The Legislative Process: From Bill To Law

The process of a bill becoming a law is a complex one, and committee hearings are an important step. In the US, any member of Congress can introduce a bill, which is then referred to a committee. Committees are groups of Congress members with a particular interest in a topic, such as health or international affairs. The committee may hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill and to put the views of experts, officials, supporters, and opponents on the record. Hearings are followed by a mark-up session, where the committee debates, amends, and rewrites the bill. If the committee votes in favor of the bill, it is reported to the floor, in a procedure called ordering a bill reported. The bill then goes through further debate and voting before being referred to the other chamber and, if passed, sent to the President.

Referral to Committee

Once a bill has been introduced, it is assigned to a committee. Both the House and the Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. The bill is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. Bills may be referred to more than one committee and sometimes are referred to a subcommittee first.

The committee will carefully examine the bill and determine its chances of passage by the entire Congress. The committee may even choose to hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the legislation to be put on record. If the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is considered to be "dead".

Subcommittees are organized under committees and have further specialization on a certain topic. Often, committees refer bills to a subcommittee for study and their own hearings. The subcommittee may make changes to the bill and must vote to refer a bill back to the full committee.

The chair of the relevant committee determines whether there will be a hearing on the bill (which is an opportunity for witnesses to provide testimony).

Committee Action

Once a bill is introduced, it is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. The referral decision is usually made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. Bills may be referred to multiple committees and may be split so that parts are sent to different committees. The Speaker of the House may set time limits on committees.

Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned. Failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. Bills in the House can only be released from committee without a proper committee vote by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership (218 members).

Comments about the bill's merit are requested by government agencies. The bill can be assigned to a subcommittee by the Chairman. Hearings may be held, and subcommittees report their findings to the full committee. There is then a vote by the full committee, after which the bill is "ordered to be reported".

A committee will hold a "mark-up" session to make revisions and additions. If substantial amendments are made, the committee can order the introduction of a "clean bill" which will include the proposed amendments. This new bill will have a new number and will be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded. The chamber must approve, change or reject all committee amendments before conducting a final passage vote.

After the bill is reported, the committee staff prepares a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, adopted. Committee members who oppose a bill sometimes write a dissenting opinion in the report. The report is sent back to the whole chamber and is placed on the calendar.

Subcommittee Review

After a bill is introduced, it is referred to a committee or subcommittee for editing and analysis. This is known as the markup period. The committee or subcommittee considering the bill may hold hearings on the bill, review committee prints, and produce committee reports. Committees may hold hearings to gather testimony on a bill, helping them assess the need for the proposed legislation. Hearings provide an opportunity for interested parties to present their perspectives on the bill. Typically, hearings focus on the views of those testifying rather than the committee or Congress itself, which limits their usefulness in understanding legislative intent.

Committee prints are wide-ranging documents covering a variety of topics. They may include research materials, statistical data, legislative analyses, staff reports, investigative findings, and background information. Since committee prints are not always produced by legislators, they generally do not indicate legislative intent. However, references to committee prints in debates and reports by legislators can sometimes be informative.

After reviewing testimony (if a hearing was held) and relevant committee prints, committee or subcommittee members often draft a report. Committee reports are among the most valuable documents for understanding legislative intent. These reports, which accompany many bills that become law, typically outline the bill’s purpose, provide a section-by-section analysis, explain the committee’s rationale for recommending the bill, include the text of amendments and modifications to existing laws, and record the views of any dissenting members.

After a bill is introduced on the House or Senate floor, it is referred to the committee of jurisdiction (i.e., the committee charged with reviewing measures in the area of law or policy with which the bill is concerned). The committee of referral most often sends the measure to its specialized subcommittee(s) for study, hearings, revisions, and approval. For most bills, the committee or subcommittee fails to take further action on the referred bill, effectively "killing" the measure at this point. If the bill passes the subcommittee with a favourable vote, it is sent back to the full committee for further consideration, hearings, amendment, and vote.

Mark Up

Once hearings and subcommittee reviews are completed, the committee will meet to "mark up" the bill. This is the process by which the proposed bill is debated, amended, and rewritten. The committee will make changes and amendments prior to recommending the bill to the "floor". If substantial amendments are made, the committee can order the introduction of a "clean bill" which will include the proposed amendments. This new bill will have a new number and will be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded. The chamber must approve, change or reject all committee amendments before conducting a final passage vote. If a committee votes not to report legislation to the full chamber of Congress, the bill dies. If the committee votes in favor of the bill, it is reported to the floor. This procedure is called "ordering a bill reported".

The chair of the relevant committee determines whether there will be a markup, and this can only be taken at the full committee level. After amendments are adopted or rejected, the chair can move to vote the bill favorably out of the committee. If the committee favorably reports out the bill, it then goes to the entire body of the House or the Senate; if not, the bill essentially "dies" in the committee.

The committee staff then prepares a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, adopted. Committee members who oppose a bill sometimes write a dissenting opinion in the report. The report is sent back to the whole chamber and is placed on the calendar.

Committee Action to Report a Bill

Once a bill has been introduced, it is then referred to a committee with jurisdiction over the primary issue of the legislation. The Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate will refer the bill to the appropriate committee. The referral decision is often made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. The bill may be referred to multiple committees and may be split so that parts are sent to different committees. The bill is placed on the calendar of the committee to which it has been assigned.

The committee chair determines whether there will be a hearing on the bill, which is an opportunity for witnesses to provide testimony. Hearings are usually the first step in the committee process. Each committee makes public the date, place, and subject of any hearing it conducts. A transcript of the testimony is made available for inspection in the committee office, and the complete transcript is often printed and distributed by the committee.

After the hearings, the bill is considered in a "mark-up" session, where committee members study the viewpoints presented in detail. Amendments may be offered, and the committee members vote to accept or reject these changes. This process can take place at the subcommittee level, the full committee level, or both.

At the conclusion of deliberation, a vote of committee or subcommittee members is taken to determine what action to take on the measure. The bill can be reported, with or without amendment, or tabled, meaning no further action will occur. If the committee has approved extensive amendments, they may report a new "clean bill" incorporating all the amendments, which will have a new number.

If the committee votes to report a bill, the Committee Report is written. This report describes the purpose and scope of the measure and the reasons for recommended approval. The report is sent back to the whole chamber and is placed on the calendar.

Frequently asked questions