1. A bill is a proposed law that that is presented in either the House or Senate for consideration. They can come from ideas from Congressman, the President, and even citizens. There are also are other actions that Congress may try that are not bills… Joint Resolutions Similar to bills, have force of law, & deal with unusual or temporary matters Concurrent Resolutions Do not have force of law & are acted on by House & Senate without the President’s signature Resolutions Deal with matters concerning only one house and do not require the President’s signature

2. The bill will be referred to a standing committee in either the House or the Senate…here it will be studied, critiqued, changed, taken away from, added to, and voted on…If it survives… The bill will be referred to a subcommittee in either the House or the Senate…here it will be studied, critiqued, changed, taken away from, added to, and voted on…If it survives… The bill will go back to the standing committee in either the House or the Senate…here it will be studied, critiqued, changed, taken away from, added to, and voted on…If it survives… In the Senate, it moves on In the House, it goes to the Rules Committee to set the conditions for debate and amendments.

3. The House and Senate are separate, so a bill will be debated in the House and Senate. Some amendments might be proposed to the bill. Those have to then be debated and voted on as changes to the bill. Some riders may be attached to the bill. Riders are unrelated subject matters that can be attached to a bill because they might not pass on their own. After this has been done, there then will be a vote to determine if the bill passes…if it fails, the bill is dead…if it passes, it still has to go through the other legislative body.

4. Once the bill has passed the House, it goes back through the whole process again in the Senate. Once it has passed the Senate, it goes through the whole process again in the House of Representatives. If it makes it through another vote, then… Most of the time, different versions of the bill will come out of the House and the Senate. That keeps it from becoming a law, so then the goal becomes finding a suitable agreement between the House and Senate in… …the Conference Committee – where members from the House and Senate will work out their differences and come to a final version of a bill

5. With a final, agreed upon bill in the both the House and Senate, both chambers of Congress will vote on the bill. If it passes, it moves on. If it doesn’t, the bill is dead. After the bill has been voted on by Congress, it must then go to the President for his/her signature. If the President signs the bill, it becomes a law. If the President vetoes, the bill… …It comes back to the House and the Senate, where 2/3 of each body have to override the veto for it to become a law.

6. Many Congressmen will attach “pork” to a bill…”porkbarrelling” is when they add their own pet projects to a bill that cost money and can add up the cost of the bill In the Senate, sometimes a filibuster will be used…this is when a Senator will attempt to talk a bill to death