A legislative session is a period of active lawmaking. This usually includes debates and votes on bills and may also include the creation of a task force or study committee. The frequency and duration of legislative sessions vary widely between states. In the United States legislative sessions are often limited by specific statutory and constitutional deadlines. In addition, leaders of a legislative body may be able to create exceptions to certain deadlines when they see fit.
The most common exception is allowing a bill to be “pre-filed” before the start of a session. This gives the legislative body an opportunity to get a better sense of what will be important during the session. It also allows lawmakers to prepare strategies to support or oppose a bill before the hectic pace of session begins.
A second exception is giving the legislative body an extended amount of time to debate and vote on a bill once it has been given a “favorable report” from the committee. This is known as the three-reading process. In this way both chambers of the legislature have ample time to debate a legislative proposal and to offer amendments to it. In the end, if the bill passes both chambers it is enacted into law. If the two branches of the legislature differ on a bill, a conference committee is appointed to resolve these differences.
A final exception is extending the length of a legislative session beyond its statutory limit of 100 days. This can be done by a simple majority vote of the House and Senate. In practice, however, the legislature is rarely extended more than this. This is due to the fact that legislative sessions are almost always scheduled to be held during the summer months when lawmakers are away from their districts and constituents.