Glossary
A legislative agenda for a day's floor session including bills and other items of business offered for consideration. Calendars are published by the Senate and House Clerks' offices.
The action of convening the House of Representatives or Senate or a committee to do business.
The capital appropriations bill authorizes new capital spending for projects such as the acquisition, construction, equipment, or renovation of facilities of state agencies. It is usually
enacted during the second year of a biennium.
A bill reappropriating money for capital projects not completed during the two-year life of their original appropriation. A capital reappropriations bill allocates funds appropriated in an earlier bill but not spent.
A budget document prepared by the Legislative Service Commission's Legislative Budget Office staff that provides detailed information on every line item appropriation from every state agency. Specifically, COBLI provides a description of the line item's purpose, legal authority, funding source, appropriations for the current biennium, and four years of actual expenditure history. LSC updates this publication every year.
A meeting of a group of legislators from the same political party of the House of Representatives or Senate, usually held to discuss legislative issues and make policy and strategy
decisions. This term can also refer to a group of House or Senate members determined by political party or a group of House and Senate members with a common purpose, for example, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.
The official location for convening a legislative session. The House of Representatives and Senate have separate chambers.
Persons separately elected by the House of Representatives and the Senate who act as administrative officers and are responsible for keeping the official record of all bills and resolutions introduced in their respective houses. Other duties include overseeing the printing and distribution of bills, resolutions, and reports, acting as parliamentarian, and facilitating the order of business during a floor session. Various specialized clerks assist the Clerks of the House and Senate.
Law of a general nature that is compiled in the Revised Code and assigned a Revised Code section number.
A motion used to assign a bill to a committee for consideration. A motion to recommit or to re-refer sends a bill back to a committee any time before passage.
A report issued by a committee recommending that a bill be considered for a floor vote by the full membership of the House of Representatives or Senate. A committee report consists
of a signature page containing the signatures of the committee members who voted for or against the bill and a copy of the bill with any amendments attached or, if the committee adopted a substitute bill, a copy of the substitute version of the bill.
A document prepared by the Legislative Service Commission staff, commonly known as the "compare doc," that compares the current version of an operating budget bill, provision by provision, with one or more versions of the bill that were produced at preceding steps in the legislative process. Arranged alphabetically by agency, the Comparison Document includes estimates of each provision's fiscal effects but does not include the line-item appropriations, which are available in the appropriation spreadsheet. Specialized compare docs are available for conference committee deliberations.
The point in the legislative enactment process at which the first house approves (concurs in), without alteration, amendments adopted by the second house.
A committee created to resolve points of difference between two versions of one bill passed by the two houses. If a conference committee resolves differences in the versions of the bill, the committee adopts a conference committee report. A conference committee report must be approved by a majority of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in order for the bill to be enacted and sent to the Governor.
The Senate's approval of a Governor's appointee.
A situation in which a government official's private interests benefit from his or her public actions. The Ohio Ethics Laws, contained in Chapter 102 and sections 2921.42 and 2921.43 of the Revised Code, and the Legislative Code of Ethics prohibit certain actions associated with conflicts of interest.
A change in the language of a section of the Ohio Constitution, the addition of a new section, or the repeal of an existing one. A proposal to amend the Constitution may originate in the legislature through the adoption of a joint resolution or through an initiative petition of the electorate. In either case, the proposed amendment must be submitted to a vote by the general electorate.
A legislator, other than the sponsor or a joint sponsor, whose name appears in the list of sponsors of a bill as an expression of support. A bill may have many cosponsors.