California Bill Becoming Law

Before there is a law, there is a bill – and bills have many phases to pass through before these may become laws. The course materials of week three point out that a bill can originate

Senators represent an entire state, as members of the House of Representatives only represent districts, highlighting from the outset their different abilities to

First, the proposed bill goes through the House of Representatives. Laws begin as ideas. These ideas may come from a Representative, or from a citizen. Citizens who have ideas for laws can contact their Representatives to discuss their ideas. If the Representatives agree, they research the ideas and write them into bills. When a Representative has written a bill, the bill needs a sponsor. The

The majority leader and the assistant floor leader are chosen by the majority party as well. The speaker of the House is important in the organization of the House, because they choose committee chairmanships and committee assignments. The president of the Senate is chosen by the majority party. Like the House, they appoint committee chairmanships and committee assignments. The minority party is not left out. They also have a caucus, and a minority leader and assistant floor leader are selected for both houses. The minority caucus also makes committee assignments for member of its’ party. The staffs of both houses are chosen by the majority party leadership and include the Senate secretary, assistant secretary, chief clerk, assistant chief clerk, chaplains, sergeant at arms, pages, and secretaries. Each house has a set of rules and procedures that are adopted at the beginning of each session. There also has to be a certain amount of members present, or quorum, in order to do business.

The Senate needs to ratify all laws by a two-third vote. The vice president who is the head of the Senate is not permitted to vote, but in case of a tie he is allowed to. The House of Representatives is made of 435 representatives, each is elected by his state and serve two years. The number of representatives depends on the state population. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate elect their own leaders; the part that controls the house, is called the majority leader while the other is called the minority leader.

Some of the important people in the legislative branch is the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and the Senate Majority. The Speaker is the head of the House, they preside over the Majority Leader. As the Speaker is the highest in the House, they hardly vote or participate in debates. The president of the Senate is the vice president. The vice president presides over the Senate and votes only if there is a tie in the senate. Also, if the president were to die or become unable of being the president, the vice president takes over. Another important member in Congress is the Majority Leader, they are just under the Speaker of the House. The Majority Leader makes sure that no one in a party votes from something the party is against, or doesn’t agree with. These are some of the

The structure of the legislative arm is simple. It comprises of the assembly and the senate just like the federal government. In California, the state assembly comprises 80 members who are elected on a two-year term. The state senate comprises 40 members elected on a four year term. The requirements for election into office are: US citizen 18 years of age, resident

To begin it would be best to understand what a bill is. A bill is a proposal of a law (2). Bills can only emerge in Congress (2). Congress is composed of the House of Representatives and the

According to The House of Representatives (2015) all laws begin as ideas. Once an idea becomes a bill,

After introduction of the bill, the referral or assignment to house or senate then takes place. In other words, the bill is assigned to standing committee. The Speaker and Lieutenant Governor appoint committee members and chairs. This gives the presiding officers great power and these vital decisions can

For instance, the Speaker of the House must set the agenda, appoint chairs of committees and, have an impact over what gets voted on in the legislature (Champagne et al., 2017, p.209). Another important persona in the state legislature is the lieutenant governor; the president of the state senate. He is held accountable for setting the legislative agenda and appointing committee chairs (Champagne et al., 2017, p.210). Moreover, the committee system of the state legislature must work together to perform more common governmental tasks. Such as, when the Texas Senate and House members work together to pass a new law (Champagne et al., 2017, p. 211-212).

These 435 seats are divided among the states every ten years. Representatives serve for two years at a time, and every second November there is a new election where they are chosen by the people in a direct election. (1) The House is required to choose a Speaker for itself who is in charge over the proceedings of the House and is the highest position in the House leadership. Other leadership positions are the Majority and Minority Leaders, and the Majority and Minority Whips. The Minority Leader would generally be the Speaker if his party were the majority.(1) The whips act as a median between the leadership and the other House members. The Senate is the Upper House and its members are called Senators. The qualifications for Senators are similar to those of house representatives, he or she must be 30 years old or older, must have been a U.S. citizen for nine years, and must live in the state they plan to represent.There is again no restriction of sex, race, class, social standing, or any other classification, for both a Senator or House representative . Each state has two Senators, no matter what the size of the state happens to be. A Senators term lasts six years and like the other house members every second November there is a new election. The Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate but he is a non-voting member unless a vote of the Senate ends in a tie which causes him to cast the deciding vote. If the Vice President is not available

All of the laws in the United States begin as a bill, which must be approved by the Senate, House of Representatives, and the President. The bill stars as an idea from a representative or a citizen who has an idea and tells their representative about the idea. The representative then decides if the idea is

The whole process starts when a Representative has an idea for a new law, that person

All things first start with an idea. This idea, then becomes an action and this action in turn has a result. This same concept can be applied to the legislative process. The first step begins with an idea, this idea is shared and if it gains the support of the masses this idea will then become sponsored by a representative. Once this idea has sponsorship it then proceeds to the congressional level where this idea gets the new title of a bill. Upon the name change from idea to bill also comes the benefit of becoming a proposed piece of legislation. For a bill this means that it will be sent to both the House of Representatives and Senate awaiting it’s future through debate. If the debate proves favorable for the bill, that is both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve then this bill is sent off to the desk of the president. From the moment the bill arrives at the desk of the president a countdown of ten days begins, this is