Montana Board of Regents March 17, 2005 Federal Appropriations Process

Montana 59 th Legislative Session 90-Day Session 109 th Congressional Session 2-Year Session

SOURCES OF IDEAS FOR LEGISLATION ARE UNLIMITED  Sources of ideas for legislation are unlimited and proposed drafts of bills originate in many diverse quarters.bills Idea and draft conceived by a Member or Delegate.MemberDelegate This may emanate from the election campaign during which the Member had promised, if elected, to introduce legislation on a particular subject. The Member may have also become aware after taking office of the need for amendment to or repeal of an existing law or the enactment of a statute in an entirely new field.amendment

Contrasting Procedures of the Senate and the House  The order of business in the Senate is simpler than that of the House.  Both bodies procedures are basically founded on Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice, the practices of the two bodies are at considerable variance. Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice  The business of the Senate (bills and resolutions) are not divided into classes as a basis for their consideration, nor are there calendar days set aside each month in the Senate for the consideration of particular bills and resolutions. The nature of bills has no effect on the order or time of their initial consideration.billsresolutions

Introduction and Referral to Committee  Any Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico in the House of Representatives may introduce a bill at any time while the House is in session by simply placing it in the "hopper," a wooden box provided for that purpose located on the side of the rostrum in the House Chamber. Permission is not required to introduce the measure. The Member introducing the bill is known as the primary sponsor. An unlimited number of Members may co-sponsor a bill.MemberDelegateResident Commissioner introduce a billsessionhopper measuresponsorco-sponsor  In the Senate, a Senator usually introduces a bill or resolution by presenting it to one of the clerks at the Presiding Officer's desk, without commenting on it from the floor of the Senate. However, a Senator may use a more formal procedure by rising and introducing the bill or resolution from the floor. A Senator usually makes a statement about the measure when introducing it on the floor. Frequently, Senators obtain consent to have the bill or resolution printed in the body of the Congressional Record following their formal statement.introduces a bill or resolution Presiding OfficerCongressional Record

Congressional Budget Process  The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as amended, provides Congress with a procedure establishing appropriate spending and revenue levels for each year.  The congressional budget process, as set out in the 1974 Budget Act, is designed to coordinate decisions on sources and levels of revenues and on objects and levels of expenditures. Its basic method is to prescribe the overall size of the fiscal pie and the particular sizes of its various pieces.  Each year the Congress adopts a concurrent resolution imposing overall constraints on revenues and spending and distributing the overall constraint on spending among groups of programs and activities.

Congressional Budget Process  12 Senate Appropriations committees for the 109th Congress  10 House Appropriations committees for the 109 th Congress

Presidential Action  Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented to the President of the United States.  Presentation to the President  10-day period for Presidential action

Trivia-108 th Congressional Session  5430 bills drafted in the House  3036 bills drafted in the Senate  0 Vetoed Bills  498 Public Laws  MT Congressional Members Sponsored in the 108 th Congress: 68 bills82 Amendments

We are both in the same race….

We just don’t cross the finish line at the same time.

Jeff Garrard Congressman Dennis Rehberg 950 N. Montana Avenue Helena, MT Sarah ConverseHolly Luck Senator Conrad BurnsSenator Max Baucus st Avenue NorthThe Empire Block Great Falls, MT W. 14th Street, Suite Helena, MT (406)