The Legislative Process

The Legislative Process

How a Bill Becomes LawHow a Bill Becomes Law

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QuotedQuoted• "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them

being made." ~ Otto von Bismarck

• "The more laws, the less justice." ~ Cicero

• "Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing. Nobody listens -- and then everybody disagrees.“~ Boris Marshalov

“All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…”

• All other jobs of Congress considered (representative and servant of constituents, partisan, etc.) the primary function of Congress is to make laws.

• The process of making laws (as outlined in Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution) has remained relatively unchanged since March 4th 1789.

• Today, however, members of Congress deal with legislation that is much more technical in nature, and covers a much broader area. Including 14 appropriations bills

• In its first session of Congress, members considered only a few dozen bills (Ten became the Bill of Rights), the 106th Congress took up over 8,000.

• Anyone can propose a bill. However, a bill must be introduced by a member of Congress.

• The member(s) who introduce a bill are considered the bill’s sponsor(s).

• Thousands of bills are proposed, less than 10% are given consideration, and less than half of those, only (5%) make it to the president

• The Framers wanted the legislative process to be slow and arduous to prevent the federal government from abusing power through legislation.

• There are several pitfalls a bill faces as it makes its way through Congress during any of these stages a bill can die. Once a bill is killed it cannot be reintroduced in that session. However, altered versions of the bill may be introduced.

Why Bills Die• The legislative process is complicated and there are

several points along the way where a bill can be stalled (think committees) , set up to fail (think rules committee), or killed off by the vote.

• In order for a bill’s sponsor to get a measure passed he/she has to be willing to make deals with other members to gain support. Compromise is crucial for success!

• Cynical reason. Some members propose a bill with no intention of fighting for it, simply to give the impression to constituents or PACs that they are for a particular issue.

• Raise a flag on an issue to get attention before a real proposal is made later

Bills and ResolutionsBills and Resolutions• Bills A draft of a proposed law put before a legislature

Private Bills deal with a particular individual. Ex. A bill to revoke Rancher Ron’s federal grazing lease.Public Bills deal with matters that effect the nation at-large. Ex. U.S. Patriot Bill dealt with matters of counterterrorism

• Resolutions A formal statement of a decision or expression of opinion by the U.S. Congress. Joint Resolutions when signed by the president are law. Usually used to revise mistakes in other laws.Concurrent Resolutions passed by the House and Senate w/o presidential signature. “Official” positions of Congress.

The ProcessThe Process

• Introduction/First Reading

• Committee Action

• Floor Action

• Conference Committee

• Presidential Action There are a few differences between how a bill is

handled in the House and Senate. These differences will be emphasized with colored text: Red for the House and Blue for the Senate

Introducing a BillIntroducing a Bill• Anyone can propose a bill. Bills are written by

congressional staff members, congressional committees, members of the White House staff, executive agencies, interest groups, and yes- private citizens.

• Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill.• In the House the bill is dropped in the hopper. The

House Clerk gives the bill a prefix & a number (H.R.-1) and sends it to the appropriate standing committee

• In the Senate the bill is introduced from the floor. The President of Senate or Pro Tem recognizes the Senate sponsor, the bill is read, given a prefix& number (S-13) and sent to committee.

• This is known as the first reading

Committee ActionCommittee Action• This is where most of the work of Congress gets done.• Each bill is sent to its appropriate committee. Ex. HR-1

proposes increasing minimum wage and is sent to the House Commerce Committee.

• The committee chair may refer the bill to a subcommittee for research and hearings.

• Most bills are killed in committee when the chairperson simply ignores the bill and takes no action. This is called pigeonholing. X

• The committee may kill the bill by a majority vote. X

Committee ActionCommittee Action• A bill killed in committee (House or Senate) can be

resurrected with a discharge petition.• If the petition is passed, members of the full chamber

may vote to force the committee to consider or report a bill.

• Members usually respect the judgment of the committee and rarely force bills out of committee because they don’t want their own committee’s decisions questioned.

