HOW STATE LAWS GET PASSED

2 Ways to Pass State Laws

There are 2 different ways to pass state laws:

  • bills, which are passed by the state legislature, i.e. the elected state representatives.
  • ballot initiatives, which citizens can vote on directly during elections.

So far, most states that have attempted to implement the Corporate Power Reset have done so by introducing bills. Montana has chosen to attempt a ballot initiative instead.

Both are valid strategies. Which is used depends on whether the state permits citizen initiatives and on the odds of success there.

In either case, for the policy to become law requires a large number of steps, and often repeated attempts.

To Pass a Bill

Generally speaking for a policy to pass in the form of a bill, at least the following steps need to happen:

To become law a bill needs to be approved by both chambers, and then survivive the governor's office. In each of the two chambers, it needs to be taken up by each of the committees it has been assigned, then it needs to be sent on by them, and finally it needs to be passed on the floor of the chamber. To become law a bill needs to be approved by both chambers, and then survivive the governor's office. In each of the two chambers, it needs to be taken up by each of the committees it has been assigned, then it needs to be sent on by them, and finally it needs to be passed on the floor of the chamber. To become law a bill needs to be approved by both chambers, and then survivive the governor's office. In each of the two chambers, it needs to be taken up by each of the committees it has been assigned, then it needs to be sent on by them, and finally it needs to be passed on the floor of the chamber.

Often, an additional step needs to occur after a bill passes the second chamber. Indeed, if the latter added amendments to the bill, the 2 chambers in fact passed different versions. In that case, the policy needs to go through another step to resolve these differences before being sent to the Governor:

  • Either the first chamber votes to accept the second’s amendments.
  • Or a “conference committee” from both chambers works out a compromise. Both chambers must then pass this identical version.
Dive Deeper

For a policy to pass as a bill:

  • The policy gets introduced as a bill in one of the state's chambers by one of this chamber's members called the “author” or “sponsor” depending on the state.
    • There it gets “referred to” i.e. assigned to one, or even sometimes several, committee(s).
    • The committee(s) “take(s) it up” (one committee at a time if several committees have been assigned)., i.e. puts it on the agenda and acts on it: hearing, debating and possibly amending and/or voting on it.
    • The committee(s) “reports it” i.e. send(s) it to the next step. A committee can either: - send it with recommendation to pass it or not to pass it (“report it out favorably/unfavorably”), with or without amendments; - “kill” it either by never scheduling it for a hearing (i.e. discussion) or a vote, or by “tabling” it, i.e. voting to put it aside and usually not bringing it back out.
    • It is sent to the floor of this first chamber for debate and a vote.
  • It is sent to the second chamber, where the entire process repeats. In many states, the policy can be introduced in both chambers at once in the form of “companion bills”.
  • Sometimes: there can be amendments made along this process, and if the second chamber added some, the 2 chambers just passed different versions. In that case, the policy goes through a process to resolve these differences:
    • Either the first chamber votes to accept the second’s amendments (it is said that it “concurs”).
    • Or, if the first chamber does not concur, a so-called “conference committee” from both chambers works out a compromise, and both chambers must then pass that identical version.
  • It survives the governor’s office; either:
    • The governor signs it into law as is.
    • The governor vetoes it but the legislature overrides his veto.
    • The governor does nothing and the deadline he is given to act passes—which enacts the law except in a so-called “pocket-veto” state if the legislature has adjourned by the deadline; in that latter case it kills the bill.

The bill can be amended several times, be it by its author, in committee(s), on the floor, and in some states, on the governor’s request.

Being voted against is not the only way a bill can “die”: at just about every step, inaction can kill it too.

All of this needs to happen before the end of the legislative cycle during which the bill was introduced, otherwise the bill dies.

However that is not always a permanent death, it is more like a video game character kind of death: the policy can be reintroduced during the next legislative cycle. For important policies like this one, this is expected.

Animated pixel-art diagram of a bill's legislative journey as an arcade game. A character labeled Bill climbs 3 levels of stacked platforms representing steps required to pass the bill. The 3 levels are Chamber 1, Chamber 2, and Governor. The level Chamber 1 has steps labelled Introduced, Taken up by committee(s), Sent on by committee(s), Passed on the floor, the level Chamber 2 has steps labelled Taken up by committee(s), Sent on by committee(s), Passed on the floor, and the level Governor has one step labelled Avoid Governor's veto. As Bill climbs, it accumulates support (shown as hearts, like extra lives). On some platforms Bill dies, and it then respawns on the bottom step, illustrating how a bill that fails can be reintroduced in a next legislative cycle, but starts the process all over again. Bottom text reads [Insert Support to Continue Legislating], echoing an arcade Insert Coin to Continue prompt.

Where Ballot Initiatives Are Possible

Unlike a bill — where elected officials propose, debate, and vote — a ballot initiative lets citizens directly propose a law, and then if the initiative makes it onto the ballot, vote on it.

