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Legislative Sessions with Limited Scope
There are two types of annual sessions—general and limited scope. The 39 legislatures that meet annually hold general sessions each year; they consider all types of legislation during both years of a biennium. Only seven legislatures that meet annually limit one year of a biennium to consideration of specific types of legislation. They are Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Wyoming.
Shown below are the year of the biennium in which the session scope is limited and a description of each state’s subject limit.
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State
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Year in which the Scope Limit Occurs
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Subject Limit
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Arkansas
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Even year/
2nd year of biennium
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Appropriation bills; other bills only upon approval by two-thirds (2/3) of the members of each house
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Connecticut
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Even year/
2nd year of biennium
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Individual legislators may only introduce bills of a fiscal nature, emergency legislation, bills raised by committee
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Louisiana
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Odd year/
2nd year of biennium
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Fiscal issues, local bills and individual legislators may introduce a maximum of five bills by prefile date
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Maine
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Even year/
2nd year of biennium
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Budgetary matters, legislation in the governor’s call, emergency legislation, legislation referred to committees for study
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New Mexico
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Even year/
2nd year of biennium
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Budgets, appropriation and revenue bills, bills drawn pursuant to governor’s message, vetoed bills
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North Carolina
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Even year/
2nd year of biennium
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Budget adjustments and other topics as set out in the adjournment resolution ending the odd-year
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Wyoming
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Even year/
2nd year of biennium
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Budget bills; other bills only by approval of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of either house
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There are mixed reviews on the effectiveness of limited scope sessions. The subject limits are so broad (or vague) in Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico and North Carolina that they have little impact.
In Louisiana, a limited scope session was set by constitutional amendment in 1994. Since the enactment of the "fiscal issues" limit, the legislature has been called into special session each even year to deal with general issues. Only the governor has the ability to call special sessions; as a result, there has been a shift in power from the legislature to the governor. (Note: A 2002 amendment to the Louisiana Constitution changed the timing of the “fiscal session” from the even-numbered year to the odd-numbered year, effective January 2004.)
A 2008 constitutional amendment established Arkansas's fiscal session, the first of which occurred in 2010.
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Issues & Resources
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| ©2013 National Conference of State Legislatures. All Rights Reserved. |
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