How a Bill Becomes a Law

Thursday January 23, 2014 OBJ: SWBAT understand how a Bill is proposed, changed and enacted into law. Drill: True or False, distrust in government lowers voter turnout? Homework: Read “Illinois lawmakers feast on bigger slice of pork” and answer the questions at the end ON A SEPARATE sheet of paper.

Answer FALSE!!!!!! Voter turnout is not affected by distrust in government!!!!!!!

House of Origin The house that a bill starts in

All bills start with an idea… Who can think of a law? Members of Congress Citizens President Special Interest Groups Local Governments

Bill Proposal A bill proposal must be sponsored (presented) by a Representative or a Senate The original idea is prepared and finalized into bill form The bill is ready to be presented to the Senate or the House

Introduction of the Bill A bill can be introduced in the House or the Senate, depending on who sponsored the bill. The process is very similar between the two houses. For this presentation, we are going to assume the bill started in the House of Representatives. After a bill is proposed and written, it will be added to the “Hopper”. This is a wooden box on the floor of the House that holds all proposed bills.

Committee Action The bill is assigned a number: HR-145(House of Reps) S-349 (Senate) The Bill is then assigned to the appropriate standing committee Transportation bills with go to the Transportation Committee Military Laws will go to the Armed Services Committee The Committee reads and reviews the bill in its original form

Bill is Assigned to a Subcommittee The committee will assign a few members in the committee to review the bill (subcommittee) Research the topic Check for accuracy Analyze the bill Legality (is it legal) This is the first step in changing the bill’s content

Back to the Committee… After the subcommittee reviews the bill, it goes back to the Standing Committee This is the most crucial point for a bill Most bills die when they reach this point The bill has to get approval from the Committee They read the bill Discuss the contents of the bill Argue different points of the bill Make any necessary changes to the bill

Bill is Reported After the bill is put in the Hopper, it is read and then added to the House’s calendar for review. Bills are reviewed for clarity and appropriateness. At this point, no one in the House, other than the bill sponsor, has read or reviewed the bill.

Floor Action The bill goes to the floor of the House (or Senate) for discussion This is usually a long process with many people presenting arguments for or against the bill Changes are made to the bill

They vote on the bill… After many debates and changes, the House votes on the bill Many bills die at this point If a bill dies, it must be rewritten and the process starts over again

After the vote… If the bill passes, it is then given to the other house and the same process is repeated If the other house rejects the bill, it returns to committee (in the house of origin) for further review EXAMPLE: The House creates a bill, it goes through this process and passes in the House. It is then sent to Senate. If Senate doesn’t like the bill and doesn’t pass it, it will return to the House committee for rewriting.

If the Senate Passes a Different Version of the Same Bill… ALL BILLS PASSED MUST BE THE SAME IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE! The Senate might make changes to the bill while they are approving it. If they do, the bill needs to go to a “Conference Committee” where a group from the Senate and House meet to come up with one final version of the Bill Once the final version is reached in conference committee, the bill can be enrolled.

Enrollment If a bill makes it through both the house and the senate and it gets a majority vote, the bill has to be “enrolled” Once it is enrolled, it will be sent to the President for final approval

The Bill is Sent to the President The President can veto the bill (reject the bill) If it is rejected, the bill is returned to the House of Origin where it is reviewed again and changes can be made The President reviews the bill The President can sign the bill and it will then become a Federal Law! OR

Veto Override If the President vetoes a bill, but congress doesn’t agree with the veto, the House and Senate can vote an override the veto. 2/3 vote is required from both houses to override the veto

Idea Bill Proposal Standing Committee Reviews the Bill Submitted to Either House Assigned to a Committee Bill is Edited in Subcommittee Bill Given to a Subcommittee Standing Committee Reviews the Bill Bill is Returned to the Standing Committee For Final Approval Bill Moves to a Floor Action Bill is reviewed and changed on the floor. The other house Goes through the Same process. If the bill passes, it goes on to the other house Bill has a final Vote in the “House of Origin” If there are changes Made by the other house, The bill will go to a Conference committee. If the other house Passes the bill, it Is sent to the President The President signs Or vetoes the bill.