The basic idea for a law can originate from an array of places ranging from a concerned citizen to the President. In order for a bill to become a law it must begin in either the House or the Senate and can only be introduced by a member of Congress (Schwalbe, 2014). In order for a bill to have a chance at becoming a law it must go through various different stages which include committee consideration, floor debate(by House and Senate), conference committees, and then if both houses pass the bill it is then sent to the president to either be signed and become a law or vetoed. When the president gets the bill he actually has up to five options on what to do with it. (Schwalbe, 2014). He can pass it as a law by both dating and signing it …show more content…
Another example of how bills and laws work is shown with the Student Loan Fairness Act of 2013(H.R. 1330). Authored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and sponsored by Representative Karen Bass (CA-37), if this bill is signed into a law it would dramatically lower the interest rates on federal student loans (Kingkade, 2013). Warren’s plan is to have the percentage rate on government issued student loans lower from 6.8 percent to .75 percent (Kingkade, 2013). When looking at the details of H.R. 1330, you can see the timeline of events that has happened since the bill was introduced in 2013. The details show that Hon. Karen Bass introduced the bill to the House Education and the Workforce, House Financial Services, House Ways and Means, and then the bill was referred to the subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (Committee Action, Schwalbe, 2014). As of April 2013, the bill has gained up to 51 different cosponsors however it is still under review by committee and awaiting further action or until the committees are ready to send it to the floor for debate. If this bill did become a law it would help college students with the debt they incur while obtaining higher education. Some people say that bills take too long to pass and looking at H.R. 1330 one can see why most Americans feel this way. (No action since April 2013) The wait time and the
How does the process start? Usually an issue will come up such as; not enough money for schools, gay marriage, legalization of marijuana, and many more. Once this has taken place and there are enough people willing to support the movement the next action is to get ahold of the representative of the area and get he or she on the movement train. This representative if he or she agrees to help, then the bill will see a standing committee and then to a subcommittee. After the hearings of the committees, it usually goes through whether its favorable or unfavorable to become a bill or if it would need some changes. After this the bill then is place on hold to be hear by the House of Representatives and the Senate, both of these have different
It seems the Founders wanted to make the passage of legislation difficult. The Constitution settles how bills become law in the United States. The procedure is operose and can take significant time to complete. The course materials of week three offer more than enough information on how the procedure works. This essay will, mainly, use the course materials to describe the process of how a bill becomes a law. The process of transforming a bill into a law requires the participation of both the Legislative branch and Executive branch of government.
When the bill reaches the president, he has three choices. He can: sign and pass the bill, refuse to sign or veto the bill, or pocket veto. If the president refuses to sign or veto the bill, the bill is sent back to the U.S. House of Representatives, along with the President’s reasons for the veto. If the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate still believe the bill should become a law, they can hold another vote on the bill. If two-thirds of the Representatives and Senators support the bill, the President’s
If the bill is vetoed, the president can then make changes to the bill that he or she sees necessary and then send it back to congress for reassessment. The framers of the constitution created a legislative process that required each branch to contribute to the legislative process. As a result, a vetoed bill must go through congress and the legislative process again. The bill must also receive, at minimum, two thirds votes from the House of Representatives and the Senate before it can become an official law. Finally, if the president does not sign nor veto a bill for ten days, excluding Sundays, it will automatically become a law. However, in certain circumstances, the president can use a pocket veto. A pocket veto may only be used on a bill that is proposed within the last ten days of the presidency. When a pocket veto is used, the president does not sign or veto the bill. Rather, after ten days of no action, the bill is automatically rejected. As Chief in Legislature, the president, in a sense, has the last word in the legislative process.
Let’s start with the president’s ability to veto. The president can veto or send a bill back to congress. Congress can however override the president’s Veto with two thirds vote. There are also some special circumstances the apply to this. If the president gets a bill and dose nothing with it for 10 days wail congress is in session the bill will automatically become a law. However, if congress goes out of session and the president still does nothing
If he signs it, it is printed and made law, but if he vetoes the bill, it is sent back to Congress where they can adjust it to fit the Presidents wishes. Congress can also take a vote in which they would need a two thirds vote majority in order to overrule the veto.
According to The House of Representatives (2015) all laws begin as ideas. Once an idea becomes a bill,
Firstly the members of congress, executive branch, or members of outside community draw up a bill. After that the members of the house only will have to introduce the bill on the floor of house of representative. Then the bill is sent to the committee. Only bills that are necessary and reasonably appropriate make it to the next step, which is the rules of a committee for debate. Then it goes back to the floor of the house for a debate and members of the house then will vote for the bill. If the bill is in favor by most of the members of the house, hence the bill is sent to the senate. The senator introduces the bill on the floor. If the majority of the committees agree then the bill goes to the entire senate to consider the bill. As it follows the same process of the house, there is a debate and if majority votes for the bill then the bill is returned back to the house of representative.
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.
Any person shall present a written bill to the House of Representatives. If the majority of the House approves the law, then they will give the bill to the Senate. The majority of the Senate must also approve the law for them to pass it to the President of the 4th Period Schanz. If the President approves the law and signs it, the bill becomes a law. If he or she refuses to approve it, it will be sent back to the House of Representatives for reconsideration. If over ⅔ of the House approves it again, it will be sent to the Senate. If over ⅔ of the Senate approves it again, it will become a law.
If both the Senate and the House pass the bill, it is then sent to the president for his signature leading to the bill becoming a law (United States Senate, n.d.).
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
For a bill to become a law it takes more than one step and more than one person deciding, it's not as easy as it seems. First, the legislation is introduced, and then you have the committee action, afterwards floor action, conference committee, the president, and then the bill becomes a law. Some bills will never make it through any of these processes but for those who really want their bill to pass, if they fight for it they just might get lucky. This paper will show you that it takes more than one person and is a long process. Through out this paper I will explain how a bill becomes a law so that you will have a better understanding of the process.
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
If he does neither, the bill automatically becomes a law. As the President, he has the power to veto or approve the bill. If the President approves of the bill, the bill becomes a law. However, if the President rejects the bill, the President must return the bill to the house where it originated, stating his objections. A two-thirds vote of each body of Congress is needed to override the President’s veto. However, only five percent of the time does Congress override a President’s veto. This is an example of checks and balances to ensure that one body/house does not have too much power.