How a Bill Becomes a Law

Thursday January 23, 2014• OBJ: SWBAT understand how a Bill

is proposed, changed and enacted into law.

• Drill: True or False, distrust in government lowers voter turnout?

• Homework: Read “Illinois lawmakers feast on bigger slice of pork” and answer the questions at the end ON A SEPARATE sheet of paper.

Answer

•FALSE!!!!!! Voter turnout is not affected by distrust in government!!!!!!!

House of Origin

•The house that a bill starts in

All bills start with an idea…

Who can think of a law?

• Members of Congress

• Citizens

• President

• Special Interest Groups

• Local Governments

Bill Proposal• A bill proposal must be

sponsored (presented) by a Representative or a Senate

• The original idea is prepared and finalized into bill form

• The bill is ready to be presented to the Senate or the House

Introduction of the BillA bill can be introduced in the House or the Senate, depending on who sponsored the bill. The process is very similar between the two houses. For this presentation, we are going to assume the bill started in the House of Representatives.

• After a bill is proposed and written, it will be added to the “Hopper”. This is a wooden box on the floor of the House that holds all proposed bills.

Committee Action• The bill is assigned a

number:HR-145(House of Reps)S-349 (Senate)

• The Bill is then assigned to the appropriate standing committee− Transportation bills

with go to the Transportation Committee

− Military Laws will go to the Armed Services Committee

• The Committee reads and reviews the bill in its original form

Bill is Assigned to a Subcommittee

• The committee will assign a few members in the committee to review the bill (subcommittee)−Research the topic−Check for accuracy−Analyze the bill−Legality (is it legal)

• This is the first step in

changing the bill’s content

Back to the Committee…• After the subcommittee reviews the bill, it

goes back to the Standing Committee

• This is the most crucial point for a bill−Most bills die when they reach this point

• The bill has to get approval from the Committee−They read the bill−Discuss the contents of the bill−Argue different points of the bill−Make any necessary changes to the bill

Bill is Reported• After the bill is put in the

Hopper, it is read and then added to the House’s calendar for review.

• Bills are reviewed for clarity and appropriateness.

• At this point, no one in the House, other than the bill sponsor, has read or reviewed the bill.

Floor Action• The bill goes to the

floor of the House (or Senate) for discussion

• This is usually a long process with many people presenting arguments for or against the bill

• Changes are made to the bill

They vote on the bill…

• After many debates and changes, the House votes on the bill

• Many bills die at this point

• If a bill dies, it must be rewritten and the process starts over again

After the vote…• If the bill passes, it is then given to

the other house and the same process is repeated

• If the other house rejects the bill, it returns to committee (in the house of origin) for further review

EXAMPLE:− The House creates a bill, it goes

through this process and passes in the House. It is then sent to Senate. If Senate doesn’t like the bill and doesn’t pass it, it will return to the House committee for rewriting.

If the Senate Passes a Different Version of the Same Bill…

ALL BILLS PASSED MUST BE THE SAME IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE!

• The Senate might make changes to the bill while they are approving it.

• If they do, the bill needs to go to a “Conference Committee” where a group from the Senate and House meet to come up with one final version of the Bill

• Once the final version is reached in conference committee, the bill can be enrolled.

Enrollment• If a bill makes it

through both the house and the senate and it gets a majority vote, the bill has to be “enrolled”

• Once it is enrolled, it will be sent to the President for final approval

The Bill is Sent to the President

• The President reviews the bill

• The President can sign the bill and it will then become a Federal Law!

• The President can veto the bill (reject the bill)

• If it is rejected, the bill is returned to the House of Origin where it is reviewed again and changes can be made

OR

Veto Override• If the President

vetoes a bill, but congress doesn’t agree with the veto, the House and Senate can vote an override the veto.

• 2/3 vote is required from both houses to override the veto

Idea Bill Proposal

Submitted to Either House

Assigned to a Committee

Standing Committee

Reviews the Bill

Bill Given to a Subcommittee

Bill is Edited in Subcommittee

Bill is Returned to the

Standing CommitteeFor Final Approval

Bill Moves to a Floor Action

Bill is reviewed and

changed on the floor.

Bill has a final Vote in the

“House of Origin”

If the bill passes, it goes on to

the other house

The other houseGoes through the

Same process.

If the other housePasses the bill, it

Is sent to the President

If there are changesMade by the other house,

The bill will go to aConference committee.

The President signsOr vetoes the bill.