Understanding The Lawmaking Process: Bills To Laws

The process of a bill becoming a law is a long and complex one. In the US, the House of Representatives and the Senate must both pass a bill before it can be sent to the President for approval. If the President approves, the bill becomes a law. However, if the President vetoes the bill, it is sent back to Congress, which can override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers.

The journey of a bill begins with its proposal, which can come from a sitting member of the US Senate or House of Representatives, or be proposed by citizens or citizen groups. Once introduced, a bill is assigned to a committee, which will research, discuss, and make changes to it. The bill is then put before the chamber to be voted on. If it passes one body of Congress, it goes through a similar process in the other body. 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, and if it passes, they present it to the President.

Bills must be introduced by a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate

Bills are introduced by members of the House of Representatives or the Senate, who are the only people with the authority to do so. Members of Congress can propose a bill, or a bill can be petitioned by people or citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress that represents them.

In the House, a bill is introduced when it is dropped in the hopper (a wooden box on the House floor). In the Senate, the bill is submitted to clerks on the Senate floor. Upon introduction, the bill will receive a designation based on the chamber of introduction, for example, H.R. or H.J.Res. for House-originated bills or joint resolutions and S. or S.J.Res. for Senate-originated measures. It will also receive a number, which is typically the next number available in sequence during that two-year Congress.

In the House, the Speaker refers bills to all committees that have jurisdiction over the provisions in the bill, as determined by the chamber's standing rules and past referral decisions. Most bills fall under the jurisdiction of one committee. If multiple committees are involved, each committee may work only on the portion of the bill under its jurisdiction. One of those committees will be designated the primary committee of jurisdiction and will likely take the lead on any action that may occur.

In the Senate, bills are typically referred to the committee with jurisdiction over the issue that predominates in the bill. In a limited number of cases, a bill might not be referred to committee, but instead be placed directly on the Senate Calendar of Business through a series of procedural steps on the floor.

Bills are assigned to a committee for research, discussion and changes

Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. The committee members are experts on topics such as agriculture, education, or international relations. The committee may also send the bill to a subcommittee for further examination and expert opinions.

The committee will then vote on whether to send the bill back to the House floor. If the committee approves the bill, it is sent back to the House floor to be debated by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill is then voted on by the chamber

Once a bill has been proposed, introduced, and gone through the committee stage, it is reported to the House floor to be debated by the U.S. House of Representatives. During the debate, representatives discuss the bill and explain why they agree or disagree with it. A reading clerk then reads the bill section by section, and the representatives recommend changes. When all changes have been made, the bill is ready to be voted on.

There are three methods for voting on a bill in the U.S. 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 vote yes, the bill passes in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the U.S. Senate.

The process in the Senate is similar, with Senators voting by voice. Those who support the bill say "yea," and those who oppose it say "nay." If a majority of the Senators vote "yea," the bill passes in the U.S. Senate and is ready to go to the President.

The other chamber follows a similar process

Once a bill is passed by one chamber of the US Congress, it is sent to the other chamber, where it undergoes a similar process. In the second chamber, the bill is first introduced and then assigned to a committee. The committee members research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. The committee may also hold hearings and invite experts, advocates, and opponents to testify. After the committee approves the bill, it is sent back to the whole chamber for a vote. If the bill passes the second chamber, the two chambers work together to reconcile any differences between their versions of the bill.

In the Senate, the process for introducing and assigning a bill is slightly different from the House of Representatives. In the Senate, members must gain recognition from the presiding officer to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour. If any senator objects, the introduction is postponed until the next day. In the House, legislation is handed to the clerk or placed in the hopper.

The rules and procedures for debating and amending a bill also differ between the two chambers. In the House, debate is limited by rules formulated by the Rules Committee, and amendments must be germane to the subject of the bill. In the Senate, debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked, and amendments need not be germane. Senators can use the filibuster procedure to defeat a bill by talking it to death.

A conference committee is formed to work out differences between the two versions

A conference committee is formed when the House and the Senate pass two different versions of a bill. The conference committee is a temporary, bicameral committee, composed of House and Senate conferees, formed to reconcile the differences between the two versions of the bill. The committee is established to work out a compromise and modify the language within the limits of the disagreement. The conferees are given specific instructions to either accept or reject a particular provision or take a political position. The conferees have a lot of flexibility in how and when they negotiate the reconciliation. However, they can only consider subjects and provisions within the two bills that are in disagreement. Once a solution is reached, each delegation reports back to its chamber with one of three recommendations:

• The chamber withdraws its differing provisions.
• The chamber withdraws its disagreement with the other chamber's provisions and agrees to them.
• The chamber withdraws its disagreement with the other chamber's provisions and agrees to those provisions with amendments.

The third recommendation is the most common, as it reflects the compromise reached following extensive negotiations. The result of a conference committee is a single, unique bill that has received the support of the majority of both the House and Senate delegations. The conferees' recommendations are sent back to the two chambers through an official report, which must be signed by a majority of each delegation. The final report is then considered separately by the House and the Senate. A chamber can only act on the report if it has the "papers", meaning that the two chambers cannot take up the report simultaneously. Once both chambers pass the identical reports, the final bill is sent to the president.

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