Legislative Branch. An Introduction to Congress According to Article I of the Constitution, what is the primary function of Congress? “All legislative

Legislative Branch

An Introduction to Congress

According to Article I of the Constitution, what is the primary function of Congress?

“All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United

States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”





The right to make laws





Bicameral = TWO HOUSES

What are the different types of legislatures?

Naperville/Aurora = City CouncilState of Illinois = General AssemblyUnited States of America = Congress

Congress’s Image Problem

“Assume you are a fool. Now assume you are a member of Congress…. but I repeat myself.”

- Mark TwainThe most current approval rating

according to Gallup Poll is 10%! (It was 19% before the shutdown.)

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/09/politics/government-shutdown-impact/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

113th Congressional MembershipBicameral: Two Houses (Great Compromise)

HouseNumber of Members– Total 435

– Female 81

– Male 351

– Democrats 200

– Republicans 232

(3 vacant seats)

SenateNumber of Members– Total 100

– Female 20

– Male 80

– Democrats 53

– Republicans 45

– Independents 2

What are the differences between the House and Senate?

The youngest member 29-year-old Patrick Murphy (D-FL).The oldest member is 89-year-old Ralph Hall (R-TX)

MembershipHouse

435 - one from each congressional district, giving each person equal representation

Senate

100 – two from each state giving each state equal representation

Illinois currently has 18 congressional districts (House seats)

Area Served

House- Congressional

districts

Senate- Entire state

Qualifications of MembershipHouse

-25 years old

-U.S. citizen for at least

7 years

-Must be a legal resident of the state that elects them

Senate-30 years old

-U.S. citizen for at least

9 years

-Must be a legal resident of the state that elects them

Term & PayHouse

Term 2 yearsSalary $174,000Pension $50,000

SenateTerm 6 yearsSalary $174,000Pension $50,000

Method of Selection

HouseElected by direct voteof people – vacancy filled by special election

SenateElected by direct vote of the people – vacancy filled by governor’s appointment

Majority LeaderKevin McCarthy(R-CA-23rd)

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH-8th)

Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi

(D-CA-8th)

435 Members

Leadership in the House of Representatives

Presiding officer

President of the Senate

Joe Biden (D- VP)

President Pro TemporePatrick Leahy (D-VT)

100 Members

Leadership in the Senate

Senators Represent the State

Your Members of Congress

Dick Durbin (D)Elected in 1996

Mark Kirk (R)Elected in 2010

Members of the House Represent a District

Bill Foster (D) 11th District Elected in 2012

Characteristics of the…

House-Small Constituencies-Younger Membership-Less Prestige-More Rigid Rules (debate)-More Committees

Senate-Large Constituencies -Older Membership -More Prestige -More Flexible Rules-Less Committees

How a bill becomes a law…a

Step One1. Starts as Idea

-Individual or group (constituents)

-President

-Send idea to Congressman/Senator

2. Introduced to Congress by member

-A bill can start in either house

-Revenue (money) bills start in the House of Representatives

How a Bill Becomes a Law

3. The Bill is sent to the appropriate House or Senate standing committee.

(For example a bill on education would go to the Education Committee)

Standing Committee: - a permanent committeeBulk of work is done here •Decide whether or not it’s worth making into a law•Most bills die here•Chairman is most senior member of majority party.


Subcommittee: – research, public hearings, testimonials

Rider: less popular bill, unlikely to pass on it’s own is added to a more popular bill Pork Barrel – a.k.a. earmarks. Money added to a bill to fund a congressman’s hometown/state

Vocabulary

4. Rules committee

The House’s “traffic Cop”It determines the bills schedule and rules for debate

The Senate does not have a Rules committee and has very few rules for debate.


5. Debate begins

Debate is restricted in the House and “unrestricted” in the Senate.

- Filibuster: unlimited debate to prevent a bill from passing. “Talk the bill to death”

- Cloture: to limit debate. 3/5 (60) Senators vote to end filibuster (rare)

- Voting: Voice Votes, Standing votes, roll call vote

- Influences on voting: Lobbyists/Interests groups, executive branch, constituents, party


6. (if necessary) If a bill passes in one house but it is not the same as the bill passed in the other house…

Conference Committee:-Differences must be worked out in committee made up of Representatives and Senators who create a final version for approval

- both houses much approve the bill with a majority vote


7. If both houses agree on a final version of the Bill, it goes to the President for his/her signature

The President’s choices:

- Sign it: the bill becomes a law

-Veto: refuse to sign it

-Line-item veto – Pres could reject portions of the bill

-Declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court

-Pocket Veto: If Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill and the president does not act, the bill dies


Quick check… In your notes:

Describe a filibuster (and where it can be used) Describe a cloture Describe a rider

Apportionment

• Seats in the House of Representatives are divided based on state populations respectively.

• Each state is guaranteed at least one representative.

• States are divided into districts that elect a single member to Congress.

Reapportionment Redistribution of

House seats after each 10 year census

1789 – 64 1800 – 142 1912 – 435

Each of the 435 seats represents about 758,000 people

Reapportionment Act of 1929

- Made house size permanent at 435

- Census Bureau determines the number of seats after every census

Redistricting

The process of setting up new district lines after reapportionment has been completed.

