Glossary
The words and abbreviations of the New Hampshire General Court’s record, from ITL and OTP to crossover and committee of conference, each in plain English.
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Granite Record indexes the General Court’s record; it is not that record. Where a citation allows only one source, cite the General Court — every page here links to what it is drawn from. The date below is the day the page was read.
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A
| Appropriation (A) | The bill spends state money: it contains an appropriation, marked by an A after its number. |
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C
| Carried over | A bill retained in the first year that survives into the second and keeps its number. |
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| Chaptered law | A bill that became law, numbered as a chapter of that year’s session laws. |
| Committee of conference | Where the chambers will not agree on a bill, members of both try to write a version each will accept; both chambers must then adopt the report unchanged. |
| Concur | To agree to the other chamber’s amendment; to nonconcur is to refuse it, after which a committee of conference may be asked for. |
| Consent Calendar (CC) | The committee’s recommendation, to pass, to kill or to send to interim study, adopted with the whole calendar in one vote, without floor debate. |
| Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution (CACR) | A proposed change to the state constitution, requiring a three-fifths vote in both chambers and a two-thirds majority of voters. |
| Crossover | A bill moving from the chamber that passed it to the other one; there is a deadline for it each year. |
D
| Died | Ended without becoming law, however it ended: killed, left on the table, out of time when the session ended, lost between the chambers, or a veto that stood. |
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| Division vote (DV) | A vote that is counted, with the totals recorded but not who voted which way. |
| Docket | The General Court’s running list of every action taken on a bill, in the order it was recorded. |
E
| Enrolled bill | A bill both chambers have passed, given a final check of its text for errors before it is sent to the Governor. |
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| Executive session | The committee meeting where it votes on what to recommend, usually days after the hearing; it cannot end the bill itself, because the recommendation goes to the floor. |
F
| Fiscal note (FN) | An estimate of what the bill would cost. |
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| Floor amendment | An amendment a member offers during floor debate, rather than one the committee recommends. |
| Floterial district | A House district laid over two or more neighboring districts, electing a representative of its own; its voters also elect their own district’s. |
H
| House Bill (HB) | A proposed change to New Hampshire law; begins in the House, must pass both chambers, goes to the Governor. |
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| House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) | Similar to a House Resolution, but voted on by both chambers. |
| House Journal (HJ) | The chamber’s own record of the day, cited by issue and sometimes page. |
| House Resolution (HR) | A formal, non-binding expression of opinion, policy preference, or internal rule; it does not go to the other chamber or the Governor and does not change any law. |
I
| Indefinitely postponed | A vote that ends the bill for the term and, under the rules, bars the same subject from being taken up again before the term is out. |
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| Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) | A motion to kill the bill. |
| Interim Study (IS) | A motion to have the committee study the subject after the session; the bill itself goes no further this term. |
L
| Laid on the table | Set aside without a decision; it can be taken off the table later, and a bill still on the table when the term ends dies. |
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| Law without signature | A bill the Governor leaves unsigned for five days, Sundays excepted, becomes law without a signature, unless the legislature’s adjournment prevents its return. |
| Legislative Service Request (LSR) | A legislator’s request for a bill, filed with a title and an idea, mostly in the fall; attorneys at the Office of Legislative Services draft the text. |
| Local fiscal impact (LOCAL) | The bill may change what towns, cities, counties or school districts spend or collect, marked LOCAL after its number. |
M
| Minority report | The written dissent of committee members who voted against the recommendation, printed beside the majority’s report. |
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| Motion Adopted (MA) | The motion carried. |
| Motion Failed (MF) | The motion failed. |
O
| Ordered to a third reading (OT3rdg) | Passed to the last stage before the chamber’s final vote on the bill. |
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| Organization Day | The first Wednesday of December after an election, when the new legislature is sworn in and elects its presiding officers. |
| Ought to Pass (OTP) | A motion to pass the bill. |
| Ought to Pass with Amendment (OTPA) | A motion to pass the bill with the committee’s amendment. |
| Override | Two thirds of each chamber, by roll call, passing a bill over the Governor’s veto; the House counts the two thirds among the members voting. |
P
| Prime sponsor | The member who files the bill and introduces it at the hearing; members who join it are cosponsors. |
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| Public hearing | The committee meeting where the sponsor introduces the bill and anyone may speak for or against it, or sign in without speaking; the committee takes no decision at it. |
R
| Re-referred | Sent back to the committee it came from for more work. |
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| Reconsideration | A motion, made by a member who voted on the winning side, to take the same question again. |
| Regular Calendar (RC) | The bills a chamber takes up one at a time, open to debate, rather than together on the consent calendar. |
| Retain | A House committee keeps the bill through the fall of the first year and reports it in the second. |
| Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA) | New Hampshire’s laws in force, arranged by title and chapter; a bill changes the law by amending its sections. |
| Roll call (RC) | Each member recorded by name. |
S
| Senate Bill (SB) | Begins in the Senate, otherwise the same as a House Bill. |
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| Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) | Similar to a Senate Resolution, but voted on by both chambers. |
| Senate Journal (SJ) | The chamber’s own record of the day, cited by issue and sometimes page. |
| Senate Resolution (SR) | The Senate’s own resolution: non-binding, and it does not go to the House or the Governor. |
| Session day | A day the full House or Senate sits to vote on bills. |
| Special order | A motion to take a bill up at a set time or place in the day’s business, out of its turn on the calendar. |
T
| Tabled | Laid on the table while the session still sits; a bill still there when the session ends has died on the table. |
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V
| Veto | The Governor’s refusal to sign a bill; it stands unless two thirds of each chamber override it. |
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| Voice vote (VV) | A vote by the sound of the members’ voices, with no count and no names recorded. |
W
| Work session | A committee or subcommittee meeting to work on a bill’s text; open to the public, but the public is heard only at the public hearing. |
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