Legislature. House's Working bills, 1896-1989

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Utah State Archives Series 432

DESCRIPTION: This series documents the legislative process in the House of Representatives. The series contains the working copies of House bills, claims (through 1915), petitions (until 1921), memorials, reports (1897 only) and resolutions. The working copy includes the bill as introduced and any amendments made to it. The final official version of the bill is not part of this series unless it was vetoed by the Governor, returned to the Legislature while still in session, and the Legislature failed to override the veto.

Bill, in the broad sense, refers to bills, resolutions, memorials, etc. In the narrow sense, bills consist of those documents which a member of the Legislature desires to have made into a Utah law. A bill normally consists of at least its designated number, a title, an enacting clause, and the main text. Sponsor name(s) appear on the face of the bill. House bills are introduced on the floor of the House and go through three readings before passage. In the process they are referred to one or more committees. The committee reports back with the recommendation that the bill be passed, amended, or rejected. A bill may also be amended on the floor at certain stages. If the bill passes the House after a third reading, it goes to the Senate where it goes through a similar procedure before returning to the House for acceptance of any amendments and is sent to the Governor. All these actions, with the dates taken, are logged on the back of the bill. From the turn of the century through 1994, the backing sheets on the bills were blue, leading to the nickname "blue backs." By the 1995 session, larger blue backing sheets were no longer used, but the actions were simply logged on the last sheet of paper.

Finding Aids: A series inventory is available.