Re: PA needs help passing Lyme legislation

From: A_Weisman (a_weisman_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 11/20/04 

Date: 19 Nov 2004 22:32:29 -0800

GregGerber@hotmail.com (Greg Gerber) wrote in message news:<146041df.0411180602.1016ddc8@posting.google.com>...
> derdrittemann2003@yahoo.com (derdrittemann) wrote in message news:<f2af2263.0411171451.63dd5012@posting.google.com>...
> > OR...how about people who come in here and ask us...lobby us... to do
> > certain things.....be accountable and responsive and be able to explain WHY we are> asking you to do these things?
> >
>
> If I were as skeptical of a source as Weisman I would make sure to
> check myself. Moreover, Weisman expressed the opinion that he might be
> recipient of misinformation. In my opinion, it is inappropriate to
> suggest someone is lying without evidence. In all things, be it Lyme
> disease or lobbying, we want PROOF. If Weisman is suggesting
> incompetence or malfeasance is afoot, he should either PROOVE it
> --something it would be easy to do-- or he should stop making
> accusations without evidence. Since the answer was not forthcoming on
> this board to his satisfaction, since Weisman is so skeptical of
> answers when they do come, and since the real information is but a
> phone call away, I suggest the appropriate course for Weisman is to
> get the information and report back to us. GG

Okay here is the latest update and PROOF of either incompetence or
deliberate lies by EL

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/029373.html

In order for a bill to become a law in PA it needs to be "considered"
on three simultaneous days in each chamber, the House and the Senate.
It then needs to be passed in identical form in each chamber, signed
by the leader of each chamber and then sent to the Governor for
signature. (see below)

Now E L reports that the Bill which was "assigned" to a Committee on
Tuesday (after NOT dying on Monday as E L and others said it would)
has NOT been reported out to the full senate. (as the real proponents
of the bill, who are NOT E L or the Pat) said days ago, that it
wouldn't be voted out of Committee.

So now E L reports that the PA legislature will be meeting all night
(which may or may not be true) and that EVERYONE should call because
"it is not too late" to get our bill passed into a law.

The PA legislature is having a session until its business is done and
the the lame duck session will end. Period. It will be over. It will
not "be extended" in fact it is ending early (it could go as late as
November 30th but a decision has been reached that they're getting out
early before thanksgiving and not coming back, this will be the END of
this legislature. When it reconvenes it will be a new legislature
starting a new two year session but bills that didn't get passed will
have to start all over again. So this is it, it ends tonight or at the
latest tomorrow as early as possible.

Since the PA constitution REQUIRES that the bill be "considered" on
three consecutive days it is, in point of fact, TOO FREAKING LATE.
This bill is DOA. And in my opinion that is by design, not an
accident.

So Greg it turns out that we don't have to wait two weeks. The "proof"
is imminent.

Go read EL's bull***.

And for god's sake someone should ask her WHY. Is it incompetence? It
is deliberate lies? Stupidity? Some hidden agenda? Some perverse
pleasure she gets in sending Lymies off on wild goose chases with
regularity?

She needs to be accountable for her repetitive incompetence or lies.

I guess the short term memory of Lyme patients works in her favor in
that they seem to forget each time an action alert is issued
(Lymelands version of a fatwa) that the last time it was bull***. Or
alternatively Lyme patients enjoy the hazing "Thank you EL can I have
another?"

Do you see why I'm "skeptical" Greg? Do you see the "proof."

Whatever.

Utter freaking bull***. Again.

And read this:

--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.elc-pa.org/brochures/HBillLawPA.htm

How a Bill Becomes a Law in Pennsylvania

FIRST STEPS: INTRODUCING A "BILL"

In its earliest stages, a law is simply an idea that is brought to the
state legislature by a member of the Senate or House, or by the
Governor. If you have an idea that you'd like to see become a law, you
should contact either your state Senator or House member and discuss
it with him or her.

The member next takes his or her idea in writing to the Legislative
Reference Bureau. The bureau then drafts what's known as a "bill,"
that takes the idea and puts it into proper form. A bill may be
sponsored by one or more members of the Senate or House. The more
members who sponsor the bill, the more likely it is that the bill will
become a law, especially if support comes from both political parties.

If you support a particular bill, you may want to urge many members of
the legislature to co-sponsor it, to show that it has more support.
Remember, this is a political process and it will be important for you
to stay in touch with your legislators and others to "lobby" them to
support the bill as the process unfolds.