Usually majority party in the state legislatures will draw the boundary lines for each congressional election district.

The federal courts decide conflicts over drawing district boundaries.

Gerrymandering

Political party controlling

the state governmentdraws a district’sboundaries to gain anadvantage in elections for that political party

or to racially group theconstituents.The GERRYMANDER!!!

Gerrymandering

Leads to district boundaries of very irregular shapes.

“Packing” a district is drawing the lines so they include as many of the opposing party’s voters as possible.

“Cracking” a district is dividing an opponents voters into other districts, to weaken the opponent’s voter base.

Gerrymandering Is racial Gerrymandering legal?

Influences on LAWMAKING

Influences on lawmakers(1) PARTY LEADERS• What is the party’s position on the issue?

(2) COMMITTEES• Majority’s position, riders ...

(3) EARMARKS (aka PORK BARREL)* Wasteful $ $ doled out for a

Congressperson’s pet project.

Influences on lawmakers(4) LOBBYISTS (PAC’s) People paid to influence lawmakers.

(5)THE PRESIDENT

** Censure-- formal reprimand is issued to an individual

Pork

CAGWreason.com/blog/2010/10/25/reasontv-porker-oct2010

reason.com/blog/2011/02/23/reasontv-porker-feb-2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptu5iTwbOtk

http://reason.com/blog/2011/01/27/reasontv-porkers-jan2011

The Budget

Congress has the power of the purse! Congress gets to decide what bills to pass

and what gets federal money. All spending bills start in the House

Appropriations committee!

The Budget

Definitions Debt: total amount of money the U. S. owes

(currently $17.4 Trillion dollars!)

Deficit: amount of money the U.S. overspends each year!

Surplus: “extra” money the U.S. has after all programs are paid for (Clinton’s budget in the year 2000 = 6% surplus)

Who do we owe the money to? 2/3 of the debt is held by Americans: banks,

financial institutions, individuals, borrowed money from other gov’t programs.

1/3 Foreign Investors China $492 Billion dollars

Factoids! It took 205 years (1776-1981) to reach a 1

trillion dollar debt! It took only 9 years (1981 – 1990) for the debt

to reach $3 trillion dollars!

Current debt is 17.4 Trillion Dollars!!!http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Social Security is the biggest expense in our national budget!

Life expectancy has grown almost 14 years since Social Security first started!

Why should you care? Huge tax burden – higher taxes No Social Security! (your mom and dad will

have to live with YOU FOREVER!) Developed to provide financial support for needy

elderly and is now being under funded with too many retirees.

Higher Interest Rates! More expensive college loans, car payments,

credit cards, home mortgages!

END

Social Security is the biggest expense in the national budget

1996

2030

What can $1.2 Trillion Buy? (2007)

Enumerated/Expressed Powers

Written specifically into Article I of Constitution

To regulate interstate/foreign commerce

To declare War To establish citizenship

laws To coin money To control the Postal

System Establish & support Armed

Forces To establish lower courts Approve all treaties and

prez appointments Impeachment

Federal Legislation

Implied Powers

Grants Congress the power to pass all laws, “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers

Also called the “Elastic Clause”

Can fit a lot (almost anything) in there

Federal Legislation

Concurrent Powers To Tax To borrow money To establish penal

(criminal laws) To take property for

public purposes “Eminent Domain”

Is a Wal-Mart a valid public use?

Powers granted to both Federal and State Legislatures

Reserved Powers To regulate suffrage To maintain a system

of public education To establish marriage

and divorce laws To establish

corporations To establish traffic

laws To regulate

intrastate commerce

To the State Legislature (General Assembly)

10th Amendment – all powers not delegated to the federal government or prohibited by the Constitution are reserved for the states and/or the people

Supremacy Clause

Laws made by the Federal Government are the supreme laws of the country. State laws cannot contradict Federal laws.

Strict and Liberal Constructionalists

Strict Constructionalists- View the Constitution very strictly. The laws are exactly how they are stated in the Constitution.

Liberal Constructionalists- View the Constitution more loosely. They can sometimes bend or read between the lines of Constitutional laws.

Who Cares??

WVHS

NVHS

What is the best plan to draw new boundaries?

MVHS

Current HS Boundaries

WVHS

NVHS

MVHS

What do you think of the school board created boundaries?

New HS Boundaries

MVHS

WVHS

NVHS

35 minutes on the bus is quite a bit of time!!!!

Enrollment

Estimated Middle School Enrollment in 2011:

Crone: 1190 Scullen: 1042 Granger: 921 Still: 894 Gregory: 958 Fischer: 1018 Hill: 908Estimated High School Enrollment in

2011: Neuqua: 3967 Waubonsie: 2657 Metea:

2653

Leadership

Majority Leader1st in charge of majority party (House- Republican; Senate- Democrat)

Enforce party discipline on important votes (to ensure that members do not vote in a way not approved of by the party)

Minority Leader 2nd in charge of minority party

(House- Democrat; Senate- Republican)

LeadershipWhip Ensure control of the formal decision-

making process in a parliamentary legislature. Offer both inducements and

punishments to party members. Concerned primarily with ensuring a

desired attendance for an important vote.

Documents

Legislative Branch. An Introduction to Congress According to Article I of the Constitution, what is the primary function of Congress? “All legislative