1. How a Bill Becomes a Law

2. 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.

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

4. House of Origin
The house that a bill starts in

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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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.