How a Bill Becomes a Law

A Bill has a number of stages that it goes through before it is presented to the Queen to be signed. It starts off as a discussion in the House of Commons, and if decided to be an effective new policy idea then it is sent off

It still needs to move through the committees, and pass the floor debates. If it makes its way through the House, it will need to be reviewed by the Senate, then be compromised as needed. Next it will require a Presidential signature, or a veto and override to become a law.

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.” (Sullivan 1-2)

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.

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.).

According to The House of Representatives (2015) all laws begin as ideas. Once an idea becomes a bill,

Congress must always sponsor this bill before it is introduced to the House or Senate. Several drafts may even be composed by Congress, citizens of society, lobbyists, and coalitions. Primarily though, the President is the main source when it comes down to proposing one. The four forms of congressional action process as bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions and simple resolutions. The introduction of a bill is the first step in the federal process is the referral to a standing committee where they have the power to delay, block or expedite

If two-thirds of the Senate and House agree, Congress can pass a law even if the president has vetoed it

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.

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

Once it is at the Senate it goes through the same process had as the House of Representatives, a section of the Senate members go and decide and add their changes to the bill, or decline it. If passed it goes to the next part to the rest of the Senate, who then take their turns adjusting and changing or declining the bill. Then after the whole Senate has review and changed the bill of necessary is goes back to the House of Representatives, who then look over if they like the changes the Senate made to the bill. If the House of Reps find things they do not like, then it is not declined, but goes to a Conference Committee making up parts of the Senate, and parts of the House of Representatives their

In order to fully comprehend how a bill comes into law we must first explore what a bill is, what party make up congress and what role the president play in passing a bill to a law. To begin, in legal terms, a bill is the form used for most legislation, whether permanent or temporary, general or special, public or private. It can be propose by citizens, the president or congress itself. Next, it moves to Congress. Congress is a legislative body comprising two inner bodies, the Senate and House of Representatives. The current Congressional house is composed of 535 members, 100 senators, 435 representatives and 6 non-voting members. It is also important to mention that the political view of the parties can play an effective of what bills become

First, the congress can send the bill to the President to be signed and passed into a law. However, if the President vetoes the bill, it is then sent back to congress. Congress can then take a vote on the bill and if two-thirds vote to pass it, the bill is made into a law. Lastly, the President can decide to neither sign the bill nor veto the bill. If this happens when the congress is in session, the bill will become a law after ten days without the President’s signature. (Congressforkids.net)

Now that the bill has been passed through the House, it is ready to go through the proceedings of the Senate. First, the bill is again introduced but now by a senator who must be recognized by the presiding officer and announce the introduction of the bill. A bill that has passed either house of congress is sometimes called an act, but the term usually means legislation that has passed both houses and become a law. Secondly, the Vice President of the US, who is the presiding officer of the Senate, assigns the proposed law to a committee for further study ( the Senate has about 15 standing committees). The committees or one of its subcommittees studies the bill and may hold hearings. The committee may approve the bill as is, revise the bill, or table the bill. Now the bill goes to the Senate to await its turn on the Senate floor. Normally the bill is considered as introduced unless the bill is urgent in which case the leaders of the majority party might push it ahead. At this time the Senate considers the bill. Here senators can debate a bill indefinitely, unless voted otherwise. When there is no further discussion, the Senate votes. Most bills must have simple majority to pass. At this point of development, the process is especially exemplary because the bill in the Senate is now considered by debate to better illustrate its strengths and/or weaknesses. To summarize, the bill has now been passed by both houses of congress.

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.