After passage by both houses, a bill is read carefully to make sure the wording is correct. The bill is signed by the presiding member of each house and sent to the Governor. The Governor may sign a bill, permit it to become law without signing it, or veto it. The constitution specifies that an act becomes law 90 days after the General Assembly adjourns, unless it contains a later effective date or an emergency clause. The fastest a bill can pass through both houses of the legislature is five days, the minimum time required for three readings in each house.
Most bills take longer to complete the process, however.
It is possible for a bill to complete the legislative process in four days through the use of companion bills. Companion bills are identical bills introduced at the same time in both houses. After a bill passes one house, and is in the Calendar of the second house, it is substituted for the identical bill in the other house which is in the Orders of the day for its third reading. Few companion bills are introduced during a legislative session. Besides bills the Legislature may express its feelings in simple, concurrent, or joint resolutions.