How a Bill Becomes a Law

CP Chapter 12

The Rough Draft

Starts in Congress (House or Senate)

Researched

Passes

President signs it into a law

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

Types of Bills

Private – Pertains to certain persons or places

Public – Apply to the entire nation

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

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)

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)

The Rules Committee

The MOST powerful committee in the House

Sends bill to the appropriate standing committee for consideration

CommitteesWhere the work is done for Congress

Chairperson – Majority party leader (Seniority Rule)

Odd number of congress members (majority party has larger # of seats)

Standing

Select

Joint

Conference

Types of Committees

Permanent or Temporary

StandingHouse OR Senate

JointHouse AND Senate

SelectHouse OR Senate

ConferenceHouse AND Senate

House Committees

20 Standing (10-75 members)

4 Joint

About 61 subcommittees

A member can sit on up to

6 standing and 6 sub

Step 2

Rules Comm. Sends bill to appropriate Committee

Committee can pigeonhole or pass to sub-committee

Sub-committee researches

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)

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)

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

CalendarsUnion– Bills that have to do with spending moneyHouse– Public billsPrivate– Private bills Correction– Minor issues from other calendars(“no–brainer”)Discharge– Petition of discharge (end a pigeonhole)

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

DebateThe Committee of the Whole (between 100 and 217) the House can do work as 1 large committee Cannot call for a voteDebate in the House is limited-- 1 hour total (1/2 FOR and

1/2 AGAINST)

Debate

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

Step 5 Voting

A few old waysToday=Computer (Electronic voting) “Yea” “Nay” “Present”If bill is PASSED (It can die)– 3rd Reading

Signed by SpeakerSent to Senate

Senate

Introduced by a Senator – 1st Reading (may have come from the House)Titled and numberedAssigned to a committee by the Majority leader

-- Investigatory work same as House (or shared by House)

Senate Committees

17 Standing (14-28 members)

4 Joint

About 70 subcommittees

A member can serve on up to

2 standing and 6 sub

Calendar

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

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

More Debate

Double Tracking – Bill is pulled off the calendar, sent back through committee to make it more acceptable; Avoid a filibusterCloture – 60 Senators need to vote to end filibusterHard to get 60

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)

Conference Committee

If bills are different in H/S

To get bill agreeable to both the House and Senate

If no agreement--dies

Action by the President

Usually (99%) signs it into law (2 ways)

Can veto it (2 ways) (dies)

Law Veto1.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)

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

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