Select Committees. Bills having a purely local
impact are referred to select committees. A select
committee is usually composed of a county's dele-
gation in the House or its senators, with other
members appointed as necessary to make up the
minimum number of three. Counties without
home rule keep their select committees busy.

CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORT
(2nd READING OF BILL)

After consideration of committee amendments,
the bill is then open to amendment from the floor.
There, committee action may be reversed, although
this happens infrequently. Second reading is com-
pleted when the presiding officer orders the bill,
with any adopted amendments, printed for third
reading.

FLOOR VOTE ON BILL
(3rd READING OF BILL)

No amendments may be presented on third read-
ing. In the chamber of origin, a recorded vote is taken
to pass or reject the bill. To pass, the bill must receive
a majority vote of the elected membership.

SECOND CHAMBER

After passage by the first chamber, the bill is sent
to the opposite chamber, has its first reading, and
is assigned to a committee for consideration. The
procedure followed is identical with that of the first
chamber except that amendments may be proposed
during second and third readings. If not amended
in the second chamber, final passage may occur
without reprinting.
If amended in the second chamber, the bill is
returned to the chamber of origin so that house may
consider the amendments. If the amendments are
agreed to, the bill is voted on as amended and action
is complete. The bill is reprinted, or "enrolled," to
include the added amendments before being sub-
mitted to the Governor.
If the amendments are rejected, the amending
chamber may be asked to withdraw its amend-
ments. If it refuses, either chamber may request that
a conference committee be appointed to resolve the
differences between the two chambers.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Appointed by the Senate President and the
House Speaker, a conference committee consists of
three members of each house. The committee sends
a report of its recommendations to each chamber
which then can adopt or reject it. If the report is
adopted, the bill is voted upon for final passage in
each house. If the report is rejected by either house,
the bill fails.

CONSENT CALENDAR

The Senate and the House of Delegates may
adopt a "consent calendar" procedure if members
of each house receive reasonable notice of the bills
placed on each consent calendar. The consent cal-
endar is a list of bills to be read and voted upon as
a group (Const., Art II, sec. 17, Art. III, secs. 27,
28). This procedure expedites the legislative proc-
ess. In 1988, the Senate revised its rules to place
bills and joint resolutions on consent calendars by
category as they are voted out of committee (Senate
Rule 55). The House of Delegates still retains a
Consent Calendars Committee to determine which
bills and joint resolutions may be included on
consent calendars (House Rules 18 and 55).

EFFECTIVE DATE OF LAWS

All bills passed by the General Assembly become
law when signed by the Governor, or when passed
over the Governor's veto by three fifths of the
membership of each house. According to the Con-
stitution, laws thus approved take effect on the first
day of June after the session in which they were
passed, except when a later date is specified in the
act, or the bill is declared an emergency measure.
For many years, most laws took effect July 1.
During the 1992 Session, October 1 began to be
used as the standard effective date for legislation.
Emergency bills, passed by three-fifths of the total
number of members of each house, become law
immediately upon their approval by the Governor.
All passed bills, except the budget bill and consti-
tutional amendments, must be presented to the Gov-
ernor within twenty days following adjournment of a
session. The Governor may veto such bills within
thirty days after presentation. If a passed bill is not
vetoed, it becomes law. The budget bill, however,
becomes law upon its final passage and cannot be
vetoed. Constitutional amendments also cannot be
vetoed, they become law only upon their ratification
by the voters at the next general election.

VETOED BILLS

The power to override a veto rests with the
General Assembly. If the Governor vetoes a bill
during a regular session, the General Assembly
immediately considers the Governor's veto mes-
sage. If the Governor vetoes a bill presented after
the session, the veto message must be considered
immediately at the next regular or special session of
the legislature. The General Assembly may not over-
ride a veto dunng the first year of a new legislative
term since the bill would have been passed by the
previous legislature (Const., Art. II, sec. 17). A three-
fifths vote of the elected membership of both cham-
bers is necessary to override a veto.