1. Bill introduced by House or Senate member.

2. A subcommittee studies and discusses the bill, presents it to the full chamber.

3. The bill is debated in its respective chamber.

4. The bill can be passed, passed with amendments or sent without recommendation.

5. The chamber debates the bill and amendments can be approved by a majority of those voting.

6. At least 26 Senators or 51 Representatives must approve the bill in order to go to the other chamber.

7. The same process occurs in the second chamber. If it passes without amendments, it is sent to the governor. If it is amended, it must go back to the original chamber for approval. If the chambers cannot agree, a conference committee is formed.

8. After the bill is approved in both chambers, it is sent to the governor. He can then sign, veto or do nothing with the bill.

9. The bill becomes a law with the governor’s signature or after three days if he does nothing. If he gets a bill during the last three days of the session, he has to sign or veto it in 30 days.

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Bills are bottlenecking in the Iowa Legislature this week.

Friday marks the first “funnel” deadline in order for bills to make it out of subcommittees in both the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate this session.

Subcommittees are offshoots of standing committees, found in each chamber.

If not approved in subcommittee, the bill dies.

The Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees are not required to adhere to the funnel deadline.

For example, House File 5, which addresses the legality of late-term abortions, was sent to an oversight committee, a committee containing members from both chambers, by House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, so it will not be subject to the funnel deadline.

After Friday, the approved bills will be up for discussion and debate in House and Senate standing committees.

By March 18, these bills must be out of the standing committees and ready to be presented to each full chamber.

Legislators are working long hours this week, attending hundreds of subcommittee meetings in order to meet the Friday deadline.