Getting A Bill Passed Essay

For the past week, we have been participating in a mock congress and trying to approve our own bills. Now it’s time to reflect. Getting a bill passed takes a lot of hard work and skill, and is definitely not easy. There are many steps and factors deciding if a bill gets approved. There were so many good experiences and so much to learn from.

There are many steps in getting a bill passed. In fact, there could potentially be 10-12 steps (if you include vetoes and overrides) to get a bill passed, but many don’t make it that far. But for the purpose we had, we didn’t actually do all of them. One of the steps we left out was the introduction of the bill before the committee. Another thing we did the same was the beginning of the bill. Basically, we thought of an idea and then wrote it down. The bill was also proposed, but just in a slightly different
way. We basically proposed it to ourselves and then sponsored it by ourself. We never introduced the bill before the committee. Then we sent the bill to committee and approved it or disapproved it. After that, we reported the bill to the House of Representatives and the Senate. We did slightly debate the bill by adding amendments, but not in the same depth they actually do in Congress. We only made some amendments, we never did a full on debate. We did, however, do the voting process the same. One thing we did the same was that we had the House of Representatives vote first, and whatever the majority votes would be what would happen. So if 7 out of 13 said yes, it would go through to the Senate. If 7 or more out of 13 said no, then the bill would be dead, and would not move on to the Senate. Another step we did the same was presenting the bill to the Senate. We also followed the step of giving the bill to the president to approve or veto, and the step to override the president’s decision. We did, however, leave out the part when the president can do a pocket veto. It’s very hard for a bill to pass all of these steps.

Many bills are favored over others when making a law, but why? This may be because some bills benefit the voters. For example, if somebody said that we would raise taxes to fund money for sidewalks and I didn’t feel a desire for sidewalks I’d probably say no. This is because it wouldn’t directly benefit me. I would be paying more money in taxes for something I wouldn’t even use. So, in our Mock Congress, we had someone propose the idea of installing sidewalks. I personally liked it because I would use them. Unfortunately, a lot of people said that they wouldn’t be necessary and that they wouldn’t be using it. So, why would they pay to have something installed that they wouldn’t benefit from? So, the end result was no. The bill was shot down. In real life, some people may be influenced to chose one bill over another.
This may be because the person sponsoring a bill might bring in snacks and drinks and try to almost bribe a member to vote yes on their bill. The author of a bill can completely influence if a bill gets passed. Someone may be influenced to chose a bill just because it’s convenient for themselves. The committee has to try to be unbiased during these processes.

During this Mock Congress, I had a lot of positive experiences. I personally really enjoyed hearing all the creative ideas my classmates had. Some ideas I can think about for hours, and wonder why they’re not already laws. I really enjoyed being able to learn about this by being in it. It has really helped me understand what it takes to get a bill approved. I really enjoyed this Mock Congress experience.

The Mock Congress I participated in was a blast. I have learned that getting a bill passed is not easy work, and takes a lot of patience and determination. It was frustrating at some points, due to all the steps and factors in getting a bill approved, but I enjoyed this experience a
lot.