How A Bill Becomes A Law
How a Bill Becomes a Law
The origin of a law can come from all over; whether it be from the mind of an ordinary citizen, a cry out from a right 's group, a member or staff member of Congress, or from the President himself. However, to keep our system clean from unnecessary or even oppressive laws, the framers of our Constitution went to great steps of making the process of legislature becoming law a very long and tedious process. Many critics would argue that there 's inefficiency in the system, and that Congress takes too much time in a fast paced ever evolving country such as ours. But it 's this same legislative process that keeps the debates and passing of laws democratic
The Birth; Proposal and Support
Once again; The idea of new legislation can come from anywhere, but it takes a member of Congress (the sponsor) to introduce it. There are four forms of legislation; Bills , simple resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and joint resolutions. "The large majority of legislation are bills. In the 109th Congress, Members introduced over 6400 bills, compared to 1100 simple resolutions, 500 concurrent resolutions, and 100 joint resolutions." Upon introduction, a bill is given a number; HR signifying it being a House bill, S for a Senate bill. After the bill is introduced, the Library of Congress publishes copies of new legislation online on their web site. This is a great tool for citizens to stay informed on what is going on in their government.(Engel, E.)
Subcommittee and Committee action
The bill is then sent to a committee and or first a subcommittee who 's jurisdiction covers the nature of its legislature. There are 21 official House Committees and various subcommittees, and in many cases, the bill is sent to a variety of them. It is in this phase that nearly 90 percent of bills die. On account that most bills are usually very large in volume, the subcommittee is usually the first to receive the legislature. The subcommittee marks the bill on the committee
The origin of a law can come from all over; whether it be from the mind of an ordinary citizen, a cry out from a right 's group, a member or staff member of Congress, or from the President himself. However, to keep our system clean from unnecessary or even oppressive laws, the framers of our Constitution went to great steps of making the process of legislature becoming law a very long and tedious process. Many critics would argue that there 's inefficiency in the system, and that Congress takes too much time in a fast paced ever evolving country such as ours. But it 's this same legislative process that keeps the debates and passing of laws democratic
The Birth; Proposal and Support
Once again; The idea of new legislation can come from anywhere, but it takes a member of Congress (the sponsor) to introduce it. There are four forms of legislation; Bills , simple resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and joint resolutions. "The large majority of legislation are bills. In the 109th Congress, Members introduced over 6400 bills, compared to 1100 simple resolutions, 500 concurrent resolutions, and 100 joint resolutions." Upon introduction, a bill is given a number; HR signifying it being a House bill, S for a Senate bill. After the bill is introduced, the Library of Congress publishes copies of new legislation online on their web site. This is a great tool for citizens to stay informed on what is going on in their government.(Engel, E.)
Subcommittee and Committee action
The bill is then sent to a committee and or first a subcommittee who 's jurisdiction covers the nature of its legislature. There are 21 official House Committees and various subcommittees, and in many cases, the bill is sent to a variety of them. It is in this phase that nearly 90 percent of bills die. On account that most bills are usually very large in volume, the subcommittee is usually the first to receive the legislature. The subcommittee marks the bill on the committee
References: Engel, E., (n.d). How a Bill Becomes a Law, retrieved from http://engel.house.gov/index.cfm?SectionID=91 DeSilver, D., (2014). Who’s poor in America? 50 years into the ‘War on Poverty,’ a data portrait from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/13/whos-poor-in-america-50-years-into-the-war-on-poverty-a-data-portrait/