A bill may start in either the Senate or House. Let's say a bill is
introduced in the Senate first. The bill is given a title, a bill
number, and a printer's number. When a bill is amended (see below),
the bill number remains the same, but the printer's number changes.
Therefore, always check the printer's number to be sure that you have
the most current version of the bill.

THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM 

Now that the bill has a name and number, the President of the Senate
refers the bill to the appropriate committee. The committee studies
the bill and decides whether it should go to the full Senate for
consideration. The committee may hold public hearings on the bill or
otherwise allow the public to express its thoughts on whether the bill
should become law. If you're interested in a bill that is in a
committee, you may wish to meet with the chair of that committee to
discuss your views and/or to ask for public hearings on the bill.

The committee has the option of proposing amendments to the bill or of
keeping it in its original form. The committee also has the option of
deciding not to "report" or send the bill to the Senate floor. In that
case, the bill is said to "die in committee" and will not be
considered further.

CONSIDERATION BY THE SENATE 

The Constitution of Pennsylvania requires that a bill be considered on
three separate days in both the Senate and the House. A bill receives
its "first consideration" on the day it is introduced and referred to
committee. During first consideration, no debate or amendments to the
bill are permitted from the floor of the Senate.

When a committee has favorably reported a bill to the full Senate, it
next comes up for "second consideration" by the entire Senate. This is
the first opportunity for Senators who are not members of the
committee to which the bill was assigned to offer an amendment to the
bill.

On "third consideration," Senators can amend a bill can only by
unanimous consent of the Senate. However, debate takes place and the
various Senators can express their support or opposition to the bill.
At the conclusion of debate, each Senator votes on the bill as the
roll is called. In the Senate, a simple majority -- or 26 – of
Senators must vote yes on the bill for it to pass. (Certain funding
bills require a two-thirds majority vote to pass the Senate and
House.)

CONSIDERATION  BY THE HOUSE 

After a bill has passed the Senate, it is taken to the House. The
Speaker of the House then refers the bill to an appropriate committee
for consideration. The procedure from here follows the Senate's
procedure; that is, a committee may vote to amend the bill, to send
the bill to the floor of the House, or to let it die in committee.

As in the Senate, the bill must go through two "considerations" after
it is reported to the floor of the House. Once on the floor of the
House, a simple majority -- or 102 votes -- is needed to pass the
bill. House members, like their colleagues in the Senate, have an
opportunity to amend the bill and debate it before a final vote is
taken.

If the bill passes the House, but with amendments that were not part
of the bill when it was in the Senate, the bill must go back to the
Senate for a vote. If the Senate does not agree with the amendments
made in the House, the bill is referred to a conference committee.
That committee consists of three members from each chamber, appointed
by the presiding officers. The committee is responsible for resolving,
if possible, the differences between the Senate and House versions and
then reporting the bill back to the Senate and House for further
consideration. Each house then votes on the committee's report. A
majority vote is required to pass the report and the bill.

ON TO THE GOVERNOR 

Once a bill has been passed by the Senate and the House, it is sent on
to the governor for his consideration. If the governor approves the
bill, he signs it and it becomes law. If he does not agree with the
bill, he may veto it. A bill that has been vetoed is returned to the
Senate (or the House, if it originated there) for further
consideration. The state legislature can override the governor's veto
by a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.

If the governor takes no action on a bill within ten calendar days
while the legislature is in session, the bill automatically becomes
law. If the legislature is not in session, the governor has thirty
days to act before the bill will automatically become law.

Once signed by the governor, the official certified copy of the bill
is given to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, assigned an act number
and filed in the State Department. Next, the Legislative Reference
Bureau, the agency that originally wrote the bill, prepares the act
for official printing. The act is now the law of the Commonwealth.

As you can see, there are many steps before an idea is turned into a
law. At each step, citizens have the right to speak their minds on the
bill, letting the legislators and the governor know what they want.

We urge you to take advantage of these opportunities and become part
of the process of turning ideas into laws.  Remember, each citizen has
an equal voice in the process. To find out the status of a bill, you
can call the Legislative Reference Bureau at (717) 787-2342 or the PA
School Reform Network at 717-238-7171. Or you can visit the PSRN web
site at www.psrn.org. Click on the "Current Legislation" page for help
in researching bills on line.

Prepared by the Education Law Center-PA    Revised 12/99

For more information on how a bill becomes law, or how you can become
part of the process, contact the Pennsylvania School Reform Network.
E-Mail: psrn@elc-pa.org.