How does a Bill become Law?

Enquiry Question: How difficult is the legislative process?

Learning Objectives

• To identify and explain each stage of the legislative process

• To examine the use of the filibuster in the Senate

• To assess to what extent the legislative process is difficult

Legislative ProcessA series of actions that result in a law being

made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFroMQlKiag

7 Stages of the Legislative Process

First Reading

• must pass both houses during a congress (2 years)

• Same in both houses, only a formality

• No debate• No vote• Speaker assigns legislature to

appropriate committee

Committee Stage

• Committee stage-broken into sub-committees• Many bills don’t get out-pigeonholed• Bills with lots of support get heard-from within

house, congress, interest groups etc,• Committee members are specialists• Witnesses called and questioned• Power of amendment-can pass, amend or reject• Reported out i.e. Goes to floor if vote in favour• Therefore bill can be thrown out at this stage. Slow

process because of witness.

Timetabling

• Find time for consideration whole chamber

• House rules committee-2:1 in favour of majority

• Can set time limits & rules for level of debate

• Therefore control what pases v powerful

Second Reading

• Considered by whole chamber• Further amendments made• In senate-tradition- everyone who

wants to speak can-therefore chance of filibuster

• 60 senators must vote for cloture-motion to stop debate allowing determined minorities to end a bill

• Simple majority pass• If passed said to be congressed.

Third Reading

• Final debate. • If big amendments made after 2nd

reading-substantial debate• If minor amendments and large

vote in favour, 3rd reading brief-further vote taken

Conference Committee

• (optional)• If big difference between bill

agreed by house & senate due to amendments a conference committee called-reps from both chambers represented.

• If bill not approved by end of congressional term, 2 years, must start all over again.

Presidential Action

• 4 options• 10 days to act• Signed into law• Can veto bill• However veto can be overridden by 2/3

majority• Pocket veto, takes no action at end of

congress, bill dies-cannot be overturned• Leave bill on desk-become law after 10

working days

Key Points

• 3% of bills are vetoed by presidents• 4% of vetoes overridden-often for political

reasons-in divided government mostly (except carter)

• Very few bills put forward become law- 4-5% Why?

• Weak party discipline-votes not predictable• Committees can kill off /fundamentally

change a bill• Cloture motion requirement in senate

means minorities can kill bills-• Senate very powerful.

Intention of FF- supposed to be difficult- pros & cons

CLOTURE MOTION(Closure/guillotine)

• The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster.

• Under the cloture rule the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.

‘The house sits, not for serious discussion, but to sanction the conclusions of its committees as

rapidly as possible. It legislates in its committee rooms, not by the determination of majorities, but

by the specially commissioned minorities (the committees), so that it is not far from the truth to say that congress in session is congress on public exhibition, whilst congress in its committee rooms

is congress at work’.

Woodrow Wilson 1885 future president WWI.

Quote of the Day

Learning Objectives

• To identify and explain each stage of the legislative process

• To examine the use of the filibuster in the Senate

• To assess to what extent the legislative process is difficult

What is a filibuster?• In the Senate, unlike the House, no time limits are set on the speeches made for or against a

bill. It comes from the Spanish word filibustro, which used to describe a pirate.• The words has come to mean anyone acting in an irregular manner. A filibuster takes place in

the Senate when a member on the minority side tries to get a bill changed or killed by talking for so long that the majority group gets fed up and concedes.

• In the Senate, it is against the rules for a member of the majority to end a debate in order to vote. It is generally the case that no vote can take place if any Senator still wants to speak.

• Strom Thurmond, who talked non-stop for over 24 hours in 1957, held the record in Congress.

• To end a filibuster, Senators can invoke what is known as a cloture (a call for a vote), where three fifths (6) must vote, or in certain circumstances two thirds of those present.

• This can’t happen, however, until two days after the cloture has been proposed and signed by 16 senators.

• Even after cloture, there are still 30 more hours allowed, during which time Senators can speak for no more than an hour. In the event, this procedure is used less than one might suppose.

• During the presidency of George W Bush the Democrats used the filibuster to such effect that the Republicans considered changing the rules to make the process more difficult to achieve. The Democrats lost their ‘supermajority’ of 60 not long before the 2010 midterms and this made their position far more difficult.

Famous Filibusters

Learning Objectives

• To identify and explain each stage of the legislative process

• To examine the use of the filibuster in the Senate

• To assess to what extent the legislative process is difficult

How difficult is

the legislative process?

Key Question

VERY EASY

VERY DIFFICULT

MODERATELY EASY

MODERATELY DIFFICULT

FAIRLY DIFFICULT

SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT

Write your name on a post it and put it on the representative thermometer –

prepare to justify your decision!

