Frequently Asked Questions About the Minnesota Legislature

The Combined Calendar includes listings of House, Senate, and Commission meetings. For further information on daily activities in the House and Senate, you may also want to see the FAQs about Calendars and Procedures (Parliamentary).

The House and Senate publish schedules of committee hearings and floor sessions on a daily and weekly basis. Paper and electronic copies of the daily schedules are available from House Public Information Services in Room 175, State Office Building, 651-296-2146, and Senate Information in Room 231, State Capitol, 651-296-0504.

If you're tracking a bill and would like to know if it's going to have a hearing, use the MyBills service. Note that MyBills will not send you an email so you'll need to log in every 24 hours or so during the session.

To state up-to-date, you can also subscribe to one or more email notification services.

The Senate and House each have an agenda that is prepared for floor sessions known as the Order of Business: House Order of Business | Senate Order of Business

These agendas include lists of bills that may be discussed. The House and Senate have different names for those lists; they also have somewhat different operating procedures.

In the House, the list of bills that are ready for discussion is called the Calendar for the Day. Bills that appear on the calendar are chosen from the House General Register by the House Rules Committee. The bills that are selected from the calendar for discussion may be amended and given a third reading—all on the same day. A noncontroversial bill may be placed on the Consent Calendar.

In the Senate, the process is a bit different. Bills that are eligible to be discussed and amended are placed on either the General Orders calendar or the Special Orders calendar. That decision is made by the Senate Majority leader or their designee.

When discussing bills on the General Orders calendar, the Senate forms itself into what is known as a Committee of the Whole. Bills on General Orders can be amended and recommended to pass. That passage is considered preliminary passage. Those bills are then placed on the Senate Calendar for a third reading and final passage at the next floor session. Bills on the calendar cannot be amended except by unanimous consent. A bill can bypass the General Orders calendar by being designated a Special Order. It can then be debated, amended, and given a third reading, all on the same day.

For more about what's happening in the Legislatures, see our Combined Legislative Meeting Calendar.

The Combined Legislative Meeting Calendar will show you upcoming hearings, floor sessions, and commission meetings. You can find schedule, calendar, and legislative business information on the Legislative website on the Schedules page.

Paper copies of daily and weekly schedules are available at House Public Information Services in Room 175 of the State Office Building. House Public Information can be reached at 651-296-2146. Paper copies of daily and weekly schedules are available through Senate Information, which is located in Room 231 of the Capitol and G204 of the Minnesota Senate Building. Senate Information can be reached at (651) 296-0504.

There is no yearly deadline for the introduction of bills. However, each year the Legislature establishes deadlines for committee action on bills by concurrent resolution. The deadlines do not apply to the House committees on Capital Investment, Ways and Means, Taxes, or Rules and Legislative Administration, nor to the Senate committees on Capital Investment, Finance, Taxes, or Rules and Administration.

Committee deadlines are announced during the first half of a session in order to winnow the list of topics to be dealt with that year.

The Minnesota Constitution sets a deadline for the end of each year's session: the first Monday after the third Saturday in May.

The General Register is a list of bills that have had a second reading and await action by the full House of Representatives. The House Rules Committee usually meets the day prior to session to determine which bills on the General Register will be placed on the Calendar for the Day. Bills placed on the Calendar are debated and may be given a third reading and placed on final passage that day.

General Orders is a list of bills that have had a second reading and await action by the full Senate. Acting as one large committee known as the Committee of the Whole, the Senate debates the bills and may recommend them for preliminary passage. Bills recommended to pass, or pass as amended, are added to the Senate Calendar for third reading and final passage by the full Senate on another day.

In the Senate, Special Orders is a category of bills that bypass the Committee of the Whole. A bill on Special Orders may be debated, amended, and placed on final passage immediately. Special Orders are designated by the Chair of the Committee on Rules and Administration (the Senate Majority Leader).

See the Legislature's Civic Engagement Resources page for more about how a bill becomes a law.

The Consent Calendar is a list of local or non-controversial bills that are given a second reading and bypass the General Register in the House or General Orders in the Senate, making them eligible for debate, possible amendment, third reading and final passage all in one day.

The Fiscal Calendar is a list of spending or revenue bills to be taken up by the full House on a given day. The bills are drawn from the General Register, which means they have had a second reading. Bills can be placed on the Fiscal Calendar by the chair of the Ways and Means Committee or the chair of the Taxes Committee. The intent to place a bill on the Fiscal Calendar must be announced before 5 p.m. on the legislative day prior to its consideration by the full House.

The Senate Agenda is a list of items scheduled for action by the Senate during the floor session for a particular day. Items on the Senate Agenda—which may include governor's appointments, messages from the House, first reading of House bills, reports from committees, motions, and other printed material—would otherwise have to be read aloud if they were not presented in printed form. This agenda saves that step. It is available to the public the morning of a planned Senate floor session.