Entering Votes - Finding Sponsors & Cosponsors
Florida
Example: SB 360
From the bill detail page:
The bill detail page lists two committees (House Policy & Steering Committee on Ways and Means and the House Community Affairs Committee) (black arrows) and Rep. Bennett (red arrow) as the sponsors, while the cosponsors are clearly labeled after that (blue arrow). However, it is important to remember with Florida that bills are frequently substituted by committees, hence the "CS/CS" prefix on the bill number. Anytime a committee substitute is introduced, the legislature will add the name of the committee to the list of sponsors. But the PVS website will not list the committee as a sponsor or cosponsor. Instead, we simply select the "Substituted Bill" note and indicate that they are the sponsor of the substitute in a highlight. First, check to see if the bill history indicates that the committees are the sponsors of the introduced bill or the substituted bill:
The bill history indicates that the first substitute (CS) was sponsored and passed by the House Committee on Community affairs on 02/17/2009 (black arrow). The second committee substitute (CS/CS) was sponsored by the House Policy & Steering Committee on Ways and Means on 03/19/2009 (red arrow).
Therefore, neither committee will be listed as a sponsor of the introduced version of the bill on the PVS website. We are dealing with the second committee substitute, and therefore the "Substituted Bill" note should be selected and a highlight should read: "-This is a substitute bill sponsored by the House Policy & Steering Committee on Ways and Means."
Therefore, the PVS website will have both sponsors and cosponsors listed for this state, if applicable. In this case the sponsor is Rep. Bennett and the cosponsors are Reps. Gaetz, Pruitt, Haridopolos, Richter, Hill, King and Lynn.
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