How a bill becomes a law
I) Intro
A. I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill and I’m sitting here on capital hill.
B. According to We the People: An Introduction to American Politics by Benjamin Ginsberg. Laws are made in Congress by following a series of steps before being handed by the president and becoming laws
C. The major steps bills need to pass in the following order are:
C.i. Introduction
C.ii. Committee review
C.iii. Action on the floor
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II) Legislation can introduce a bill
A. House, Legislation is handed to the clerk of the House or placed in the hopper.
B. Senate, presiding officer has to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour. If any senator objects, the introduction of the bill is postponed until the next day.
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III) Assigned to a Committee Then the bill is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian.
A. Bill can be assigned to subcommittee by Chairman
A.i. Subcommittees report their findings to the full committee.
A.ii. Finally there is a vote by the full committee and the bill is “ordered to be reported”
B. A committee will hold a "mark-up" session during which it will make revisions and additions.
C. Written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, adopted.
D. In the House, most bills go to the Rules committee before reaching the floor.
D.i. A "closed rule" sets strict time limits on debate and forbids the introduction of amendments.
D.ii. The rules committee can be bypassed in three ways: 1) members can move rules to be suspended (requires 2/3 vote)2) a discharge petition can be filed 3) the House can use a Calendar Wednesday procedure.
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IV) Floor Action
A. Legislation is placed on the Calendar
A.i. House: Bills are placed on one of the House Calendars:,
A.i.1. Union Calendar(bills that address money),
A.i.2. House
A. I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill and I’m sitting here on capital hill.
B. According to We the People: An Introduction to American Politics by Benjamin Ginsberg. Laws are made in Congress by following a series of steps before being handed by the president and becoming laws
C. The major steps bills need to pass in the following order are:
C.i. Introduction
C.ii. Committee review
C.iii. Action on the floor
>
II) Legislation can introduce a bill
A. House, Legislation is handed to the clerk of the House or placed in the hopper.
B. Senate, presiding officer has to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour. If any senator objects, the introduction of the bill is postponed until the next day.
>
III) Assigned to a Committee Then the bill is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian.
A. Bill can be assigned to subcommittee by Chairman
A.i. Subcommittees report their findings to the full committee.
A.ii. Finally there is a vote by the full committee and the bill is “ordered to be reported”
B. A committee will hold a "mark-up" session during which it will make revisions and additions.
C. Written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, adopted.
D. In the House, most bills go to the Rules committee before reaching the floor.
D.i. A "closed rule" sets strict time limits on debate and forbids the introduction of amendments.
D.ii. The rules committee can be bypassed in three ways: 1) members can move rules to be suspended (requires 2/3 vote)2) a discharge petition can be filed 3) the House can use a Calendar Wednesday procedure.
>
IV) Floor Action
A. Legislation is placed on the Calendar
A.i. House: Bills are placed on one of the House Calendars:,
A.i.1. Union Calendar(bills that address money),
A.i.2. House