions to existing law.

►    Fla. CS for HB 186, § 1 (1975) (proposed amendment to Fla. Stat.§ 286.011(1)(b)).

►    Fla. CS for SB 1225, § 3 (1985) (proposed Fla. Stat.§ 562.51(3)).

4.4.2  Specific Version of a Bill

     If the matter under discussion pertains to a specific version of a bill, indicate this in the parenthetical.

►    Fla. HB 1352, § 15 (1985) (Second Engrossed).

►    Fla. H.R. Comm. on Com., PCB 85-2, § 15 (draft of Apr. 26, 1985).

4.5  Titles of Bills

4.5.1  Location of Title on Bill

     The title begins at the very top of the bill in a block-indented paragraph that may run on for several pages depending upon the length and complexity of the bill. These titles will not be reproduced in the Florida Statutes, but they will appear in the Laws of Florida.

4.5.2  In Text

     Refer to the bill by its caption title, short title, or other descriptive phrase that helps to identify the bill.

►    The House Drinking Age Bill also encountered problems.

4.5.3  In Footnotes or Stand-Alone Cites

     A bill’s caption title, short title, or other descriptive phrase may be used in a parenthetical to help identify a bill.

►    Fla. CS for SB 1 (1985) (The House Drinking Age Bill).

4.6  Bill Construction

     The Florida Legislature has its own way of constructing bills. While the method of construction does not impact citations, it is set out below to help interpret any references that may be made by legislators, legislative staff, or legislative documents and publications. For citation form, see supra Rule 4.3.3. 

     In general, the body of a bill is constructed in one of two ways depending upon whether it is amending an existing section of law or creating a new one. 

     The body of a bill which does not seek to amend the present law is usually divided into sections and subsections of convenient length. The following example outlines the format of sections and subsections and is based upon the House Bill Drafting Service’s Guidelines for Bill Drafting (2001).

     987.01. This is a catchline.—This is a section with its catchline. When a section is subdivided it also sometimes has an “introductory paragraph” such as this paragraph.

     (1)  SUBSECTION CATCHLINE.—This is a subsection. Subsections are designated by arabic numerals within parentheses. If a subsection has its own catchline (most do not), it is capitalized as shown here.

     (a)  Paragraph catchline.—This is a paragraph. If a para- graph has its own catchline, it is styled like a catchline for the whole section.

     1.   This is a subparagraph. A subparagraph begins with an arabic numeral followed by a period.

     a.   This is a sub-subparagraph. Florida statutes are seldom broken down any further, but, if the occasion demands it there is the next division.

     (I) This is the sub-sub-subparagraph, which is designated by a Roman numeral within parentheses.

     In the case of an amendment to existing law, the bill is organized using what is referred to as “directory language,” which indicates the section of the bill and the impacted section of law. The modifications to the existing law is then “coded” for the reader. Existing language that has been deleted is struck throughand new language that has been inserted is underlined. The following example is from the House Bill Drafting Service’s Guidelines for Bill Drafting (2014).

Section 1. Section 823.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 823.02 Building bonfires.--Whoever is concerned in causing or making a bonfire within 20tenrods of any house, orbuilding, or public highway commitsshall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.775.083.

4.7  Proposed Committee Bills

     These are bills proposed by the committees of the legislature. Once the committee has passed the proposed committee bill (referred to as a “PCB”), the bill is formally introduced and assigned a regular bill number.

4.7.1  In Text

     In textual sentences, these references should be capitalized and spelled out when referring to a specific proposed committee bill.

►    Senator Walker moved that the Committee adopt Proposed Committee Bill 12.

►   The Committee, however, did not adopt the proposed committee bill.

4.7.2  In Footnotes or Stand-Alone Cites

(a) General Form. The standard form for citation sentences is: 

►    Fla. [H.R. or S.] Comm. on [abbreviation for committee], PCB [number] (year) (optional description or clarification).

     If appropriate, include “draft of” and the date of the draft in the parenthetical that indicates the year. Depending upon the context, a parenthetical notation indicating what bill the PCB is a preliminary draft for may also be included.

►    Fla. H.R. Comm. on Ethics & Elecs., PCB 90-6 (draft of Mar. 30, 1990) (proposed Fla. Const.art. IV, § 13(b)).

(b) Sections. Sections within a bill are cited in the same way that they are for statutes. See infra Rule 5.5.2.

     Sections within a proposed committee bill are cited in the same way that they are within any other bill.

►    Fla. S. Comm. on Com., PCB 85-3, § 3 (draft of Mar. 27, 1985).

4.8  Committee Substitutes and Amendments

4.8.1  In Text

     Textual references to committee substitutes that include the bill’s number should be spelled out and capitalized. If the textual discussion does not include the bill’s number, do not capitalize the phrase “committee substitute.”

►    Committee Substitute for House Bill 145 became a vehicle for House Bill 1378.

►   The committee substitute addressed the concerns of key legislators.

4.8.2  Multiple Committee Substitutes

     If the bill is captioned as a committee substitute for a committee substitute (or as a committee substitute for a committee substitute for a committee substitute) then either refer to the bill as a specific committee’s substitute (or as a specific committee’s second committee substitute).

►    Representative Lewis spoke against the Commerce Committee’s Committee Substitute for House Bill 112.

►    Senator DuRant agreed that the Appropriations Committee’s second Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 157 provided too much money for the Department.

4.8.3  Committee Amendments to a Bill

     Bill amendments that take place upon the floor are cited to the legislative journals. See supra Rule 3.2. However, bill amendments in committee should be cited in the following form:

►    Fla. [H.R. or S.] Comm. on [abbreviation for committee], [title of amendment] [at page number] (year or exact date if necessary) (location parenthetical or appended URL) (optional description).

4.9   Appropriations Bills

►    Fla. H.R. Comm. on Approp., Amend. 1C to Amend. 1 to SJR 2 (1990) (on file with comm.) (proposed Fla. Const.art. III, § 4(e)).

4.9.1  General Information

     The appropriations bill is essentially the same as any other bill, except that a single section of an appropriations bill may exceed 100 pages. Therefore, it is often helpful to include a citation to the item number of the appropriation. See supra Rule 4.3.5.