Quick Tips on How to Read a Bill and How a Bill Becomes Law in Utah

 
Reading a Bill can sometimes feel like you are reading a foreign language. Here are a few tips to make it a little easier to understand.

• Everything that is underlined is the new language that they hope to pass.
• Everything that is crossed out is what will be gone if the bill passes.
• Everything that is not underlined is the current statue which is the current law of the land.

A bill will be first presented to a committee. This committee will discuss the bill accept public comment (this is the only time the public can comment) and vote yes or no. They can also amend the bill and then vote to continue it on. This is the best place and easiest place to get a bill stopped that you do not like. 

The bill then continues to the House or the Senate. It can be amended further there as well. Its important to keep an eye on the bill through the whole legislative process.