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How to read a bill: Legislative counsel walks committee through VSA, session law and markup conventions
Summary
Legislative counsel reviewed bill structure and legal publishing conventions with the Health Care Committee, explaining titles, statement-of-purpose, section headers, the meaning of ellipses (***), VSA placement, and markup conventions (strikethrough for deletions, underline for additions).
Legislative counsel gave a step-by-step briefing Jan. 16 to the House Health Care Committee on how to read a bill, including where to find a bill’s title, statement of purpose, statutory references and markup conventions.
Counsel explained that every bill includes a header that lists the bill number, sponsor and subjects; a plain-language "statement of purpose" that describes the bill as introduced; a title that usually begins "An act relating to..." and numbered sections that show where statutory language would be added or amended. "This bill has 3 sections,"…
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