• The discharge petition is usually a partisan tool used by the minority party when they feel they are being bullied by the majority party which holds a majority of the seats on committees

Subcommittee ActionSubcommittee Action• Bills referred to subcommittees usually undergo

thorough research.• The most important means of gathering information and

measuring public opinion on a bill is through hearings.• During hearings experts are given the opportunity to

express their views on a bill.• On controversial issues hearings get news coverage• Lobbyist and interest groups use hearings and the media

attention as a way to get their views out to the public.• Subcommittee chairs may also use the attention to

express personal views and raise name recognition (needed if one is going to run for higher office)

• It is during hearings that members are most responsive to input from constituents.

Committee ActionCommittee Action• After hearings are complete, the subcommittee reports

the bill to its full standing committee.• The standing committee then holds a mark-up session

for the bill.• During the mark-up, committee members make changes

to the bill. All amendments and deletions must pass with a majority vote of the committee.

• Once the bill is marked-up the committee then votes on whether to report the bill or kill it. X

Committee ActionCommittee Action• If a bill survives the mark-up, it is reported to the full

chamber. A copy of the committee’s findings is given to each member along with a copy of the bill.

• Committee report:1) Favorably-recommend passage 2) Favorably w/ amendments3) Committee bill- totally different bill than the one introduced4) Unfavorably-committee doesn’t like the bill but feels the full chamber has the right to debate X

• Once the bill is reported it is scheduled for debate on the floor.

Floor ActionFloor Action

• In the House the bill is sent to the Rules Committee, given a “rule” (terms for debate) and placed on a calendar

• The rule will determine the length of debate, number of speakers for and against, and whether or not it will be amended from the floor.

• In the Senate the bill is placed on the Calendar of General Orders and brought to the floor by unanimous consent.

• Don’t forget about the floor leaders and whips!

Floor ActionFloor Action

• In the House the bill is debated according to its rule.• The Senate is much less structured with each Senator

given freedom to talk about a bill at length.• Filibuster is an attempt to “talk a bill to death”

Usually launched by a senior senator XCan be limited by evoking cloture, 60 members petition to limit filibusterThe threat is usually enough to get the bills sponsor(s) to change a bill before it reaches the floor

Floor ActionFloor Action

• Once the debate is completed, if a quorum is present, a vote is held.

• The bill passes with a majority vote.• If amendments are added they are also voted on.

• House vote: voice vote, standing vote, recorded vote X• Senate vote: voice, standing, roll-call X• Recorded and roll-call votes are more common today

and provide the public with a written record of a member’s voting history. You can view any member’s voting record at http://thomas.loc.gov

Conference CommitteeConference Committee• For a bill to make it to the president it must pass both the

House and Senate in identical form. This rarely, if ever. happens.

• A conference committee is a temporary committee assembled to work out a compromise version of the bill to send to the president.

• The conferees are members of the House and Senate committees that handled the bill along with the sponsors.

• Conference committees meet in private and no public record is kept of their proceedings. This fosters compromise and cooperation. Bills are rarely killed in conference

Conference CommitteeConference Committee• The compromise bill is called a conference report• The conference report is returned to the full House and

full Senate for a vote.

• The conference report cannot be amended by either chamber and must be voted on in its entirety. If it fails in either chamber, it is ….X

• If the report passes it is signed by the Speaker and President of Senate, or Pro Tem and sent to the president.

Presidential ActionPresidential Action• Every Bill which shall have passed ….. Shall, before it

becomes Law, shall be presented to the President of ..• If the president signs the bill it becomes law. It is

numbered (PL-#), engrossed (printed) and entered into the United States Code.

• If the president supported the bill and its popular he/she usually holds a signing ceremony in the White House rose garden, flanked by supporters and “plain folks” who will benefit from the new law.

• Signing ceremonies are photo-ops used to show that the government is doing the “people’s business”

• A bill can also become law if it sits on the president’s desk for 10 days without his/her signature

Presidential ActionPresidential ActionX

• Veto is Latin for to forbid. If the president vetoes a bill he must explain in writing to the chamber that introduced why it was rejected.

• Congress can override the president’s veto with 2/3 vote of both the House and Senate. Rare

• The Constitution requires the president to accept or reject the bill in its entirety.

• Pocket-veto. Bill dies if Congress adjourns within 10 days of the bill making it to the president. Cannot be overridden by Congress

• Congress gave the president line-item veto authority in 1997. The Supreme Court overturned the authority Clinton v. The City of New York (1998)

That’s how a bill becomes a…That’s how a bill becomes a…