The Long Road: Bill To Law

The process of a bill becoming a law is a lengthy one. In the US, a bill must be approved by the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President. The bill is first drafted, then introduced, and then assigned to a committee. The committee will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill before it is put before the chamber to be voted on. If the bill passes one body of Congress, it goes through a similar process in the other body. Once both bodies have voted to accept a bill, they must work out any differences between the two versions before both chambers vote on the same version. If the bill passes, it is then presented to the President, who can approve it, veto it, or do nothing. If the President chooses to veto the bill, Congress can vote to override the veto and the bill will become a law.

A bill is proposed and drafted

A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law. 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 citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress that represents them.

Any member of Congress – either from the Senate or the House of Representatives – who has an idea for a law can draft a bill. These ideas come from the Congress members themselves or from everyday citizens and advocacy groups. The primary Congress member supporting the bill is called the "sponsor". The other members who support the bill are called "co-sponsors". When a Representative has written a bill, the bill needs a sponsor. The Representative talks with other Representatives about the bill in the hopes of getting their support for it. Once a bill has a sponsor and the support of some of the Representatives, it is ready to be introduced.

Once the bill is drafted, it must be introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a Senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate. Once a bill is introduced, it can be found on Congress.gov, which is the official government website that tracks federal legislation. 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. When a bill is introduced in the U.S. 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 introduced

Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned a number, for example, "HR 1" or "S 1", depending on whether it was introduced in the House or the Senate. The bill is also labelled with the name of its sponsor (the primary Congress member supporting the bill) and co-sponsors (other members who support the bill).

After being introduced, the bill is sent to the Government Printing Office (GPO) to be copied. Copies of the bill are then sent to the relevant committees.

Committees are groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in and knowledgeable about a specific topic, such as health or international affairs. The Speaker of the House or the Senate Majority Leader will refer the bill to the appropriate committee, which will have jurisdiction over the major issue involved in the bill. In the House, bills may be referred to more than one committee due to their subject matter. This is called a joint referral.

Once a bill is referred to a committee, the Chairperson of that committee usually assigns it to the appropriate subcommittee. Subcommittees are specialised groups organised under committees. They hold hearings on the issue and carefully examine the bill in-depth. This is an opportunity to put "on the record" the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the bill. Testimony can be given in person or submitted as a written statement.

After the subcommittee concludes its hearings, the bill goes through a "mark-up" process. The subcommittee reviews the bill word-by-word, considering amendments, deleting sections, and revising language. At the conclusion of the mark-up, the subcommittee votes on whether to report out or table (kill) the revised bill. If the bill is voted on favourably, it is reported out of the subcommittee and referred back to the full committee for further consideration.

The bill goes to committee

Once a bill is introduced, it is 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 specific interests and expertise in different topics such as health, agriculture, education, or international affairs and relations. The committee will carefully examine the bill and determine its chances of passage by Congress.

The committee chairperson usually assigns the bill to a relevant subcommittee where hearings are held, and the bill is examined in detail. This is the stage where the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the bill are recorded. After the subcommittee hearings, the bill goes through a "mark-up" where the subcommittee reviews the bill word-by-word, considering amendments, deleting sections, and revising the language.

At the conclusion of the mark-up, the subcommittee votes on whether to report out or table the revised bill. Tabling a bill is a procedure used to kill the measure. If the bill passes this vote, it is then reported out of the subcommittee and referred back to the full committee for further consideration.

The full committee then has the option to hold its own hearing and mark-up. The committee can decide to take no action (table the bill), vote not to report out the bill (kill it), or report the bill out favorably. If the committee votes in favor of the bill, it is reported to the floor. This procedure is called "ordering a bill reported."

The bill is voted on

Once a bill has been debated and possibly amended on the floor of either the House or the Senate, it is put to a vote. There are three methods for voting on a bill in the House of Representatives:

• Viva Voce (voice vote): The Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say “aye” and those that oppose it say “no.”
• Division: The Speaker of the House asks those Representatives who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then those who oppose the bill to stand up and be counted.
• Recorded: Representatives record their vote using the electronic voting system. Representatives can vote yes, no, or present (if they don’t want to vote on the bill).

If a majority of the Representatives say or select yes, the bill passes in the House of Representatives. The bill is then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the Senate.

Senators vote by voice. Those who support the bill say “yea,” and those who oppose it say “nay.” If a majority of the Senators say “yea,” the bill passes in the Senate and is ready to go to the President.

If a bill is approved by one chamber (House or Senate), it is sent to the other chamber, where it again moves through the committee procedure. If it is approved by the other body without any changes, it is sent to the President for his signature.

If both bodies pass different versions of a bill, both bills are sent to a Conference Committee. Senate and House Committee Members who first considered the legislation are appointed by their respective chamber’s leadership to sit on a Conference Committee. The Conference Committee works to reconcile differences between the two versions and agrees to a compromise bill, called a Conference Report.

If the Conference Committee agrees on a compromise bill, it is sent back to the full House and Senate for approval one final time. No amendments can be added or changes made to the bill—it must be voted yea or nay. This is termed enrolling the bill. If the conference committee is unable to reach an agreement, the legislation dies.

The bill is sent to the President

Once a bill has been approved by both chambers of Congress, it is sent to the President for review. The President can then choose to approve the bill, in which case it becomes law, or veto it. If the President takes no action for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill will automatically become law. However, if Congress adjourns before the ten days are up and the President has not signed the bill, it will not become law. This is known as a "pocket veto".

If the President chooses to veto a bill, Congress may attempt to override the veto. If both the Senate and the House of Representatives pass the bill by a two-thirds majority, the President's veto is overruled, and the bill becomes law.

Frequently asked questions