The Advocacy Glossary
The terms that run Congress and state legislatures, defined in plain English. No jargon explaining jargon.
A
Advocacy day
An advocacy day, also called a fly-in or Hill day, is a coordinated day when an organization's members meet with their legislators about a specific issue, usually timed to a vote, deadline, or session.
Appropriations
Appropriations is the process by which a legislature grants agencies the legal authority to spend money. In Congress, twelve annual appropriations bills fund the federal government, and no program operates without one.
Authorization
An authorization is a law that creates a program, sets its rules, and permits spending on it. It does not provide the money. Funding comes separately through appropriations.
B
Budget reconciliation
Budget reconciliation is a fast track process that lets Congress pass certain tax, spending, and debt limit changes with a simple majority in the Senate, avoiding the filibuster.
Budget resolution
A budget resolution is Congress's yearly spending and revenue blueprint. It sets overall totals and can unlock budget reconciliation, but it is never signed by the President and does not become law.
C
CBO score
A CBO score is the Congressional Budget Office's official estimate of how a bill would change federal spending and revenue, usually over ten years.
Cloture
Cloture is the Senate procedure that ends debate on a measure so it can reach a vote. It generally requires 60 senators, which is why most major legislation needs 60 votes rather than a simple majority.
Committee hearing
A committee hearing is a meeting where legislators gather information on an issue or bill by questioning witnesses such as experts, officials, and advocates.
Committee substitute
A committee substitute is a rewritten version of a bill that a committee adopts in place of the original text, common in state legislatures such as Florida's.
Companion bill
A companion bill is a matching version of a bill filed in the other chamber, so the House and Senate can work on the same idea at the same time.
Conference committee
A conference committee is a temporary group of House and Senate members who work out the differences between each chamber's version of a bill and produce one final text.
Constituent
A constituent is a person who lives in the district or state a legislator represents. Legislators give constituents' views the most weight.
Continuing resolution (CR)
A continuing resolution is a stopgap law that keeps the government funded at existing levels when Congress has not finished its annual appropriations bills by the fiscal year deadline.
D
Debt limit
The debt limit, or debt ceiling, is the legal cap on how much money the U.S. Treasury can borrow. Raising it pays for spending Congress already approved. It does not approve new spending.
Discharge petition
A discharge petition is a way for a majority of the U.S. House, 218 members when every seat is filled, to force a bill out of committee and onto the floor without leadership's approval.
District office
A district office is a legislator's office located in the area they represent, where constituents can meet the member or staff without traveling to the capitol.
E
Earmark
An earmark is a provision in a spending bill that directs funds to a specific project in a specific place, such as a local road, hospital, or water system, at a legislator's request.
Engrossed bill
An engrossed bill is the official version of a bill as passed by one chamber, with all of that chamber's amendments included.
Enrolled bill
An enrolled bill is the final version of a bill passed by both chambers in identical form and prepared for the President's or governor's signature.
F
Federal Register
The Federal Register is the daily official publication of the U.S. government, where agencies post proposed rules, final rules, public notices, and presidential documents.
Filibuster
A filibuster is the use of extended debate in the U.S. Senate to delay or block a vote on a bill. Ending one takes a cloture vote, which usually requires 60 senators.
Fiscal note
A fiscal note is a legislature's official estimate of what a bill will cost or save the government, prepared by nonpartisan staff and attached to the bill as it moves.
Fiscal year
A fiscal year is the 12 month budget period a government uses. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30. Most states, including Florida, start theirs on July 1.
Floor vote
A floor vote is the vote of a legislature's full chamber on a bill, taken after committees finish their work. It is the most visible step in the process and usually the least changeable.
G
Government shutdown
A government shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass funding by the deadline, so federal agencies must stop all work that is not legally allowed to continue without new money.
Grassroots advocacy
Grassroots advocacy is mobilizing everyday people, especially constituents, to contact their legislators about an issue through calls, emails, meetings, and events.
Grasstops advocacy
Grasstops advocacy is engaging influential community leaders, such as business owners, local officials, and donors, who have personal relationships with a legislator.
I
L
Leave-behind
A leave-behind is the one-page document an advocate hands to a legislator or staffer at the end of a meeting, summarizing the ask, the local stakes, and sources, so the argument keeps working after the meeting ends.
Legislative assistant
A legislative assistant is a staffer who covers a set of policy issues for a legislator and is usually the person advocates meet with.
Legislative director
A legislative director is the senior staffer who runs a legislator's policy work, supervises the legislative assistants, and advises the member on how to vote.
M
Markup
A markup is the committee meeting where legislators amend and vote on a bill, line by line, before deciding whether to send it to the full chamber. Most of a bill's real changes happen in markup.
Minibus
A minibus is a package of a few appropriations bills passed together, smaller than an omnibus that bundles most or all twelve.
N
O
P
Pocket veto
A pocket veto happens when the President does not sign a bill within ten days, not counting Sundays, and Congress has adjourned so the bill cannot be returned. The bill dies without a formal veto.
Policy brief
A policy brief is a short document that argues for one specific action by one decision-maker, combining a clear ask with evidence and local impact, usually compressed to a single page for legislative meetings.
Preemption
Preemption is when a higher level of government overrides a lower one's laws, such as a federal law blocking state rules or a state law blocking city and county ordinances.
R
Rider
A rider is a provision attached to a bill that often has little to do with the bill's main purpose. In spending bills, riders commonly block an agency from using money for a specific action.
Rules Committee
The House Rules Committee sets the terms for debating most major bills on the House floor, including how long debate lasts and which amendments members may offer.
S
Senate hold
A Senate hold is a senator's notice to party leaders that they will object to moving a bill or nomination by unanimous consent, which slows it down or stops it.
Sine die
Sine die is Latin for without a day. Adjourning sine die means a legislative session has officially ended with no set date to meet again.
Sponsor and cosponsor
The sponsor is the legislator who introduces a bill and leads it. Cosponsors are legislators who formally sign on to show their support.
Sunset provision
A sunset provision is a clause that makes a law or program expire on a set date unless the legislature votes to renew it.
Suspension of the rules
Suspension of the rules is a fast track process in the U.S. House for bills with broad support. Debate is limited to 40 minutes, no amendments are allowed, and passage requires a two thirds vote.
U
V
W
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