The lawmaking power of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is vested by the Constitution of Pennsylvania in a General Assembly consisting of a Senate of fifty members, elected by the voters for a term of four years, and a House of Representatives of two hundred and three members, elected for a term of two years.

The first step in lawmaking is for a member to submit his ideas in writing to the Legislative Reference Bureau, which is the bill drafting agency of the General Assembly. The bill is drafted and typed in proper legal form. The member signs the bill, thereby assuming its sponsorship.

Members then introduce their bills to their respective houses. Every bill, when introduced, is numbered and printed for the members of the House, the Senate and public distribution. The bill is then forwarded to the appropriate standing committee for consideration. There are twenty-one standing committees in the Senate and twenty-one with sub-committees within most committees of the House. These committees are the workshops of the General Assembly. It is their duty to study carefully the bills referred to them and to prepare bills which are to be reported with favorable recommendation to their respective houses.

After a committee has considered a bill, it may direct one of its members to report the bill to the Floor, either without change, with change or, in rare instances, with a negative recommendation. The committee may also decide not to report the bill at all.

The Constitution of Pennsylvania requires that each bill shall be considered on three different days in both the Senate and House. After consideration and debate, the members of each house will vote on the passage of the bill.

When a bill has passed finally in both Houses, it is signed by the President or Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House in the presence of each House. It is then transmitted to the Department of State for recording. The Department of State then delivers the bill to the Governor for his consideration. If the Governor approves, he signs the bill and it becomes a law.

The official certified copy of each bill approved by the Governor is placed in the custody of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, given an act number and filed in the State Department. It then loses its identity as a bill and becomes an “Act of the General Assembly”.