5.4 Legislative Process

proposal is a new idea for a law

introduced by member of either House as a bill ex. H.R. 1 or S.R. 1 also referred to as a resolution

then the bill is sent to the corresponding standing committee which best suits the subject of the bill

Standing committees' job to conduct public hearings on the issues regarding the bills before them

The committee then has several options for the bill 1) recommend the bill in its entire form to the house 2) recommend the bill with changes 3) send the bill on for a vote without its recommendation 4) ignore the bill and let it "die" in committee (fate of many bills especially duplicates)

standing committees then can assign a bill to a subcommittee where subcommittees will study the bill and report to the committee as a whole with recommendations or further actions

Standing committees are led by the committee chairman or woman, who is the ranking member of the majority party

seniority was used for all Congressional positions until the 1970s and is still primarily used today

House Rules Committee is one of the most powerful committees in the House as it decides which order bills come to the floor for a vote

Joint committees are committees on which both members of the House and the Senate regularly meet ex. printing, economic, and the Library of Congress

Conference committees on which both members of the House and the Senate sit - this is used to resolve differenced between House and Senate versions of bills

House of Representatives sets limit on debate while the Senate does not

Filibuster continuous debate in order to prevent a vote

cloture the process by which a vote is taken to end debate in the Senate and requires 3/5 majority

riders is an addendum placed on a bill which would not likely pass as a bill itself and often have nothing to do with bill

if neither house passes the bill then it has to be reintroduced at the start of the next Congress

passed bills goes to the desk of the President to be signed and become law

veto is when both houses of Congress pass the bill but the president refuses or declines to sign the bill

for Congress to veto the President 2/3 of both houses are required override

does not happen much of the time

no line item veto