Not all states allow for ballot initiatives.

And in the states that do (like California), there are several case scenarios:

  • Direct vs indirect ballot initiatives:
    • Some states allow indirect ballot initiatives: the legislature (i.e. the state's elected representatives) gets a first chance to pass the measure, but if it declines or does nothing, the initiative goes to voters.
    • Others (like California) allow direct ones, i.e. the legislature does not get a chance to pass the measure.
  • Statutes (i.e. ordinary laws) vs constitutional amendments:
    • Some states allow ballot initiatives for statutes: A statute created by initiative is an ordinary law. It can be changed or repealed later — sometimes by the legislature (though some states restrict this with waiting periods or supermajority requirements), sometimes only by another vote of the people.
    • Others allow them for constitutional amendments: A constitutional amendment goes into the state constitution. The legislature generally cannot touch it — undoing it requires another constitutional amendment, which usually means another statewide vote. Constitutional amendments are harder to pass and harder to reverse than statuses.
    • Some States (like California) allow both.

To see what situation applies to a specific state, hover over it.

California allows for direct ballot initiatives, for both statutes & constitutional amendments.

To Pass a Direct Ballot Initiative

Like a bill, a ballot initiative needs to survive many steps before becoming law. Here is the process for a direct ballot initiative:

Drafting & Submission

Proponents draft the proposed law and submit it to the Secretary of State.

Legal Review

The Attorney General reviews the text.

Signature Gathering

Supporters collect a requisite number of voter signatures within a deadline.

Certification

If enough valid signatures are gathered and verified, the measure is certified for the ballot.

Vote

The public votes on the measure at the next general election.

Dive Deeper

For a policy to pass as a ballot initiative it needs to:

  • get drafted, i.e. written up.

    Ballot initiatives are drafted by their proponents — the individuals or groups who want to change the law — but the actual writing is usually done by lawyers, because the wording has serious legal consequences.

    There exist two main types of ballot initiatives:

    • A “constitutional initiative”, which amends the state's constitution.
    • A “statutory initiative”, which does not.
  • be submitted to the secretary of state.

    The chief elections officer — the office that actually runs statewide elections and manages what goes on the ballot.

  • get reviewed by the attorney general, after which the initiative is said to be “cleared to circulate”, i.e. to be circulated to the public to gather signatures, the next step.

    What getting “reviewed” concretely means varies a lot depending on the state. In some states, such as in California, the attorney general writes a neutral, official title and summary — the plain-language description that voters see on the petition and ballot. The point is that proponents shouldn't get to label their own measure in self-serving terms, so a neutral state legal officer drafts that wording instead. The attorney general is the state's chief lawyer, so the office is suited to describe accurately what the measure would legally do. In most states the attorney general does not judge whether the initiative is legal: that is left to the courts.

    However in some states the attorney general checks whether the initiative satisfies the single-subject rule, i.e., the principle that one measure should make one kind of change, not bundle separate issues together, which would force voters to take several unrelated changes as a package.

    In Montana specifically, the attorney general has an unusual amount of power, and reviews initiatives for "legal sufficiency", i.e., whether the text satisfies the state's procedural and legal requirements. The attorney general can reject a measure outright, subject to review by the Montana Supreme Court, including (for constitutional initiatives) on the ground that it violates the separate-vote requirement, a close cousin of the single-subject rule: i.e., if more than one constitutional amendment is submitted at once, each must be voted on separately.

  • get a certain minimum number of signatures by a given deadline.

    In Montana specifically, the numbers required are:

    • Statutory initiative: signatures from 5% of qualified voters statewide (based on votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election), including 5% of voters in each of 34 of the 100 legislative house districts (for 2026 that is 30,121 valid signatures).
    • Constitutional initiative: signatures from 10% of qualified voters statewide, including 10% of voters in each of 40 of the 100 house districts (for 2026 that is 60,241 valid signatures).
  • get certified for the ballot.

    Its signatures need to be verified and counted by county officials; on the basis of these counts, the secretary of state then reviews whether the initiative meets the signature requirements — both the statewide total and the distribution across districts. If it does, the secretary of state “certifies” it for the ballot.

  • get passed. If the initiative does make it onto the ballot, it finally has the chance to be passed – or not – based on the electors' votes.

  • even after that, a court can still strike down all or part of a measure on various grounds. A state court could rule that the measure violates the state or federal Constitution, conflicts with federal law, or even that there was a defect in how it qualified for the ballot.

So far, only one state has attempted to implement the Corporate Power Reset using a ballot initiative: Montana. There, the policy is known as the Montana Plan.

It has recently completed step 3, i.e. signature gathering. Many more signatures were collected than are required so the initiative is likely get certified (step 4) and appear on the ballot next November.