“We don’t like change!”• There is certain degree of

negativity that is part of the obstructionist's platform.

• Republicans, and some moderates of both parties, are not progressive.

• They want things to remain the same, even when it becomes out-dated.

• They look at new ideas with a preconceived idea that it will fail.

“Controversial Bill? Forget it!”• This means that controversial bills will

require some negotiations to get passed. • Controversial legislation typically won't

pass unless it's sponsored by the majority party, and even then weak links can be found to vote against the bill.

• The weak party discipline in the congressional system often means members of the party have little to gain from voting along party lines, and would rather follow their own personal opinions or those of their constituents.

“Political Action-less Committees”• The legislative process bestows power

on the committee system, allowing a committee to simply “table” a bill.

• Tabling a bill/piece of legislation means that it is set aside for later consideration.

• Whether or not it is "dead" depends upon how many people in the legislature want it considered later, how much other legislation is under consideration - and how much pressure they can bring to bear on the committee chair(s) to bring the tabled item up for active consideration.

“A Committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but as a group decide that

nothing can be done.” – Fred Allen

American Comedian, 1894-1956

President: “No Way José!”• The presidential veto allows

the president to return legislation to Congress unsigned.

• Congress can only override this veto with a 2/3 majority in both houses of Congress – something that is difficult to achieve, especially if the bill is considered to be partisan or controversial.

“I’ll filibuster you!”

• The filibuster allows the minority in the Senate to delay or defeat (potentially) any piece legislation.

• Sometimes the threat of a filibuster can force a small majority to negotiate further with the minority.

“Over my dead body….blah blah blah…Never in a

million years…blah blah blah…..”

“In a democracy the Majority rules!”

• If a party has a majority in both houses of Congress, then in theory they will be able to pass most of their party platform legislation (providing there is nothing too controversial).

• How easy it is to pass legislation is (normally) proportionate to the size of the majority.

• But what about divided government?

Year S H1981-1983 R D1983-1985 R D1985-1987 R D1987-1989 D D1989-1991 D D1991-1993 D D1993–1995 D D1995-1997 R R1997-1999 R R1999-2001 R R2001-2003 D/R R2003–2005 R R2005–2007 R R2007-2009 D D2009–2011 D D2011-2013 D R

“I lead…You follow!”• In both chambers, party leaders involve

themselves in the legislative process on major legislation earlier and more deeply, using special procedures to aid the passage of legislation.

• In the House, special rules from the Rules Committee have become powerful tools for controlling floor consideration of bills and sometimes for shaping the outcomes of votes.

• Often party leaders from each chamber negotiate among themselves instead of creating conference committees. Party leaders also use omnibus legislation that addresses numerous and perhaps unrelated subjects, issues, and programs to create winning coalitions.

NB: In the Senate, leaders have less leverage and individual senators have retained great opportunities for influence. As a result, it is often more difficult to pass legislation in the Senate.

“What the President wants…the President gets!”

• Presidents are partners with Congress in the legislative process, but all presidents are also Congress' adversaries in the struggle to control legislative outcomes. Presidents have their own legislative agenda, based in part on their party's platform and their electoral coalition. The president's task is to persuade Congress that his agenda should also be Congress' agenda.

• Presidential success rates for influencing congressional votes vary widely among presidents and within a president's tenure in office. Presidents are usually most successful early in their tenures and when their party has a majority in one or both houses of Congress. Regardless, in almost any year, the president will lose on many issues.

How difficult is

the legislative process?

Key Question

VERY EASY

VERY DIFFICULT

MODERATELY EASY

MODERATELY DIFFICULT

FAIRLY DIFFICULT

SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT

Write your name on a post it and put it on the representative thermometer –

prepare to justify your decision!

Difficult• RESISTANT TO

CHANGE• CONTROVERSY• COMMITTEE

TABLING• PRESIDENTIAL VETO• FILIBUSTER

Not difficult• PARTY MAJORITY• PARTY LEADERSHIP• PRESIDENTIAL

INFLUENCE

Learning Objectives

• To identify and explain each stage of the legislative process

• To examine the use of the filibuster in the Senate

• To assess to what extent the legislative process is difficult

Why is it easier to defeat legislation in Congress than to pass it?

45 marks = 45 minutes

Homework

Respond to lesson content• Why is the use of the filibuster now so

controversial? (Forum)Further Reading• The Legislative Process – House.gov• How does a bill become law (Handout)Independent Research• Many Bills – Visual Bill Explorer• GovTrack Website