…Admit it… You started to sing in your head didn’t you? How a Bill Becomes a Law …Admit it… You started to sing in your head didn’t you?

How a Bill Becomes a Law - House Bill - a proposed law Revenue Bills must originate in the House

Types Public - measures that apply to the whole nation ie taxes Private - measure that apply to certain people/places Resolution - measure relating to the internal workings of Congress and concern only one house

Joint resolution - must be passed by both houses and approved by the President (ie: appropriate money) Concurrent resolution - passes by both houses; used to express legislative opinion or internal rules; does not have the force of law Rider - provision attached to another bill because it probably wouldn’t pass on its own

Referred to committee Bill is placed in hopper Clerk of House numbers/titles bill Bill is entered into the House Journal and Congressional Record This is the first reading Bill is printed/distributed to members Bill is referred by Speaker to appropriate committee

Committee stage Very few bills pass this stage Hold hearings in committee or subcommittee May recommend it to floor May amend it May unfavorably recommend it May make a new one May pigeon-hole it - dies in committee though a discharge petition can force it to the floor

Calendar After making it through committee, the bill is placed on a calendar Union - for bills dealing with revenue, appropriations, government property House - for all public bills Private - for all private bills Corrections - for bills taken out of order Discharge - for petition to discharge bills from committee

House Rules Committee approves taking bill off calendar and sets up time for its appearance on the floor - bill can die here

Floor Bill gets its second reading General debate occurs - strict rules govern debate Voted on House may act as a Committee of the Whole to bypass part of the procedure and speed things up; this is used for important bills and requires a quorum (218 members)

Voting Voice - aye or nay Standing - stand up to be counted Teller - walk down aisle and count (rarely used today because of electronic voting) Roll call - call each individual for vote Electronic - used today the most

Final steps If approved at the second reading, bill is printed (engrossed) Read for third time Final vote

How A Bill Becomes A Law - Senate Introduction by Senator Given a number and title Read twice Referred to committee Committee Same as in House Only one calendar Bills called to floor by majority floor leaders

Debate Unlimited 2 speech rule - Senator may only speak twice on same piece of legislation Filibuster - attempt to talk a bill to death by monopolizing floor until Senate drops bill Cloture rule – procedure limits a Senator’s speech to one hour Hard to get 3/5 (60) must vote for it Vote

How A Bill Becomes A Law - Final Stages Conference committee Irons out differences in the two versions of the bill Bill submitted to both houses for approval May not be amended at this stage Goes to President

Presidential action May sign May veto Pocket veto - may keep it for 10 days and do nothing If Congress in session, automatically becomes law If Congress adjourns, automatically vetoed Line item veto - gives President power to reject/veto parts of bill without vetoing the whole bill Clinton v. New York City 1998 Supreme Court ruled line item veto unconstitutional