Want to see a Pa. law changed? Here’s where most ideas go to die, and how you can get involved.

A push for tougher sentences for people convicted of selling drugs near recovery homes. A long-sought change to state law to allow hunting on Sundays. A proposal to give the attorney general more power to approve hospital purchases in hopes of preventing another health system closure like the scenario that unfolded at Crozer Health.

Those are just a few of the dozens of proposals that made their first moves in the legislative process Tuesday in Harrisburg, as state lawmakers in the House and Senate voted bills out of committee — a little-discussed but critically important step for a bill to become a law.

Pennsylvania has a split General Assembly, meaning the House is controlled by Democrats, while the Senate is controlled by Republicans. If a bill passes both chambers, it then goes to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk for his signature.

June is one of the busiest months of the year in Harrisburg, where state lawmakers begin negotiating a state budget in earnest before the June 30 budget deadline. That means the leaders of legislative committees meet frequently, and can choose to fast-track bills— or “kill” them — as they make their way through the legislative process.

Legislative committees are groups of lawmakers within the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania Senate that investigate, debate, and review bills assigned to the committee.

With nearly 5,000 pieces of legislation introduced each year, the 253 members of the General Assembly don’t have enough eyes and ears to parse through every bill. To manage the workload, the House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), assign individual bills to committees once they are introduced.

“Lawmakers have concepts and ideas of things we want to make into a law or statute. But eventually, you have to put those concepts to paper, introducing a bill. The committee process is where those bills are vetted and developed on a deeper level,” said House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) in an interview earlier this year.

The state Senate, which has 50 members, and House, which has 203 members, together have more than 20 standing committees, where focuses range from government oversight and spending to education or housing.

Both chambers added new standing committees this legislative session, as Pennsylvania lawmakers reform the body and take on modern challenges, such as a new House committee to address issues around artificial intelligence or social media, or a new Senate committee to analyze the future of the state’s property ownership and institutional health.

You can view a full list of legislative committees for the House and Senate, their leadership, and more at palegis.us.

The Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore, in collaboration with the majority and minority parties, appoint lawmakers to become committee chairs (leaders) and members. Committee chairs hold considerable power in how, when, and if bills make it out of committee.

In the state House, where Democrats hold a narrow majority and control the chamber, many committee chairs hail from Philadelphia or its suburbs. That includes Rep. Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia), who chairs the powerful appropriations committee through which all legislation requiring state spending must pass. The position was previously held by U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.) before he was elected to the U.S. Congress.

Each committee consists of around a dozen or more legislators — with an emphasis on more in the state House. The House appropriations committee, for example, involves nearly 40 lawmakers. Most lawmakers serve on multiple committees.

Once the leader of the House or Senate assigns a bill to its respective committee, the bill will usually sit for a time without ever being considered.

Bills can sit in committee for months or even years, and most legislation introduced each year in the state Capitol never gets a vote.

If lawmakers do not vote on a bill by the end of the two-year legislative session — the current session ends in December 2026 — the legislation is considered “dead” and must be reintroduced the following year.

Sometimes, a bill will pass one chamber, only to die in the other legislative body. Most times, a bill it will be sent across the halls of the Capitol, where it languishes until the end of session.

And occasionally, lawmakers will formally kill a bill. For example, House Democrats last month sent a bill to legalize recreational marijuana through a state-owned store model to the Republican-controlled Senate, only for it to be immediately voted down by the Senate Law and Justice committee.

» READ MORE: A Pa. Senate committee rejected House Democrats’ pitch to legalize recreational marijuana through state-owned stores

Once a bill reaches committee, lawmakers can vet and develop it through listening tours across the state, public hearings with subject-matter experts, and by commissioning reports or studies.

Want your voice to be heard in Harrisburg?

Individuals, advocacy groups, and stakeholders can approach their local lawmaker to encourage them to introduce a piece of legislation in committee.

Pennsylvanians can then lobby the committee chair assigned to a bill to urge a vote. That can be done directly or by generating public attention for the bill through press releases, media events, rallies, or social media campaigns.

Topper encouraged Pennsylvania residents to contact their local elected official or lawmakers on a given committee to encourage their support — or opposition — to a piece of legislation they find important.

“Honestly, the best way that individuals can be a part of the committee or any process is by seeing the very lawmakers who represent them,” he said.

You can find your local lawmaker at palegis.us/find-my-legislator.