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How to Read a Bill

Web Posted: January 19, 2003

¹ CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 999 (TRA)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE -- FIRST SESSION

² BY THE HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

³ Offered: 4/1/02
⁴ Referred: Finance

⁵ Sponsor(s): REPRESENTATIVES WHITE, Green, Gray

A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

1 ⁶"An Act relating to motorcycle helmets; ⁷and providing for an effective date."

2 ⁸BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:

3 ⁹*Section 1. ¹⁰AS 28.35.245(a) is repealed and reenacted to read:
4           Sec. 28.35.245(a) A motorcycle helmet may not be manufactured or sold
5           in the state unless it conforms to standards established by regulation
6           by the commissioner of public safety.

7 ¹¹*Sec. 2. AS 28.35.245(b) is amended to read:
8           Sec. 28.35.245(b) A person ¹²shall ¹³[WHO IS 18 YEARS OF AGE
9           OR OLDER MAY NOT] be required to wear a helmet while
10          operating a motorcycle [IF THE PERSON HOLDS A LICENSE TO
11          OPERATE A MOTORCYCLE].

12 ¹⁴*Sec. 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2003.

HB0999b ¹⁵CSHB999(TRA)
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]

The explanations below are keyed to the hypothetical bill at right.

1. OFFICIAL DESIGNATION OF THE BILL -- i.e., Committee Substitute (CS) for House Bill (HB) 999 by the Transportation Committee (TRA).

2. SPONSOR of this version.

3. DATE on which this version was introduced.

4. COMMITTEE(S) to which the bill has been referred.

5. ORIGINAL SPONSOR(S) of the bill (individual legislators or a committee; may also include individual cosponsors who have been added later).

6. TITLE OF THE BILL

7. EFFECTIVE DATE -- If a bill specifies an effective date, this must be shown in the title. It must be voted on separately, with a 2/3 vote of both houses required to approve the effective date clause.

8. ENACTING CLAUSE -- Required by the Constitution of the State of Alaska.

9. In this example, Section 1 repeals and reenacts (replaces) existing law.

10. AS 28.35.245(a) means Alaska Statutes Title 28, Chapter 35, Section 245, subsection (a).

11. Section 2 amends an existing section of law.

12. Underlined bold words are being added to existing law.

13. CAPITALIZED WORDS IN BRACKETS [ ] are being deleted from existing law.

14. EFFECTIVE DATE CLAUSE -- A bill may have a specific effective date, such as January 1, 2003, or it may be effective "immediately," in which case the bill becomes law the day after it is signed by the governor or permitted to become law without the governor's signature. A bill that has no effective date clause becomes law 90 days after the governor signs it.

15. This is the abbreviation for the official bill designation.