The attached chart demonstrates there are many barriers to clear before a bill reaches the governor's desk, and each barrier presents an opportunity to sidetrack or outright defeat legislation. The legislature operates under some constitutional constraints, but mostly conducts its business by rules developed and adopted by each house. These rules are very similar and allow the House and the Senate to cooperate under a schedule conducive to completion of the session no later than June 1 st of each year. This year, the house and the senate have adopted rules that schedule the legislature to adjourn on April 14th, the earliest adjournment in recent memory. The schedule has also been severely compacted, with only one week between the deadline for introduction of bills and the deadline for committee consideration.
Deadlines are an important part of the legislative rules and schedule.
There are deadlines for introduction of bills, committee action, passage in the house or origin, committee action in the opposite chamber and passage in the opposite chamber. Bills that fail to advance in the process prior to a deadline are usually dead, though parliamentary procedures and other maneuvers may revive some proposals.