1. PowerPoint #3
How a Bill Becomes a Law

2. Essential Questions:
Explain the process a bill goes through to become a law.
Explain what things can keep a bill from becoming a law.

3. How a Bill Becomes a Law **(analyze and understand this graph)
How does a bill become a law in the US Congress?

4. What does the Constitution say about setting up laws?
Congress has the sole power to create laws
Article I of the US Constitution
The process is intentionally complex & requires all part to work together
…why?

5. Introduction of a Bill The bill can come from a variety of sources:
Individual citizens,
Special interest groups
Corporations
Only a member of Congress can officially introduce the bill

6. Introduction of a Bill
A bill can start in either the House or the Senate
The bill is placed in the “hopper”
Bills are retrieved from the hopper and referred to committees with the appropriate jurisdiction

7. The Bill is Assigned to Committee
Each House has standing committees that consider their bills
Each committee has two leaders who try to edit the bill so it will pass on the floor
Chairperson (Majority)
Ranking Member (Minority)

8. Pigeonholing a Bill Definition:
Ignoring a bill in committee and letting it die
The term comes from pigeons being ignored by most people, and the placing of a bill in a cubbyhole and leaving it there

9. The Bill is Reported to the Floor
If the bill is passed by the committee, it is sent to the whole House for debate and vote
“reported the bill favorably to the floor.”
The Speaker determines which bills are discussed and for how long.
Debate
Voting

10. The Party “Whips”
The party “whips” are responsible for “whipping up” support for bills before the House of Representatives
House Majority Whip
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
House Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

11. Congressional Riders Definition:
In legislative procedure, a rider is an additional provision added to a bill or other measure under the consideration by a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill. Riders are usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision that would not pass as its own bill.
May also be referred to as “pork” or “pork barrel”

12. Speaking of “Pork”… A look at the National Debt Clock
Go to the following website. Touch any of the numbers and it will show an exclamation at the top.
Many things that the government spends our tax money on sounds like a good idea, but can we really afford it?

13. Lobbyists
Individuals who seek in influence the legislative process for a particular cause, industry, or individuals
In 2013 more than 12,000 registered lobbyists spent over three billion dollars attempting to influence the policies of the federal government

14. The Bill Goes to the Senate
The bill is sent to the US Senate
As in the House, the bill must be referred to the appropriate standing committee
Committees hold hearings & make changes to the bill
The committee can ‘report” the bill to the Senate floor

15. The Senate Party “Whips”
The party “whips” are responsible for “whipping up” support for bills before the Senate
Senate Majority Whip
John Cornyn (R–KY)
Senate Minority Whip
Dick Durban (D-NY)

16. Debating in the House / Senate
In the House, debates are limited by time
Speaker of the House keeps things moving
Debate in the Senate is unlimited.
Filibusters can be used to block bills (endless debate)
Cloture -3/5 (60 votes) of the Senate must agree to stop the filibuster

17. Filibuster Definition:
an action such as a prolonged speech that obstructs progress in a legislative assembly while not technically contravening the required procedures

18. Record-long Filibuster
In 1957 Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina talked for 24 hours, 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957
In the 1960s, he opposed the civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965 to end segregation and enforce the constitutional rights of African-American citizens, including suffrage.

19. Senator Robert Byrd (WV) filibustering Civil Rights Legislation
Southern Democrats attempted to block the Civil Rights Act of 1965 with a 75 hour group filibuster, which included a 14 hour and 13 minute address by Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV).

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22. Change Nuclear Option
In 2013 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nev.) secured approval to end the minority’s filibuster right in all but extraordinary circumstances for executive-branch nominations and judicial nominations (not the Supreme Court).
This is called the "nuclear option" -- changing the chamber’s rules to eliminate a 60-vote supermajority for executive nominations

23. Both Houses Must Pass the Bill
A simple majority in both houses is needed to pass the bill (51%)
In the House:
218 votes are needed
In the Senate:
51 votes are needed

24. Differences Between Houses Must Be Reconciled
What happens when each house passes its own bill?
Any differences must be ironed out
Compromises are necessary
The bill is considered by a conference committee, made up of both House and Senate members
Sends the combined bill back to both houses.
Both Houses must vote on the compromised bill

25. The Bill is Sent to the President
The president has several options when it comes to turning the bill into law
Options:
Can sign the bill
Can veto or reject the bill
Not to act on the bill
Called “pocket veto” (does nothing and the bill dies)

26. Line Item Veto Definition:
The line-item veto is the power of an executive authority to nullify or cancel specific provisions of a bill, usually a budget appropriations bill, without vetoing the entire legislative package.
This allows the President (or governors for their states) to cross out added pork without vetoing the whole bill.

27. Line Item Veto
Congress gave this power to the President Clinton in 1996
Clinton used it 82 times
In 1998 the US Supreme Court ruled line-item veto to be unconstitutional in the federal government.
44 governors have line-item veto powers in their states

28. 1. What conclusions can you draw with President Clinton and the line-item veto? Do you think his debt %’s have anything to do with the 82 times he used the line-item veto?

29. The Bill Becomes Law Over the Veto
If the president vetoes the bill, both Houses can reconsider the bill.
Two-thirds (67%) of both Houses are needed to override the President’s veto.
In the House: 369 votes are needed
In the Senate: 67 votes are needed
President Obama veto's a $612 billion defense policy bill

30. Historic Presidential Veto's and Overrides
President (Years)
Vetoes
Regular
Pocket
Total
Overridden
Donald J. Trump (2017-present) 0 
Barack H. Obama ( )
12  1 
George W. Bush ( ) 4 
William J. Clinton ( )
36 
37  2 
George H.W. Bush ( )1
29 
15 
44 
Ronald Reagan ( )2
39 
78  9 
Jimmy Carter ( )
13 
18 
31 
Gerald R. Ford ( )
48 
66 
Richard M. Nixon ( )
26 
17 
43  7 
Lyndon B. Johnson ( )
16 
14 
30 
John F. Kennedy ( )
21 
Dwight D. Eisenhower ( )
73 
108 
181 
Harry S. Truman ( )
180 
70 
250 
Franklin D. Roosevelt ( )
372 
263 
635 
Herbert Hoover ( ) 3 
Calvin Coolidge ( )
20 
50 
Warren G. Harding( ) 5  6 
Woodrow Wilson ( )
33 
11 
William H. Taft ( )
Theodore Roosevelt ( )
42 
40 
82 
William McKinley ( )
Grover Cleveland ( )
128 
170 
Benjamin Harrison ( )
19 
25 
The complete list is at:

31. Types of Resolutions (not Bills)
Resolutions – official acts of congress (not laws)
Simple resolutions – deals with matters only affecting one house (new rule or procedure), does not have the force of law, not sent to the President.
Joint resolutions – passed by both houses, signed by President, has the force of law (correct an error in a previous law, appropriate money for disaster relief)
Concurrent resolutions – passed by both houses, not sent to the President, does not have the force of law (voice opinion, date of adjournment)

32. Why So Few Bills Become Law
Over 10,000 bills introduced each year, approximately 10% become law.
The process is long and complicated (over 100 specific steps).
At virtually every step along the way bills can be changed (amended), die – “pigeonholing” (no action taken), or be killed (voted against).
Lawmakers must be willing to bargain and compromise with each other and lobbyists to gain enough support.
Some laws are only introduced for their principle, idea, or symbolism – when a politician wants to make a statement but may know the bill has no chance.

33. Essential Questions:
Explain the process a bill goes through to become a law.
Explain what things can keep a bill from becoming a law.