Legislative Branch A quick review of what you should have learned from all the reading!

The U.S. Legislature is BICAMERAL Article I-Creates Congress, Article I Sec 2 Number 1-18 Enumerated powers The Great Compromise –Equal representation in the Senate –Determination of House membership by population of each state Reapportionment with every census Congress’ Major Functions –Develop and approve governmental policies –Provide the necessary funds to execute policies –Oversight of the Executive and The Bureaucracy

House of Reps Membership Requirements –Residency in state at time of election –25 years of age –U.S. citizen for at least 7 years –No current Executive Branch office Elected by popular vote of district Two (2) year term of office beginning on January 3 in odd numbered years

General Characteristics –Older than U.S. average age –White males –Well-educated –Most are lawyers –Wealthy –Becoming more diverse-women, minorities

Organization of the House Organized by Party Leadership –Speaker of the House Preside over House activities Assign Bills to Committees Schedule debate Casts a ballot in cases of tie The FACE of the House Second in-line for ascendancy to Presidency Selected by vote of the entire House

–Floor Leaders-Party within the government Selected by each party themselves Party’s spokesperson on the floor –Whips Selected by each party themselves Maintain contact with members of the party “Whip” up support for party policies

Passing a Bill in the House Bill placed in the “hopper” House Clerk gives it a number and sends to House Speaker House Speaker sends to committees COMMITTEE system-Most work occurs here –Seniority and majority rule –Committee hearings –Bills move through many committees before actual floor debate and vote –“mark-ups and amendments-Affordable Health Care for Americans Act

Passing a Bill in the House House Rules Committee –Perhaps the most important committee Schedules bills for House consideration Allocates time for debate Determines methods for amending bills Actual Floor Debate –Not as common as Senate and highly structured –Often quite brief

Senate Membership Requirements –Resident of state at time of election –30 years of age –U.S. citizen for at least 9 years –Hold no Executive Branch office Elected by popular vote in state –Appointed by state legislature from –Changed by 17 th Amendment

6 year staggered terms of office –Election of 1/3 of Senate every two (2) years General Characteristics –White males-older than Representatives –Lawyers –Wealthier than members of the House –Senate is traditionally one of the most prestigious and powerful positions in Gov’t

Senate Organization Vice President is President of the Senate –Votes only to break a tie Majority and Minority (floor) Leaders –Leader of the majority and minority parties –Spokespeople for their parties (“FACES” of the Senate). Whips perform same function as House

Passing a Bill in the Senate Very few set rules More open debate than in House Actual Floor Debate –No time limits Filibuster: opponents of bills can speak as long as they want; way to delay or kill passage of a bill Cloture: ending filibuster with 3/5 vote

Advantage: INCUMBENTS Familiar with methods to impress constituents –Staff can be allocated to placate constituency –Franking privilege: government essentially pays for written and oral publicity for incumbents Name recognition Party identification Congressional Seniority is attractive to voters because their Rep. can get placement onto influential committees

Examples of Incumbency Advantage Re – election rates –1988: 402 out of 408 in House –1988: 24 out of 27 in Senate –1990: 391 out of 406 in House –1990: 31 out of 32 in Senate Usually around 90%!

Congressional Campaigns Financing –1992: $402 million (!) on House elections –1992: $270 million (!) on Senate elections (over 50% increase in both cases from 1990) Limits on Spending: Campaign finance reform changes –1974 Campaign Finance Reform Act –2003 McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform –2010 Supreme Court decision

The Committee System Nonexistent from Standing Committees created in 1810 to deal with specialized issues –Creates a cadre of senators/representatives who are knowledgeable in particular fields Committees propose, draft and amend legislation Committees conduct oversight duty Seniority system

Powerful Committees House House Ways and Means House Rules House Appropriations Senate Finance Committee Foreign Relations Armed Services Appropriations