Clean Bill (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms

Clean Bill

Clean clothes, by Larry Page
Clean clothes, by Larry Page

If a committee has approved extensive amendments, the committee may decide to report the original bill with one “amendment in the nature of a substitute” consisting of all the amendments previously adopted, or may introduce and report a new bill incorporating those amendments, commonly known as a “clean bill.”

Frequently after a committee has finished a major revision of a bill, one of the committee members, usually the chairman, will assemble the changes and what is left of the original bill into a new measure and introduce it as a “clean bill.” The revised measure, which is given a new number, then is referred back to the committee, which reports it to the floor for consideration. This often is a time-saver, as separate floor votes are avoided for committee-recommended changes in a clean bill. Reporting a clean bill also protects committee amendments that are subject to points of order concerning germaneness.

Also see Chapter 6, Legislating in Congress: Legislative Process, in Congressional Deskbook.

 


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