1. How a Bill Becomes a Law!

2. A bill starts with an idea.
Where can ideas for bills come from? 1. 2. 3.
A bill can only be sponsored and introduced by a member of the
House of Representatives or the Senate.

3. Lets pretend we have a House bill
The bill is INTRODUCED and given a NUMBER _______on the House Floor. It is sent to the appropriate standing committee.

4. The Standing Committee can do the following:
Pigeonhole it
Public hearing with experts
Debate and discuss the bill
Vote: no it dies or yes it goes back to the House floor

5. House Floor Bill is discussed and debated.
Vote: ______or____ it goes to________

6. The bill is INTRODUCED and given a new NUMBER S:_________ on the Senate floor.
It is sent to the appropriate standing committee. _____________________
The standing Committee can do the following:
Pigeonhole it
Public hearing with experts
Debate and discuss the bill
Vote: no it dies or yes it goes back to the Senate floor

7. Senate Floor Bill is discussed and debated Could have a Filibuster
Vote: ______or _____it goes to the President

8. The president can do 3 things
He can SIGN it and it becomes a_______
He can VETO the bill. It then goes back to BOTH houses of Congress to a vote. They can override a Presidential veto with a 2/3 vote of BOTH HOUSES. If they override the veto it becomes a law.
He can POCKET VETO the bill. He sets it aside for 10 days. If congress is still in session after the 10 days the bill becomes a law. If congress is not in session after the 10 days the bill dies

9. *CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
If the bill is to be changed after it has passed one house of Congress then the bill goes to a
*CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Conference committee made up of members of both houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. They make changes and sent the bill back to both houses for a vote.

10. Why does the bill have to go back to the house it was already passed in? Because changes were made to the bill. Both houses vote: no in either house it dies or yes in both it goes to the President
Remember the Process is the Same no matter which house you start in.