1. How a Bill Becomes a Law

2. The Rough Draft Starts in Congress (House or Senate) Researched Passes
President signs it into a law

3. Where do Bills come from?
About 70% come from the President—Executive branch
About 20% come from interest groups
10% from Congress
Rarely do private citizens get to submit bills

4. Types of Bills Private – Pertains to certain persons or places
Public – Apply to the entire nation

5. Resolutions (like bills but not)
Not laws but some change in policy—internal rules
Joint Resolution – Must be signed by the President to be valid
Concurrent Resolution – Does not need President’s signature

6. How Many?
About 8-10,000 bills are proposed each year
(30-40 each day)
1,500-2,000 will pass into law
(6-10 each day)

7. Lets get Started Submitted by a member of Congress
First reading – The bill is assigned a number (HR- in the House; S- in the Senate)
Bill is referred to the Rules Committee *(It can be killed by the Rules committee)

8. The Rules Committee The MOST powerful committee in the House
Sends bill to the appropriate standing committee for consideration

9. Committees Where the work is done for Congress
Chairperson – Majority party leader (Seniority Rule)
Odd number of congress members (majority party has larger # of seats)

10. Types of Committees
Standing
Select
Joint
Conference

11. Permanent or Temporary
Standing
House OR Senate
Joint
House AND Senate
Select
House OR Senate
Conference
House AND Senate

12. House Committees 20 Standing (10-75 members) 4 Joint
About 68 subcommittees
A member can sit on up to
6 standing and 6 sub

13. Step 2 Rules Comm. Sends bill to appropriate Committee
Committee can pigeonhole or pass to sub-committee
Sub-committee researches

14. 1. Junket (trip to investigate)
Sub-Committee Work
1. Junket (trip to investigate)
2. Expert testimony (listen to experts about the subject dealt with in bill)
3. Public hearing (non- experts that have knowledge or personal experience)

15. Sub-Committee Reports
A) Favorable (agree with the bill)
B) Unfavorable (disagree)
C) Refuse (no report- pigeonhole)
D) Amended (some change)
E) Committee bill (entirely new bill)

16. Step 3 Calendars (5) Bill is put on a calendar (if not dead already)
Placed on 1 of the 5 Calendars (can die there)
Type of bill determines which calendar

17. Calendars Union– Bills that have to do with spending money
House– Public bills
Private– Private bills
Correction– Minor issues from other calendars(“no–brainer”)
Discharge– Petition of discharge (end a pigeonhole)

18. Rules Committee Again Will “rule” on the process for debate on a bill
Will “rule” on amendments to the bill
Will “rule” on the calendar process for a bill

19. Step 4 Debate
Called off the calendar by Speaker to the floor for debate – 2nd Reading
Can be pigeonholed (die)
Debate is run by Comm. Chair
Quorum – Number needed to vote for a bill (218)
No quorum=Comm. Of Whole

20. Debate
The Committee of the Whole (between 100 and 217) the House can do work as 1 large committee
Cannot call for a vote
Debate in the House is limited-- 1 hour total (1/2 FOR and /2 AGAINST)

21. Debate Any one Rep. Can speak for 5 minutes
Debate can be ended at any time by the Speaker
Debate must be germane (on topic)
Riders/Amendments

22. Step 5 Voting A few old ways
Today=Computer (Electronic voting) “Yea” “Nay” “Present”
If bill is PASSED (It can die)– 3rd Reading
Signed by Speaker
Sent to Senate

23. Senate
Introduced by a Senator – 1st Reading (may have come from the House)
Titled and numbered
Assigned to a committee by the Majority leader
-- Investigatory work same as House (or shared by House)

24. Senate Committees 20 Standing (14-28 members) 4 Joint
About 70 subcommittees
A member can serve on up to
2 standing and 6 sub

25. Calendar Reported out of committee (70 sub-committees)
Placed TWO calendars – the Legislative or Executive
Called to floor by Majority leader for debate (pigeon hole)

26. Debate
Debate is UNLIMITED (can be NON-germane)
Filibuster – Senators try to talk a bill to death (minority)
Record 24 hours 18 min.
The threat of a filibuster is enough to table a bill

27. More Debate
Double Tracking – Bill is pulled off the calendar, sent back through committee to make it more acceptable; Avoid a filibuster
Cloture – 60 Senators need to vote to end filibuster
Hard to get 60

28. Voting Roll call is most common Still need a quorum (51)
W/o quorum—they go home
Bill in Senate must be Identical to House (riders)

29. Conference Committee If bills are different in H/S
To get bill agreeable to both the House and Senate
If no agreement--dies

30. Action by the President
Usually (90%) signs it into law (2 ways)
Can veto it (2 ways) (dies)

31. Law Veto
1. Pocket Veto–10 days not signed AND congress is NOT in session – bill dies
2. Veto –(letter of veto)
1.Sign the bill
2. 10 Day Rule – President does not sign AND congress is IN session – bill passes

32. Override by Congress The Bill can still pass
-- Congress can override a veto (or pocket veto) with 2/3 vote in the House and Senate

33. End of the Line
Any bill that does not get called from a calendar for a vote dies at the end of the year
It must be reintroduced in the next session