UNIT 2: SECTION 1 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH Essential Question: Explain How a Bill becomes a Law.

Congress Organizes The Presiding Officers House of Representatives – Speaker of the House Presides over all actions in the House Assigns all Bills to the appropriate committees May vote on any bill on the floor but Constitutionally, he/she only has to vote in the event of a tie The Speaker is 3 rd in line for the Presidency The US Senate – President of the Senate This position is held by the Vice President Serves as a liaison (connection) between the President and the Senate May only vote on a bill if there is a tie Most of the time, the duties of this office are passed on to the President Pro Tem 2

Congress Organizes Other Congressional Leaders Majority and Minority Floor Leaders (House) – Serve as leaders of their political party in the House – Their job is organize their parties action / views on issues that are up for a vote – They are assisted by members of their party known as whips Committee Chairmen – Members of the House and Senate are assigned to a variety of committees – The leadership (chair) of each committee is chosen from the majority party in office based on seniority (Seniority Rule) The longer a person serves in office, the more powerful he / she becomes 3

Committees in Congress Standing Committees – Both the House and Senate have permanent committees that are assigned all bills relating to a particular topic – The Speaker (House) or the Pro Tem (Senate) assign each bill to the appropriate committee for review – Committees are organized based on subject Tax bills go to the Ways and Means Committee (House) or Finance Committee (Senate) 4

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House 1. Introduction of a bill – A member of Congress introduces a bill proposal for consideration. Bills come from a variety of sources such as the Executive Branch, Special Interest Groups, some are even suggested by everyday citizens A Rider is a provision that is attached to a bill in order to push through a lot of unnecessary spending 5

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House 2. Assigned to Committee – After the bill is introduced, the bill is assigned to the appropriate committee for review – While in committee the bill can be changed, set aside (pigeonholed) until it expires, or replaced with a bill of the committees making – If the committee takes no action on a bill, other members may call for a discharge petition to force the bills release 6

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House 3. Debate – After a bill is released from committee, it is sent to the House floor for debate – A vote is called for the original bill and for each of its amendments If the bill fails to pass, it is dead If the bill passes the House it is then sent to the Senate 7

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Senate Introduction of the Bill – Bills are introduced to the Senate usually by Senators Assigned to Committee – New bills are assigned to the appropriate committee for review – The committee releases the bill for debate on the Senate floor Filibuster may be called to prevent a bill from passing A Cloture may be called to end a filibuster but is rarely done 8

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Senate 4. Conference Committee – If the House and Senate each pass their own version of the bill it is sent to a Conference Committee to work out the differences and create a SINGLE bill that they can both vote on – Compromises are reached until the committee creates a final version of the bill for both houses to vote on. 5. A Final Vote is Called – If the bill passes the Senate and House it then is sent to the President 9

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The President 6. The President’s Options – Once a bill makes its way the Presidents desk, the President has a few options Sign the bill into law Veto (reject) the bill and send it back to Congress [Congress may override the Veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses] Allow the bill to become law by ignoring it for 10 days Pocket Veto if the Congressional term expires before the bill can become law, it automatically fails 10

The House of Representatives Congressional Districts – The area that a member of the House represents – Borders of the district are selected by the state legislature – Gerrymandering Sometimes politicians try to arrange district lines in such a way as to give an advantage to their parties chance to be elected

The House of Representatives Formal Qualifications – Must be at least 25 years old – Must have been a citizen of the US for at least 7 years – Must be a resident of the state from which elected

The Senate Size of the Senate – There are 100 members of the Senate (2 from each state) – The Framers hoped that the Senate would serve as a more stable element of government

The Senate Election Terms – Senators are chosen by the people and are up for election every 6 years – The Senatorial terms are staggered so that only 1/3 of the Senate is up for election at a given time This provides more stability in government

The Senate Formal Qualifications – Must be at least 30 year old – Must have been a citizen of the US for at least 9 years – Must be a resident of the state from which elected

The National Legislature Terms of Congress – Each term of congress lasts 2 years – Each term is broken into 2 sessions – Congress adjourns for several months to allow the Congressmen to work in their home regions – In times of need, the President may call the Congressmen back into special session to respond to a major crisis – Members of the House are up for election every 2 years

The Members of Congress Personal / Professional Background – Not representative of the typical Americans – Most are lawyers and come from a wealthy background US Senator Barbara Boxer US Senator Diane Feinstein

The incumbency advantage Incumbents have many advantages when it comes to running for reelection – Franking Privilege The ability to print and mail goods at no cost – Professional Staff To handle your day to day operations – Patronage You are able to provide services to your constituents as part of your Congressional duties – Gerrymandered Districts (safe-seats) Congressional district lines are drawn in such a way as to give one party an advantage – Committee Service / Pork Projects While working on committees in Congress, you are able to bring federal moneys into the district that can help create jobs. This extra spending is referred to as “pork” – Campaign War-chest Since many members go years between anyone challenging them for their seats, they are able to amass large amounts of money to pay for their campaign Average incumbent can outspent his/her opponent 3x

The House of Representatives Reapportionment – Congress reorganizes / rearranges the number of representatives each state gets in the House. In order to make sure that each state has a fair number of representatives Congress, adjusts the numbers based on the national census which is conducted every 10 years. – States with major increases in population may gain seats, while states whose population declines may lose seats This is conducted according to the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which established formal procedures for allocating House seats – The number of representatives a state has greatly influences the amount of power it has in the Federal Government