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Published byEdward Russell Modified over 9 years ago
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How a Bill Becomes a Law CP Chapter 12
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The Rough Draft Starts in Congress (House or Senate) Researched Passes President signs it into a law
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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
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Types of Bills Private – Pertains to certain persons or places Public – Apply to the entire nation
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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
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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)
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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)
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The Rules Committee The MOST powerful committee in the House Sends bill to the appropriate standing committee for consideration
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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)
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Standing Select Joint Conference Types of Committees
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Permanent or Temporary Standing House OR Senate Joint House AND Senate Select House OR Senate Conference House AND Senate
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House Committees 20 Standing (10-75 members) 4 Joint About 61 subcommittees A member can sit on up to 6 standing and 6 sub
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Step 2 Rules Comm. Sends bill to appropriate Committee Committee can pigeonhole or pass to sub-committee Sub-committee researches
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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)
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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)
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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
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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)
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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
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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 1/2 AGAINST)
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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
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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
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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)
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Senate Committees 17 Standing (14-28 members) 4 Joint About 70 subcommittees A member can serve on up to 2 standing and 6 sub
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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)
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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
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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
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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)
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Conference Committee If bills are different in H/S To get bill agreeable to both the House and Senate If no agreement--dies
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Action by the President Usually (99%) signs it into law (2 ways) Can veto it (2 ways) (dies)
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Law Veto 1.Sign the bill 2. 10 Day Rule – President does not sign AND congress is IN session – bill passes 1. Pocket Veto– 10 days not signed AND congress is NOT in session – bill dies 2. Veto –(letter of veto)
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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
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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
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