"Mr. Speaker, I move that the House reject Senate amendments to House Bill 1451, a conference committee be formed and that the conference committee be allowed to go beyond the scope of differences between the House and the Senate."

With this motion and the right make-up of conferees, magical things can happen to a bill that one would never imagine. This is an important part of the process, one that most citizens did not know existed, yet it plays a huge part in the legislative process. Let me explain.

The process of maneuvering a bill is common knowledge. The bill is first introduced into the House or the Senate, known as the house of origin. It is then assigned to a committee of reference, meaning the committee that generally focuses on the issues a particular bill might address. If the bill has a fiscal impact then the bill will have to also clear either the Finance Committee or the Appropriations Committee. After clearing the committee process, the bill will then be debated on the floor of the originating house on what is called second reading. And, if the bill makes it this far, the final action by the originating house is the third reading recorded vote. A bill makes it through the originating house then faces the exact same process in the other body, and the process starts all over again. By the time the bill makes it through both the House and the Senate, it has faced much scrutiny and many times will be amended.

Now, having cleared both the House and the Senate, any bill that is amended in the second house must return to the originating house for their approval to any changes made in the second house. If a bill originated in the House of Representatives, this action would be called "concurrence with Senate Amendments." Naturally, if the bill originated in the Senate this action would be "concurrence with House Amendments." If the sponsor of the bill agrees with the changes made in the second house, then he or she would move to "concur" and re-adopt of the bill. If this happens, the bill as amended by both houses then go to the governor for signature.

Here is the part many do not know about. If the bill sponsor disagrees with the changes made to the bill in the second house, he can make the motion you read at the beginning of this article and request a conference committee. If approved, the conference committee is comprised of three members from each house (two majority and one minority) appointed to discuss the changes and work out a compromise. Normally, the committee will work out any differences with the amendments.

However, if allowed to "go beyond the scope of differences," the six members of the conference committee have the authority basically to rewrite the bill, as long as the changes fit under the title. Going beyond the scope says that even after the arduous process of clearing all the committees, second and third readings, the conference committee can make substantive changes to the bill and, with a majority of the conference committee members approval, send a completely revised bill to the floor for approval.

Obviously, the members have to stay on their toes as we hurry through the final days of the session. More authority has been given for "beyond the scope" conference committees than has been given over the past several years. Members will have to be sure and read the conference committee reports to assure that they agree with the changes being made before voting ... and with the incredibly hectic schedule, this is tough to do.