1. How A Bill Becomes A Law

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. House of Representatives

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Bill in Senate

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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.