how a bill becomes a law cp chapter 12. the rough draft starts in congress (house or senate)...
TRANSCRIPT
How a Bill Becomes a Law
CP Chapter 12
The Rough Draft
Starts in Congress (House or Senate)
Researched
Passes
President signs it into a law
Where do Bills come from?
About 70% come from the President—Executive branch
About 20% come from interest groups
10% from Congress
Rarely do private citizens get to submit bills
Types of Bills
Private – Pertains to certain persons or places
Public – Apply to the entire nation
Resolutions (like bills but not)
Not laws but some change in policy—internal rules
Joint Resolution – Must be signed by the President to be valid
Concurrent Resolution – Does not need President’s signature
How Many?
About 8-10,000 bills are proposed each year
(30-40 each day)
1,500-2,000 will pass into law
(6-10 each day)
Lets get Started
Submitted by a member of Congress
First reading – The bill is assigned a number (HR- in the House; S- in the Senate)
Bill is referred to the Rules Committee *(It can be killed by the Rules committee)
The Rules Committee
The MOST powerful committee in the House
Sends bill to the appropriate standing committee for consideration
CommitteesWhere the work is done for Congress
Chairperson – Majority party leader (Seniority Rule)
Odd number of congress members (majority party has larger # of seats)
Standing
Select
Joint
Conference
Types of Committees
Permanent or Temporary
StandingHouse OR Senate
JointHouse AND Senate
SelectHouse OR Senate
ConferenceHouse AND Senate
House Committees
20 Standing (10-75 members)
4 Joint
About 61 subcommittees
A member can sit on up to
6 standing and 6 sub
Step 2
Rules Comm. Sends bill to appropriate Committee
Committee can pigeonhole or pass to sub-committee
Sub-committee researches
Sub-Committee Work
1. Junket (trip to investigate)2. Expert testimony (listen to
experts about the subject dealt with in bill)
3. Public hearing (non-experts that have knowledge or personal experience)
Sub-Committee Reports
A) Favorable (agree with the bill)B) Unfavorable (disagree)C) Refuse (no report- pigeonhole)D) Amended (some change)E) Committee bill (entirely new bill)
Step 3 Calendars (5)
Bill is put on a calendar (if not dead already)Placed on 1 of the 5 Calendars (can die there)Type of bill determines which calendar
CalendarsUnion– Bills that have to do with spending moneyHouse– Public billsPrivate– Private bills Correction– Minor issues from other calendars(“no–brainer”)Discharge– Petition of discharge (end a pigeonhole)
Step 4 DebateCalled off the calendar by Speaker to the floor for debate – 2nd Reading Can be pigeonholed (die)Debate is run by Comm. ChairQuorum – Number needed to vote for a bill (218)No quorum=Comm. Of Whole
DebateThe Committee of the Whole (between 100 and 217) the House can do work as 1 large committee Cannot call for a voteDebate in the House is limited-- 1 hour total (1/2 FOR and
1/2 AGAINST)
Debate
Any one Rep. Can speak for 5 minutesDebate can be ended at any time by the SpeakerDebate must be germane (on topic)Riders/Amendments
Step 5 Voting
A few old waysToday=Computer (Electronic voting) “Yea” “Nay” “Present”If bill is PASSED (It can die)– 3rd Reading
Signed by SpeakerSent to Senate
Senate
Introduced by a Senator – 1st Reading (may have come from the House)Titled and numberedAssigned to a committee by the Majority leader
-- Investigatory work same as House (or shared by House)
Senate Committees
17 Standing (14-28 members)
4 Joint
About 70 subcommittees
A member can serve on up to
2 standing and 6 sub
Calendar
Reported out of committee (70 sub-committees)Placed TWO calendars – the Legislative or ExecutiveCalled to floor by Majority leader for debate (pigeon hole)
Debate
Debate is UNLIMITED (can be NON-germane) Filibuster – Senators try to talk a bill to death (minority)Record 24 hours 18 min.The threat of a filibuster is enough to table a bill
More Debate
Double Tracking – Bill is pulled off the calendar, sent back through committee to make it more acceptable; Avoid a filibusterCloture – 60 Senators need to vote to end filibusterHard to get 60
Voting
Roll call is most common
Still need a quorum (51)
W/o quorum—they go home
Bill in Senate must be Identical to House (riders)
Conference Committee
If bills are different in H/S
To get bill agreeable to both the House and Senate
If no agreement--dies
Action by the President
Usually (99%) signs it into law (2 ways)
Can veto it (2 ways) (dies)
Law Veto1.Sign the bill
2. 10 Day Rule – President does not sign AND congress is IN session – bill passes
1. Pocket Veto–10 days not signed AND congress is NOT in session – bill dies
2. Veto –(letter of veto)
Override by Congress
The Bill can still pass
-- Congress can override a veto (or pocket veto) with 2/3 vote in the House and Senate
End of the Line
Any bill that does not get called from a calendar for a vote dies at the end of the year
It must be reintroduced in the next session