"No bill is truly dead until the final gavel…

“No bill is truly dead until the final gavel falls” is a popular legislative adage of unknown authorship. “No bill is dead until the gavel bangs adjournment” was cited in a February 1967 newspaper from Indiana. “There is an old saying here that no bill is dead until the final gavel is banged” was cited in a March 1967 newspaper from Seattle, Washington.

21 February 1967, Anderson (IN) Herald, ‘Women Voter League May Concede Defeat On Trustee Legislation” (UPI), pg. 17, col. 5:
The league’s legislative publication today carries a comment that “the flames of life in HB 1428 are burning low—some say that they are extinguished—but no bill is dead until the gavel bangs adjournment.”

7 March 1967, Seattle (WA) Times, “Focus on Olympia” by Lyle Burt, pg. 2, col. 6:
There is an old saying here that no bill is dead until the final gavel is banged.

23 April 1974, The Sun (Flagstaff, AZ), “University Funding Plan May Be Saved: Goodwin” (AP), pg. 2, col. 6:
“As far as I’m concerned the bonding bill isn’t dead until the last gavel,” said Goodwin.
(Rep. TOm Goodwin, R-Tucson.—ed.)

25 April 1978, Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette, “Death blow for consumer credit action?,” pg. 8, col. 1:
“I don’t have anything specific in mind, but as you know, a bill isn’t dead until the final gavel.”
(Rep. Ned Chiodo, D-Des Moines.—ed.)

1 April 1983, Seattle (WA) Times, “House and Senate pass deadline for handling own bills” by Lyle Burt and Doug Underwood, pg. B1, col. 5:
But that issue—along with many others—still could be revived as the session continues, since no bill is truly dead until the final adjournment gavel is sounded.

25 March 1984, The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), “Sponsor of pay raise bill won’t call for vote” by Steve Hahn, pg. 1, cols. 1-2:
Nothing, of course, is ever dead until the final gavel, but I would say a vote on the pay raise is very unlikely unless there is some movement in the House,” said Judy Erwin, a spokeswoman for Senate President Phil Rock.

Google News Archive
17 April 1985, The Dispatch (Eatonville, WA), “Under the Capitol Dome” by Robert Cumming, pg. 4, col. 3:
There are bills they want badly. There are others they are striving to kill. And the veterans among them know that no bill is assured, and no bill is dead until the final gavel falls. So they don’t dare turn their backs.

Twitter
Jon Ralston
‏@RalstonReports
.@NevadaPolicyRI Nothing is dead until the final gavel falls. Lots of juice behind arenas. I hear national types will be in Carson to push.
11:06 AM - 25 May 2011

Twitter
AZ Capitol Times
‏@AzCapitolTimes
It’s striker season at the #AZ Capitol… no bill is truly dead until the gavel falls http://goo.gl/wgJCF
12:33 PM - 21 Mar 2013

Las Vegas (NV) Review-Journal
Posted date April 13, 2015 - 6:31pmUpdated April 14, 2015 - 6:06pm
Here’s a list of good bills, bad bills and everything in between in 2015
By STEVE SEBELIUS
The first major deadline to pass bills at the Nevada Legislature has come and gone, and with it, 262 pieces of legislation have fallen.

Now, bear in mind, nothing in Carson City is really dead until the final gavel falls, and amendments can still revive some of the ideas on the dead bill list, if not the bills themselves. Not only that, but similar language in a dead bill is often mirrored in a bill that managed to beat the deadline.

Jefferson Public Radio (Southern Oregon University)
Oregon Lawmakers Use ‘Lateral Pass’ To Beat Bill Deadline
By CHRIS LEHMAN
Originally published on Mon April 20, 2015 3:55 pm
Oregon lawmakers are rushing to beat a Tuesday deadline for legislation to advance. But there’s an old saying around the state capitol: No bill is truly dead until the final gavel falls.