1. How a Bill Becomes a Law
10/17 – 10/18

2. Warmup
If you could make a bill that would become a law, what would it be?

3. Agenda
Unit 4 Vocab
“How a Bill Becomes a Law” Notes
Create a Bill

4. “I’m Just a Bill”
I'm Just a Bill
I'm Just a Bill SNL Parody

5. Bill Steps 1) People and/or Representatives write it
2) Representatives get sponsors for the bill
3) Introduced into the House of Representatives by placing it into the hopper
4) The House assigns it a number (H.R. - #)
5) Speaker of the House sends it to a committee
6) Bill finalized and debated on the House floor
7) Voted on
8) Bill goes through the Senate to be debated
9) Bill sent to the president (signed or not signed)

6. Step 1
Bill ideas come from Representatives/Senators AND/OR their constituents
If a representative likes a constituent’s idea, they research it and write it into a bill

7. Step 2
Representatives talk to each other and help support each other’s bills
A sponsor is the first member in the House or Senate to be listed (among other lawmakers) who introduce a piece of legislation

8. Step 3 A bill is put on a calendar for debate
It is introduced into the House by being placed into the hopper next to the clerk’s desk

9. Step 4 A bill clerk assigns it a number that begins with H.R.
Example: H.R.213 “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2015”
The bill clerk reads out the whole bill to the entire House

10. Step 5
The Speaker of the House sends the bill to one of the House’s standing committees for review, debate, and corrections

11. Step 6
Committee members review, research, and revise the bill before sending it back to the House floor
If committee members would like more information, they send it to a subcommittee for review and approval
It is then sent back to the House to be debated

12. Step 7 The bill is voted on in 1 of 3 ways:
Viva voce = “voice vote”, The Speaker asks the Representatives to shout “aye” if they agree or “no” if they disagree
Division = The Speaker asks them to stand up if they agree to be counted, then the Speaker asks those who oppose to stand up and be counted
Recorded = Representatives record their vote using the electronic voting system (they can abstain from voting by selecting “Present”)

13. Step 8
When the bill is passed, it goes across the Capitol to the Senate
It goes through a lot of the same steps as it did in the House, including being discussed in a Senate committee and reported to the Senate floor to be voted on
Those who support the bill say “yea” and those who do not support the bill say “nay”

14. Step 9
If a majority of the Senators pass the bill, it goes up to the President
The President has 10 days to do something with the bill
The President has 3 options:
1) Signs the bill – becomes a law
2) Veto the bill – it goes back to Congress to be debated again
A veto can overridden by 2/3 majority vote
3) Do nothing (pocket veto)
If Congress is in session, after 10 days the bill becomes a law
If Congress has adjourned, the bill dies

15. 5 Types Public bills = affect the general public
Needs president’s signature to become a law
Private bills = affect a specific individual or group of people
Joint resolution = start either in House or Senate (not both)
Concurrent resolution = legislation that addresses matters of operation in both the House and the Senate
Does NOT need president’s signature to pass
Simple resolution = legislation that addresses matters of operation in either the House or the Senate

16. Revenue Bills Revenue bills always start in which House?
The House of Representatives

17. Create a Bill You are going to create your own bill!
Using the packet I gave you, you will create your own bill about any of the topics listed in the packet
If you have a different idea, just ask me!
You will turn these in at the end of class