Understanding The Legislative Process: A Webquest Guide

Students can learn about the legislative process and how a bill becomes a law through a webquest, which is an online, interactive lesson. The webquests I found are aimed at school students and include activities such as creating a flow chart, filling in a graphic organiser, and writing a narrative as if they are a bill moving through Congress. Some webquests are free, while others are available to purchase.

Who can write and introduce a bill?

The process of a bill becoming a law begins with an idea. This idea can come from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, be proposed during their election campaign, or be petitioned by citizens or citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress that represents them.

Once a Representative has written a bill, it needs a sponsor. The Representative talks with other Representatives about the bill to get their support. Once a bill has a sponsor and the support of some of the Representatives, it is ready to be introduced.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper—a special box on the side of the clerk's desk. Only Representatives can introduce bills in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the Senate, the bill is submitted to clerks on the Senate floor. Upon introduction, the bill will receive a designation and a number. In the House, bills are then referred by the Speaker to all committees that have jurisdiction over the provisions in the bill. In the Senate, bills are typically referred to the committee with jurisdiction over the issue that predominates in the bill.

Referral to a committee

Once a bill is introduced, it is referred to a committee for editing and analysis. This is known as the markup period. The committee may send the bill to a subcommittee for consideration, and a bill rarely reaches the full House or Senate floor without committee approval. The House and the Senate each have their own separate standing committees to consider proposed legislation.

In the House of Representatives, bills are referred to committee by the Speaker of the House, and in the Senate, the presiding officer refers the bill to the appropriate committee. Most referrals for bills are routine. However, in cases where the referral is not straightforward, the referral power gives the majority party a powerful tool in controlling legislation as many committees have predetermined positions on certain issues. For example, a bill dealing with the control and regulation of pesticides can be sent to either the agricultural committee or the environmental committee. The environmental committee will try to strengthen the bill, while the agricultural committee would try to limit or weaken it. Thus, the bill's passage can heavily depend upon which committee it is sent to. Drafters of legislation are aware of this and will often try to write bills in ways that will encourage their bill to be referred to committees most likely to favor its passage.

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.

Committees also produce committee prints, which are wide-ranging documents covering a wide range 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.

Hearings and testimonies

During hearings, committee members can gather information relevant to the bill and hear testimonies from various individuals and groups. This includes the bill's sponsors, federal and public officials, representatives of special interest groups, and ordinary citizens who may be affected by the issue the bill addresses. For instance, in the case of a bill supporting funding for Alzheimer's research, individuals with personal experiences related to the disease might testify about the impact of Alzheimer's on their lives and the need for further research.

Hearings provide an opportunity for the committee to better understand the potential consequences of the bill and consider different perspectives. They can also be used by committee chairs to build support for or increase opposition to a particular bill, utilizing the media coverage that often accompanies these hearings.

In addition to hearings, subcommittees may also be formed to review the bill in greater detail. These subcommittees operate under the committees and have further specialization in specific topics. They can hold their own hearings, make changes to the bill, and must vote to refer it back to the full committee. This additional layer of review ensures that the bill is thoroughly examined and discussed before moving forward in the legislative process.

The hearings and subcommittee review process is a crucial step in shaping the final version of the bill. It allows for input from various stakeholders and experts, ensuring that the potential implications of the bill are carefully considered before it advances to the next stage of becoming a law.

Markups and floor considerations

Markups are an important part of the legislative process, as they determine the specific features of a bill. Once a bill has passed through committee hearings, it moves to the markup process, where the exact phrasing of the bill is decided, line by line. This process can be time-consuming and detail-oriented, as it involves making changes and amendments to the bill. For example, if a bill is considering providing every high school student with a laptop for school work, markups will decide the criteria for students to keep their laptops, who will pay for the laptops initially, and who will cover repair costs.

After a bill has gone through the markup process, it moves to floor consideration. At this stage, the bill is ready to be debated by the whole House or Senate floor, and it may be amended further if needed before being voted on. This process is called floor consideration, and it is an important step in the journey of a bill becoming a law. Once a bill passes floor consideration in either the House or the Senate, it is then sent to the other house, where it will undergo the same committee, floor consideration, and voting process again. It is crucial for a bill to pass both the Senate and the House floor consideration process to advance to the next step.

Presidential action

Once a bill has been passed by both houses of Congress, it is sent to the President for review. The President then has the option to approve the bill and sign it into law, or to refuse to approve it, which is called a veto.

If the President chooses to veto a bill, Congress can vote to override that veto, and the bill becomes a law. However, if the President does not sign off on a bill and it remains unsigned when Congress is no longer in session, the bill will be vetoed by default. This action is called a pocket veto, and it cannot be overridden by Congress.

If the President approves a bill, or allows it to become law without signing it, the original enrolled bill is sent from the White House to the Archivist of the United States for publication. If a bill is passed by both houses of Congress over the objections of the President, the body that last overrides the veto transmits it.

A bill becomes law on the date of approval or passage over the President's veto, unless it expressly provides a different effective date.

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