The Process: Bill To Law Explained

In the United States, the process of turning a bill into a law is a complex one. All laws in the United States begin as bills, and the idea for a bill can come from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, or be proposed by citizens or advocacy groups. The journey of a bill to becoming a law involves several stages, including proposal, introduction, committee review, voting, referral to the other chamber, and finally, action by the President. This process ensures that laws are carefully considered and widely supported before being enacted.

How a bill is proposed

The process of a bill being proposed begins with an idea for a new law or a change to an existing one. These ideas can come from a variety of sources, including sitting members of parliament or congress, election campaigns, or citizens and advocacy groups. Citizens can contact their representatives to pitch their ideas, which the representatives may then choose to research and write into bills.

Once a representative has written a bill, it needs a sponsor. The representative will then discuss the bill with other representatives to gain their support. Once a bill has a sponsor and the support of other representatives, it is ready to be introduced.

In the US, a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper, a special box on the side of the clerk's desk in the House of Representatives. Representatives are the only ones who can introduce bills in this way. A bill clerk then assigns it a number, and a reading clerk reads the bill to all the representatives. The Speaker of the House then sends the bill to one of the House standing committees.

In Australia, bills are usually introduced by government ministers, but other members of parliament can also introduce their own bills, known as private members' or private senators' bills. A minister who wants to introduce a bill usually gives written notice of their intention to do so, and lodges this with the Clerk of the House, who arranges for the bill to be listed on the Notice Paper (the House's agenda of business).

The bill is introduced

When a bill is introduced in the House of Representatives, a bill clerk assigns it a number that begins with H.R. A reading clerk then reads the bill to all the Representatives, and the Speaker of the House sends the bill to one of the House standing committees.

The bill is then assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. Both the House and Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members with particular interests and expertise in different topics such as health, agriculture, education, or international affairs. When a bill is with the committee, it is carefully examined and its chances of passage by the entire Congress are determined. The committee may 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 the record. If the committee does not act on a bill, it is considered "dead".

The bill goes to committee

Once a bill is introduced, it is referred to a committee. Both the House and the Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members with expertise in different topics, such as agriculture, health, education, or international affairs. These committees carefully examine the bill, discussing and making changes to it. They also assess its chances of passage by the entire Congress.

The committee chair decides whether there will be a hearing on the bill, which allows witnesses to provide testimony, and whether there will be a markup, where the proposed bill is debated, amended, and rewritten. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the bill to be recorded. If the committee does not act on a bill, it is considered "dead".

If the committee requires more detailed information before deciding on the bill's fate, it is sent to a subcommittee for further study and hearings. The subcommittee can make changes to the bill and must vote to refer it back to the full committee. Once the hearings and subcommittee review are completed, the committee will meet to "mark up" the bill, making any necessary changes and amendments before recommending it to the "floor".

If the committee votes against reporting the legislation to the full chamber of Congress, the bill is rejected. However, if they vote in favour of the bill, it is reported to the floor. This procedure is known as "ordering a bill reported". The committee chair's staff then writes a report on the bill, detailing the intent of the legislation, its legislative history, its impact on existing laws, and the position of the committee's majority members. The minority members, including the most senior committee member from the minority party, may file dissenting views.

The bill is voted on

Once a bill has been introduced, assigned to a committee, and debated, it is then put before the chamber to be voted on.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, there are three methods for voting on a bill: viva voce, division, and recorded. In a viva voce vote, the Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say "aye" and those who oppose it to say "no." In a division vote, the Speaker of the House asks those who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then those who oppose the bill to do the same. In a recorded vote, Representatives record their vote using an electronic voting system, and can vote yes, no, or present. If a majority of Representatives say or select yes, the bill passes in the House and is then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the U.S. Senate.

The process is similar in the Senate, where Senators vote by voice, saying "yea" if they support the bill and "nay" if they oppose it. If a majority of Senators say "yea," the bill passes in the Senate and is ready to go to the President.

If a bill passes in one body of Congress, it then goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting. Once both bodies vote to accept a bill, they must work out any differences between the two versions. Then, both chambers vote on the same version of the bill. If it passes, they present it to the President.

The bill is sent to the president

Once a bill has been approved by both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the President. The President has three options: they can sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or do nothing (pocket veto).

If the President approves of the bill, they will sign it, and it will become a law. If the President does not take any action for 10 days while Congress is in session, the bill will automatically become law.

If the President opposes the bill, they can veto it. If this happens, the bill is sent back to Congress, where it can be changed, abandoned, or used to override the President's veto. A veto can be overridden if two-thirds of each house votes in favour of the bill, in which case it becomes law. In the House of Representatives, this means 290 votes out of 435, and in the Senate, 67 out of 100.

If the President does nothing and Congress is not in session, the bill will not become law. This is called a "pocket veto" and cannot be overridden by Congress.

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