“How a Bill Becomes a Law” from School House Rock is a story of a Bill on Capitol Hill and the journey he makes to become a Law. But they managed to leave out most of the process. To start the long, laborious process of how a bill becomes a law, a member of congress must introduce the piece of legislation. The legislation can be written by any citizen of the united states so long as a member of congress is willing to introduce it. Now within the house, once the bill is introduced, it is filed in triplicate with the clerk of the House. The Senate, however, requires that the presenting member needs to gain recognition of the presiding officer to announce the introduction of a bill during the 90 minute period set aside for speeches by those who …show more content…
Sometimes bills are referred to multiple committees, in some cases that means the chosen committees will only receive a portion of the bill. From there the bill is now in the hands of a committee and placed on their calendar. Ninety-Five percent of the time a committee will not even act on a bill, which happens to be the equivalent of killing it. Granted a the particular bill that is being followed through this process is not killed, then while in committee it goes through more steps to become a law. While in committee, some government agencies will request comments about the bills merit. The Chairman can also assign the bill to a subcommittee. Next, hearings can be held and subcommittees report what they have decided to the full committee at which time there will be a vote by the full committee. It is often said that the bill is “ordered to be reported”(votesmart). Eventually a committee will hold what is referred to as a “mark-up session”. The “mark-up session” is used to make revisions and additions to the bill. If a committee makes substantial amendments, they can order the introduction of a “clean bill”. This new bill will include the proposed amendments, have a new number, and be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded, but the chamber must vote to change, reject, or approve all amendments before conducting the final passage …show more content…
In the House it can go on one of four calendars, though some may still never reach the floor from this point because the Speaker of the House and the Majority leader decide what reaches the floor and when. In the Senate legislation will be placed on the Legislative Calendar, this is the job of the majority leader. The Senate also has an Executive calendar, but it deals with treaties and nominations. If a majority of the senate chooses bills can also be brought to the floor that way. From this point, both chambers have a chance to debate bills; in the House this is limited by the rules committee and time is divided equally between proponents and opponents, in Senate there is unlimited debate unless cloture is invoked, if cloture is not invoked, Senators can use a filibuster to essentially “talk a bill to death”. In the House the bill will be reported back to itself and will be voted on. There will be a quorum call to make sure there are enough members present to vote, but if there is not a quorum present then House will either adjourn or send the Sergeant at Arms out to round up missing
The law making process is a lengthy process. First, a representative must have an idea for a new law and they become the sponsor of this bill. The representative must present to the bill to the Clerk of the House if it is in the house (H.R. Bills), or in the Senate (S Bills). The Government Printing Office, GPO, then prints the bill and distributes it to each representative. The Speaker of the House, for further study, then assigns this bill to a standing committee within the house. The standing committee studies the bill and its contents and has two options, either to release the bill with a recommendation to pass it or lay it aside so it cannot be voted on. If the bill is released, it may be voted on or sent into debate within the house and needs a majority vote for the bill to move onto the Senate. Within the Senate, the bill must go through one of the Senate’s sixteen standing committees, and as with the House of Representatives, the bill is either released or pigeonholed. If it is released, a simple majority passes the bill. The bill takes another step into a conference committee, which is made up of members of the Hou...
The Honourable David Johnson introduced Bill 160, the Education Quality Improvement Act during the first Session of the 36th Parliament of the Province of Ontario. Bill 160 was originally written as "an act to reform the education system, protect classroom funding, and enhance accountability and make other improvements consistent with the Government's education quality agenda, including improving student achievement and regulated class size". The negative effects of Bill 160 were displayed using several different political concepts. These include historical background, power, politics, authority, influence, legitimacy, coercion and obligation.
The Constitution of the United States sets out the procedure of a bill becoming a law in Article 1, Section 7. Scholars have interpreted the Constitution to read that a president can only sign or veto a bill, but the section that many other scholars have looked over that would allow for the line-item veto is that, “if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to r...
The procedure for approving a bill and making it a law involves many steps. The following description is a short summary from “How Our Laws are Made”, an in depth description of the legislative process that can found on the website of the Library of Congress. After a bill is drafted, a member...
Congressional committees are the part of the iron triangle that puts bills into the legislative process after they work with interest groups. A member of a congressional committee proposes a bill into the committee to be voted on. Members of congressional committees are members of the legislative branch, so when they propose the bill into their committee they work with the other members to get it passed. If one member doesn't like the bill they can try to get the bill maker to change it to his liking so he will vote for it. For example in my congressional committee, the judiciary committee, congressman Mclenan proposed a bill to give tax cuts to banks who approve a certain amount of low income people's loans. We all thought that other people that needed loans might be overlooked just because they were not low income people. We made him make guidelines for that issue, so we could vote for it.
Contrasts in the lawmaking methodology utilized as a part of the House and Senate reflect the distinctive size of the two chambers and individual terms of its parts. In the House, the dominant part gathering is inflexibly in control, stacking advisory groups with lion 's share party parts, and utilizing principles to seek after enactment supported by its parts. In the Senate, singular parts are better ready to hold up the procedure, which prompts lower similarity costs, however higher exchange costs. The complication of the lawmaking procedure gives rivals different chances to murder a bill, making a solid predisposition for the present state of affairs.
Congress and The Presidency Congress as a whole makes laws. When Bills are addressed they must meet the approval of both the House and the Senate in order to become a Law, and then the President can always veto it. Congress also deals with matters of public concern be it something that needs to be investigated or something that needs to be put before the public to raise awareness. Congress is made up of two parts: The Senate and the House of Representatives. Each is granted different powers and responsibilities.
Most legislation originates from governmental departments and agencies. In committees, a majority vote decides and often, compromise must be reached in order for a bill or law to survive committee action. This frequently requires that a delegate alter his position in order to achieve a compromise. This compromise may or may not reflect the wishes of the people he/she represents. The Modern Bureaucracy in the United States serves to administer, gather information, conduct investigations, regulate, and license.
This source simply explains to me what my bill is and what stage of process it is in committee.
As seen quite often in the Obama administration, legislation gets stuck and lost in Congress due to the polarization of the parties in recent years. In Obama’s case, he has frequently threatened to go around the House and Senate if they could not reach an agreement or would shoot down his plans. Cato’s Pilon points out, however, that the hurdles of Congress are no mistake. Pilot states that the framer’s of the Constitution knew what they were doing, and this was intended to keep the checks and balances as well as accountability to the public (Lyons,
The Role of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Congress of the United States consists of the Senate and the House. of Representatives, which means the USA is bi-cambial. The Congress of the United States was created by Article I, Section 1, of the Constitution, adopted by the Constitutional Convention in September.
Byrd, Robert C. The Senate, 1789-1989: Addresses on the History of the US Senate, Vol. 1. (New York: Bernan Associates, 1989).
First, in the long process of a bill becoming a law is introducing a bill. After someone from Congress in either chamber has come up with an idea for a bill they must introduce it. For members of the House of Representatives this is easy. All they have to do is put their idea in a mahogany box at the front of the chamber called the hopper. Now for a Senator to introduce a bill they must either hand it to the clerk of the Senate or they must talk about it in a presentation to their peers in a floor speech. Sometimes though Senators can cut down this process by adding their bill as an amendment to legislation that is already being processed. This saves them a lot of time. Also, new ideas for bills are labeled depending on what chamber they come from. Bills from the house will always be labeled with an H.R. with its number behind it. Well bills from the Senate will always be labeled with an S. followed by its number.
West Virginia Legislature. (2011). How a bill becomes a law. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from
Before a law is passed it spends a great deal of time in the hands of officials in Congress, and even