Types of bills (part 1)

There are different types of bills that can be introduced in the CT General Assembly. The bills on this page are original bills, usually seen in the beginning part of the session. If there are terms that you do not recognize yet, remember that this course has a glossary!

Proposed bills are submitted by individual legislators and contain a statement of purpose in plain language. These bills are usually introduced by a Senator or Representative in response to constituent requests. In the early weeks in the session, these make up the majority of bills.

Resolutions are bills that do not require the signature of the Governor. Resolutions typically amend the Connecticut State Constitution, confirm gubernatorial nominations of judges and cabinet members, make a unified statement such as petitioning Congress to stop unfunded mandates. In many cases, resolutions have no force of law.

Governor's bills are bills that are introduced by the legislative leaders of the same political party as the Governor to implement gubernatorial suggestions, programs, or budgets, etc.

The Governor can't personally introduce legislation.

It's True! Although the media might give nicknames to bills, they are actually referred to by their numbers. Bill numbers are recycled, and each year, the sequence starts again.

Bills that originate in the Senate are numbered starting with 1.
Bills that originate in the House are numbered beginning with the number 5001.

The numbering of bills sometimes tells you about when they were introduced. For example, you would know that Proposed S.B. 45 came earlier in the session than Proposed S.B. 126. However, this rule only goes so far. When bills are redrafted and changed, they do not always get a new number. For instance, Commmittee Bill 45 came into being later than S.B. 126.

The difference between resolutions and joint resolutions2.1.1 2.1a The difference between resolutions and joint resolutions