The Lawmaking Process: Webquest Answers Explained

The process of how a bill becomes a law is a complex one, with many steps and considerations to be made. This webquest will guide you through the various stages, from the initial proposal of a bill to its final passage into law. You will learn about the roles of Congress, the Senate, and the President in this process, as well as the importance of committees, hearings, and markups. By the end of this webquest, you should have a comprehensive understanding of the law-making process and be able to explain how a bill becomes a law.

Introduction in Congress

The introduction of a bill is a crucial step in the legislative process, marking the point at which a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law is formally presented in the U.S. Congress. The idea for a bill can originate from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, or it can be proposed by citizens or citizen groups who petition their representative. Once an idea for a bill emerges, the process of introducing it in Congress begins.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper, a special wooden box on the House floor. Only members of the House, known as Representatives, can introduce bills in this chamber. A bill number beginning with "H.R." is assigned to each bill, indicating its origin in the House. The bill is then read section by section by a reading clerk to all the Representatives, after which the Speaker of the House refers it to one of the House standing committees.

In the U.S. Senate, the process is slightly different. A bill is introduced when it is submitted to clerks on the Senate floor. These bills are designated with an "S." or "S.J.Res." to signify their origin in the Senate. The bill is then typically referred to the appropriate committee by the presiding officer of the Senate.

It is worth noting that members of Congress may consult with nonpartisan attorneys in each chamber's Legislative Counsel office to assist in drafting the bill and ensuring it adheres to legislative requirements. Additionally, members may seek support for their bill by circulating it among their colleagues and requesting their signatures as co-sponsors.

The introduction of a bill in Congress is just the first step in the legislative process. Once a bill is introduced, it undergoes committee consideration, hearings, markups, floor consideration, and potentially, further action by the other chamber and the President.

Referral to committee

Once a bill has been introduced, it is usually referred to a committee, which may send it to a subcommittee for consideration. This referral is typically made by the Speaker of the House in the House of Representatives, and by the presiding officer in the Senate. The referral of a bill to a committee is an important phase of the legislative process, as it is during committee action that proposed measures are most intensely considered, and the public is given the opportunity to be heard.

Committees are groups of representatives who are experts on topics relevant to the bill, such as agriculture, education, or international relations. They review, research, and revise the bill, and vote on whether to send it back to the House or Senate floor. If the committee members require more information before making their decision, the bill is sent to a subcommittee, where it is closely examined and expert opinions are gathered.

Committees or subcommittees considering a bill may hold hearings on it, review committee prints, and produce committee reports. Hearings allow interested parties to present their perspectives on the bill, and for committee members to gather testimony to help them assess the need for the proposed legislation. Committee prints are wide-ranging documents that may include research materials, statistical data, legislative analyses, staff reports, investigative findings, and background information.

After reviewing testimony and relevant committee prints, committee or subcommittee members often draft a report. These reports are among the most valuable documents for understanding legislative intent, as they outline the bill's purpose, provide a section-by-section analysis, explain the committee's rationale, include the text of amendments and modifications to existing laws, and record the views of any dissenting members.

Hearings in committee

At a hearing, invited witnesses provide short oral remarks to the assembled committee, and also submit a longer written version of their feedback on the bill. After the witnesses' oral statements, committee members take turns asking questions of the witnesses. Hearings are usually open to the public, but in rare cases, a committee will meet behind closed doors to discuss national security issues, for example.

While hearings provide the formal public setting for feedback on a policy proposal, committee members and staff also engage in additional assessment through informal briefings and other mechanisms. It is important to note that a hearing is not a mandatory procedural step for a bill to receive further action from the committee. The committee chair has the chief agenda-setting authority and can choose to pursue further action through hearings and/or a markup.

The role of committees is essential to the effective operation of legislative bodies. Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge in their areas of jurisdiction. Committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the Senate.

Markups to amend the bill

The process of markups is where the exact phrasing of a bill is decided, line by line. This is a crucial stage as it determines the specific features of a bill. For example, if a bill was being considered to give every high school student a laptop, markups would decide if there should be a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) requirement for students to keep their laptops, as well as who would pay for the laptops initially and if they were to break.

Markups are very detail-oriented and can be time-consuming. At the beginning of a markup, committee members often make opening statements, usually not exceeding five minutes each. The first reading of the text of the bill can be waived if the committee agrees. The bill is then read for amendment, section by section, with committee members offering amendments to each section. Committees debate amendments under the five-minute rule.

Committees do not change the text of the bills directly. Instead, they vote on amendments that they want to recommend to the House, which will then be considered when the bill is debated on the floor. A committee may report a bill back to the House without amendment, with several amendments, or with an amendment in the nature of a substitute that proposes a completely different text.

Amendments to general appropriations bills must comply with the Rules of the House and the Budget Act. For example, amendments may not cause the total amount of budget authority and outlays to exceed the overall limitations established for budget enforcement purposes. Amendments must also be germane to both the bill and the paragraph being amended.

Reconciliation in a conference committee

Reconciliation is a tool or a special process that makes it easier to pass certain federal budget legislation in the Senate. It is an optional part of the annual congressional budgetary process. It is used to expedite the passage of bills dealing with spending, revenue, and the federal debt limit.

Reconciliation bills can pass the Senate by a simple majority of 51 votes or 50 votes, with the vice president acting as the tie-breaker. This is in contrast to most other legislation, which requires a 60-vote supermajority to invoke cloture and defeat a filibuster.

The reconciliation process typically begins when the president submits a budget to Congress early in the calendar year. In response, each chamber of Congress begins a parallel budget process, starting in the Senate Budget Committee and the House Budget Committee. Each budget committee proposes a budget resolution setting spending targets for the upcoming fiscal year. To initiate the reconciliation process, each house of Congress must pass identical budget resolutions containing reconciliation instructions.

The respective committees then approve bills that meet the spending targets, and these individual bills are consolidated into a single omnibus bill. Each house of Congress then considers its omnibus bill under its rules of debate.

The reconciliation process has a minor impact in the House of Representatives but carries more weight in the Senate. While senators can use the filibuster to prevent consideration of most legislation indefinitely, they cannot do so with reconciliation bills. This is because Senate debate over reconciliation bills is limited to twenty hours. Thus, reconciliation bills only require the support of a simple majority in the Senate.

The House and Senate must still pass an identical bill and present it to the president, who can sign it into law or veto it. Congress can override the president's veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.

The reconciliation process was created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and was first used in 1980. Since then, it has been used to pass significant pieces of legislation, including major deficit reduction bills, welfare reform, and tax cuts.

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