Following the Legislative Process

If you are interested in following the legislative process for important bike/ped bills, here's some info that explains how the comittee process works.

Bill Drafts and Hearings
Each committee considers the proposed bills referred to it and orders full drafts in
formal statutory language of those it decides merit further consideration. Committees can also decide to hold “subject matter hearings” on proposed bills without having them fully drafted. A committee may also "raise" bills on subjects within its jurisdiction for public hearing. Committee bills (fully drafted bills based on proposed bills) and raised bills (fully drafted bills introduced by a committee that are not based on a proposed bill) are drafted by attorneys in the Legislative Commissioners' Office (LCO) and returned to the committee for consideration. The committee holds hearings to give the public an opportunity to express views on bills. Legislators, state agency officials and municipal chief elected officials are allowed to testify during the first hour of a public hearing. Members who get signatures from a specified number of House or Senate members can petition a committee to draft a proposed bill and schedule it for a public hearing in cases where a committee has chosen not to do so.

Committee Reports
After the committee has considered a bill, it may (1) issue no report, in which case
the bill fails; (2) issue an unfavorable report; or (3) issue a joint favorable (JF)
report. When a committee votes to report a bill or resolution favorably, it is
submitted to LCO, which has 10 days to check it for constitutionality, general
accuracy, and consistency with existing statutes and to correct references and
phraseology. LCO then refers the bill to the offices of Legislative Research and
Fiscal Analysis, which have five days to prepare, respectively, a plain-language
explanation of its legal effect (“bill analysis”) and a statement of its fiscal impact
(“fiscal note”). LCO must transmit the bill, bill analysis, and fiscal note (together
called a “file”) to the house of origin within 15 calendar days after first receiving it,
unless the speaker and the president pro tempore grant an extension.

Read more at This is Your General Assembly 

2013 Legislative Session -- Committee Deadlines