How Does A Bill Become A Law?

Thus, Members of the House may only speak on a bill in the time mandated by the House Rules Committee vis-à-vis their judgments for that particular bill. It is also possible for the House to meet as the Committee of the Whole, which has more streamlined debating rules – though the Committee of the Whole cannot pass a bill. The Senate debate rules differ with the debate rules of the House of Representatives, as Senators have an unlimited time to debate bills – this lack of limit allows a filibuster to occur. The course materials state, “Debate can be closed by unanimous consent, or by invoking ‘cloture,’ which requires a three-fifths majority (at least 60 votes) of the entire Senate” (Unit 3 the Congress, 10). Once a bill passes through the House of Representatives, or the Senate, it must pass through the other chamber of Congress before it becomes law.

Then, a reading clerk 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, Division, and Recorded. If a majority of the Representatives say or select 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. When a bill reaches the U.S. Senate, it goes through many of the same steps it went through in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then reported to the Senate floor to be voted on. 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 U.S. Senate and is ready to go to the President.

In this process a bill is drafted, then it is introduced in the house. The Speaker of the House sends the bill to a committee, the committee decides to make changes to the bill or kill it. If the bill gets sent on, it gets sent to the Senate. In the senate it is sent to another committee and if majority vote for it, the bill will go to the whole Senate. The bill gets debated and amendments add, if needed, and then sent back to the House. Any changes made and House doesn’t agree it goes to a committee to find compromises. After the compromise it goes to the President. If the President vetoes the bill, ⅔ majority of the House can override the veto.

There are seven basic steps: Introduction, referral or assignment to house or senate committees, considered in house or senate committees, placement of bill on a legislative calendar, considered on the house or senate floor, signed or vetoed by governor, and lastly the bill does or does not become a law.

But the bill can also be brought to the floor if a large amount of the Senate chooses it to. Then there is the debate, The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill, but they can not pass it. They will decide how much time each person will get to debate the bill. The bill will then go back to the house to be voted on; there must be two hundred and eighteen members present to have a final vote. If for some reason there is not enough members the House will be adjourned or the Sergeant at Arms will go get them.

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

First you must understand that a Bill is a proposa on a law affecting everyone’s right, good or bad. Bills are numbered sequentially (1,2,3, etc.) and have a prefix of "S." or "H.R.," depending on whether the bill originates in the Senate (S.) or the House of Representative (H.R.). A bill has to pass both houses of Congress that being the House of Representatives and Senate and must also be signed by the President. He can sign it and it becomes law. He can also veto it, which means in returns to the house where it originated. As the writer of the bill I have to be aware of the need for a change and it should be carefully weighed out for the good of all involve, now and for the future. The Bill needs the majority of both houses to pass the Bill, the Representative need a 2/3 vote to pass, and the senate need to have a less a 51 to 49 vote to win favor. Then the bill is assigned to a committee. The

When the committee has approved the bill, it is sent to the House floor. Once reported for approval, the bill is ready to be debated on by the House of Representatives. During the debate, the reading clerk reads the bill section by section so Representatives can discuss the bill, recommend changes, and provide reasonings of why they agree or not. When all the changes have been made, the bill is ready to be voted on. There are three methods for voting on a bill in the House of Representatives; viva voice, division, and recorded. Viva Voce is when the Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say “aye” and those that oppose it say “no.” Division is when 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 is when Representatives record their vote using the electronic voting system by voting yes, no, or present. If the majority of the Representatives say yes, the bill passes in the House of Representatives then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the

The bill could possibly not get enough votes, and this means it is sent back to the House to undergo changes. If it does receive enough votes, it is given to the President. The president can veto or pass the bill; however, if he vetos it, the bill can be sent back to the House and a two-thirds vote can override the President’s veto. If the President does agree with the bill in his hands, he can sign it and it will become part of the law (The House Explained).

In the House, the Rules Committee plays a major role in the scheduling process, but in the Senate, a few leading members control the flow of bills by bringing it to the floor by “unanimous consent” which is a motion by which all members present on the floor set aside, the Senate rules and considers the bill. In contrast to the procedure in the House, individual Senators have the power to disrupt work on legislation by refusing to agree to unanimous consent.

Sixth, the next part of the lawmaking process is the floor debates. After the bill reaches the full chamber in the Senate and reaches the rules committee in the house decisions are made. Either two things will happen here, the bill will be scheduled for floor debates or it will be completely dropped. Usually bills that are able to make it this far in the process are passed into law. Passing these bills is not as easy as it sounds. Some bills cost members a lot just to get passed. Especially bills that have to do with spending. When the

The House and Senate have different ways of undergoing this step. In the reading, we are vaguely told that the full committee considers the bill, and if approved goes to the Full House/Senate. However, the Dynamic Legislative module breaks down the steps of this important third process. The Full House goes about this approval step by conversation with colleagues and leadership, developing arguments to defend, and getting the media involved. However, the Senate begins considering adjustments, assessing opposition arguments, counting likely votes, developing a list of supporters, and working with interest groups. The extent of this third step was described fantastically in the module as opposed to the bland summation the book

The committee may hold public/open hearings when considering the bill other time they are closed or executive sessions. A bill faces it’s most intense scrutiny in committee its content may be deliberated in great detail and it can go through multiple rewrites for even more expert scrutiny bills are frequently assigned to a “Subcommittee” hearing may take place at this level instead of involving the full committee where they may receive input from administration spokespeople and federal bureaucrats.

The process in which a bill becomes a law can be a lengthy one; it must go through many steps in order to become the law of the land. It is believed that this process should be a matter that every American citizen should be informed of in order to fully understand and appreciate the inner workings of congress with regard to The House of Representatives and the Senate. The steps in which a bill becomes a law is an example of the democratic way of life here in The United States. “The fact that a proposal cannot become a law without consideration and approval by both houses of congress is an outstanding virtue of our bicameral legislative system.” (Maes 1-2)

A bill goes through a consultation stage where the opinion of others is noted on what the proposed Law should say. A Bill can either go through the House of Commons or Lords and must be agreed by both Houses before becoming an Act (Parliament UK, n.d). The bill then goes through different stages in parliament.