How A Bill Becomes A Law

First Steps A bill is a proposed law Bills may not only be written or originate in either house – they may be written by: The Executive Branch Private Citizens Special interest groups Bills dealing with revenue (money) may only originate in the House of Representatives

Types of Resolutions- do not need Presidential approval Joint Resolutions Force of law Deal with unusual or temporary subjects Appropriate money for some purpose Propose constitutional amendments Concurrent Resolutions Non binding – do not have the force of law Require House and Senate to work together Resolutions Only in one house of Congress Used for things like amending house rules

Riders Attached to a bill the President wants to sign Has no relation to the bill Count on the popularity or need of the bill to get it past the houses and the President’s veto

Voting Methods Voice vote Standing vote Teller vote Calls for “ayes” and “noes” Standing vote Can be asked for if someone believes the voice vote was improperly interpreted All in favor will be asked to stand and counted by the clerk Teller vote one member of each party will have the Representatives tell them their vote Roll-call vote (record vote) Now computerized – they vote by inserting a card in a box - Master board shows the votes 15 minutes is given for absent Representatives to come in and vote

Public v. Private Bills Public Bills apply to the nation as a whole Tax increases Copyright laws Private Bills apply to certain persons or places Katrina relief $85,000 given to a sheep rancher because bears moved from Yellowstone National Park onto public land attacked and killed several sheep

House of Representatives

Representative X introduces her bill Bill is dropped in the hopper Clerk numbers each bill – HR and a number Clerk gives each bill a short title Clerk enters the bill in the House Journal and Congressional Record * House Journal can be revised within five days of introductions – speeches that were not made can be added, debates revised, statements can be removed * Congressional Record can not be tampered with

What happens in committee? Bill is sent to committee Committees screen bills They may pass the bill out, kill the bill, pigeon hole the bill or rewrite and pass the bill.

Floor debate Once the bill is passed by committee it is put on a calendar There are several calendars. It may be heard, debated and voted on or it may never make it to the floor for debate.

Floor actions continued: Debate Because there are 435 members debate time is limited Voting After debate they will vote on the bill. If any amendments are offered they must be voted on separately Once passed in it’s final form it is printed (Embossed) and sent to the Senate.

Bill in Senate

Introduction Bill is introduced by a Senator and follows the same procedure as in the House. Assigned a number and a short title It is sent to a committee in the Senate. Committees work the same way in the Senate as the House of Representatives If favorably reported (passed) out of the committee it goes to be debated by the Senate. If passed by the Senate (in identical form) it goes to the President.

Debate in the Senate No time limit for speaking Can talk about things other than the bill Two-speech rule – Senators may only speak twice a day on the same topic Only the Senate can filibuster. A filibuster can be stopped by a vote of cloture.

Conference Committees Review Used if the same bill cannot be agreed upon by both houses Temporary joint committee Members are appointed by the Speaker or President/president Pro-tempore They iron out only the differences in the two bills Finished bill is sent to both houses and usually ratified by both

What can the President do? Sign the bill and make it a law Veto and return to house of origin with a veto message (why he vetoed the bill) Let it sit on his desk for 10 days (excluding Sunday) after which time it becomes law Pocket veto – allow bill to sit on his desk for 10 days during which Congress adjourns. Line Item Veto of 1996 tried to give the President that power – declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Clinton v. New York City, 1998 Override a veto with a 2/3rds vote of Congress.