Engrossed Bill

In U.S. legislative practice, engrossment is the procedural step by which a chamber prepares the final, authoritative text of a bill after it has been approved on third reading. The engrossed bill reflects the measure exactly as passed, with every adopted amendment integrated into the text, and is certified by the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate before being transmitted to the other chamber for consideration.

Engrossment should not be confused with enrollment. An engrossed bill is the version passed by one chamber; an enrolled bill is the final version agreed to by both chambers, printed on parchment, signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate (the Vice President or President pro tempore), and presented to the President for signature or veto under Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution.

Historically, "engrossing" referred to the practice of copying a bill in a large, clear hand onto durable paper to produce an official record. Today the process is electronic, but the terminology survives. The Government Publishing Office prints engrossed bills with a distinctive heading, and they are made available through Congress.gov and GPO's govinfo platform.

Many U.S. state legislatures follow analogous procedures. In California, for example, bills are formally "engrossed" by the Chief Clerk after passage in the house of origin. In the United Kingdom Parliament, the equivalent concept is the "House Bill" or the version "as amended on Report," though Westminster terminology differs.

For researchers and Model UN delegates studying domestic legislative drafting, the engrossed text is the most reliable snapshot of a chamber's actual position on a measure, since introduced versions often diverge substantially after committee markup and floor amendments. Comparing introduced, engrossed, and enrolled versions is a standard method for tracing how legislative bargaining reshapes policy language.