How a Bill Becomes a Law

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

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)

Types of Committees Standing Select Joint Conference

Permanent or Temporary Standing House OR Senate Joint House AND Senate Select House OR Senate Conference House AND Senate

House Committees 20 Standing (10-75 members) 4 Joint About 68 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

1. Junket (trip to investigate) 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

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)

Rules Committee Again Will “rule” on the process for debate on a bill Will “rule” on amendments to the bill Will “rule” on the calendar process for a bill

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

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)

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

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

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)

Senate Committees 20 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 Executive Called 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 filibuster Cloture – 60 Senators need to vote to end filibuster Hard 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 (90%) signs it into law (2 ways) Can veto it (2 ways) (dies)

Law Veto 1. Pocket Veto–10 days not signed AND congress is NOT in session – bill dies 2. Veto –(letter of veto) 1.Sign the bill 2. 10 Day Rule – President does not sign AND congress is IN session – bill passes

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