Bill Becomes A Law

“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

have already requested a speaking slot, but if any of the senators object the bill will have to wait until the next day to present. If the bill goes uncontested for introduction in the Senate it will be assigned a number, be labeled with the sponsor’s name, and then be sent to the Government Printing office where copies will be made. In the senate members can cosponsor and have joint sponsorship over a piece of legislation.
From this point the bill in either the House or the Senate will be referred to an appropriate committee.

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

vote.
Once the bill is reported, the committee staff will prepare a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments adopted or why it should remain unchanged, if no amendments were written. If a committee member is opposed to the bill they have the option to write a dissenting opinion in the report. From there the report will be sent back to the whole chamber and be placed on the calendar. In the house though, most proposed bills will have to make a stop at the Rules committee before they can reach the floor. This committee's job is to adopt rules that will govern the procedures under which the bill will be considered by the house. If “closed rule” is enacted, then there is a strict time limit on debate and also forbids the introduction of amendments. All rules can have a major impact on whether or not the bill will actually pass. Rules committee can be bypassed in three different ways: members can move rules to be suspended, though it requires a two-thirds vote; a discharge petition can be filed; or the house can use a procedure that allows standing committees to bring up for consideration any bill that was reported on the floor on or before the previous day.
From there legislation can be placed on the calendar.

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

members.
Then both chambers will have the opportunity to vote on outstanding bills. If a bill is passed in one chamber, “it will then be sent to the other chamber unless that chamber already has a similar measure under consideration” (votesmart). If the bill is not able to pass in a chamber, then it dies. If both chambers pass the same bill it will be sent to the president, but if the House and Senate pass different bills then the bills will be sent to Conference Committee; most major legislation makes its way to the Conference committee.
At a Conference committee, members from both chambers will meet and work out any differences between their bills. Usually the new committee will be made up of senior members or presiding members of the committees who originally worked with the bill, yet both chambers work to maintain their version of the bill which often times makes this step more lengthy. If the committee is able to reach a compromise then they prepare a conference report and submit it to each chamber to be approved.
Once the conference report is approved by both the House and the Senate the bill is sent to the president, for what the sponsor hopes is the final review. Once in the President’s hands, he has some options. If he does not sign the bill within ten days from receiving it then it becomes a law, the same happens if he signs it. If congress happens to adjourn before the President’s ten days are up, and the President neglects to sign the bill, then it does not become a law through the Pocket Veto clause. And finally if the President vetoes the bill and sends it back to congress with a list of his/her reasons, the chamber that the legislation originated in, can attempt to override the veto by a two-thirds vote of everyone present. Only if the veto is overridden in both chambers does it become a law. More often than not, a president will not veto a law unless he stands to gain something from it, the veto is usually used as a threat on laws that did not pass with as much favor as other bills. Once the bill has either been signed by the President or his veto is overridden in both houses it becomes a law and is assigned an official number.