The Job of a Legislator

1. The Job of a Legislator The work of Washington

2. What they do… • Legislative Branch: Job and Compensation • Legislator and Representative of Constituency • Committee Members • Servants of their Constituents • Politicians

3. What they do… • Legislator and Representative • 4 voting options • Trustee • Vote on each individual piece of legislation on its own merits • Don’t necessarily follow constituency • Delegate • Agents of those who elected them • Suppress their own views and ignore party leaders • Partisan • Vote in line with the party that they belong to • Most studies show this to be the most common in voting practices • Politicos • Attempt to combine the basic elements of the trustee, delegate, and partisan • Problem: they could all conflict

4. What is a Committee? • What is a Committee comprised of? • Comprised of anywhere from 10 to 75 members • Usually about 14-28 members • House members: 1 or 2 standing committees • Senate members: 3 or 4 standing committees • What does a Committee do? • Bill receive most thorough consideration in committee • Senate and House often respect the decisions made by committees…pass it or not based off of what the committee decides • Woodrow Wilson: “Congress in committee rooms [is] Congress at work.”

5. CommitteesinCongress • Standing Committee- Permanent committee in a legislative body to which bills in a specified subject-matter area are referred • Select Committee- Legislative committee created for a limited time and for some specific purpose; also known as a special committee (Ad Hoc Committee) • Joint Committee- Legislative committee composed of members of both houses • Conference Committee- Temporary joint committee created to reconcile any differences between the two houses’ versions of a bill

6. Committee Room

7. Permanent Committees of Congress • House Standing Committees: • Agriculture • Appropriations • Armed Services • Budget • Education and the Workforce • Energy and Commerce • Financial Services • Government Reform • House Administration • International Relations • Judiciary • Resources • Rules science • Small business • Standards of Official Conduct • Transportation and Infrastructure • Veterans Affairs • Ways and Means • Senate Standing Committees: • Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry • Appropriations • Armed Services • Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs • Budget • Commerce, Science and Transportation • Energy and Natural Resources • Environment and Public Works • Finance • Foreign Relations • Governmental Affairs • Indian Affairs • Judiciary • Health, Education, Labor and Pensions • Rules and Administration • Small Business and Entrepreneurship • Veterans Affairs Joint Committees of Congress: Economic, The Library, Printing and Taxation

8. What they do… • Committee Member • Review proposed laws (bills) • Screen the proposals in the bill • Decide what will and will not go to the floor of the House and Senate • Oversight Function • Congressional committees check to make sure that the various agencies of the executive branch are working effectively and in line with the policies that congress has set up by law

9. What is a Committee—Con’t • Leading House Committees • Rules • Ways and Means • Appropriations • Armed Services • Judiciary • International Relation • Agriculture • Leading Senate Committees • Foreign Relations • Appropriations • Finance • Judiciary • Armed Services • Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

10. Permanent Committees of Congress • House Standing Committees: • Agriculture • Appropriations • Armed Services • Budget • Education and the Workforce • Energy and Commerce • Financial Services • Government Reform • House Administration • International Relations • Judiciary • Resources • Rules science • Small business • Standards of Official Conduct • Transportation and Infrastructure • Veterans Affairs • Ways and Means • A representative from a district that is comprised of all urban dwellers might want to sit on the Education and the Workforce • A representative from a district that is comprised of all rural dwellers might want to sit on the Agriculture committee

11. Committees in Congress • House Rules Committee- Arguable the most powerful committee in the House and Congress as a whole • Decides what will be debated on and how much time they will have on the floor • “Traffic Cop”- speed up, delay or kill a bill before it ever reaches the floor

12. What they do… • Servant • Assist their constituents with problems or concerns • Social Security • Medicare • Passport Applications • A lack of response leads to less votes in subsequent elections • Pat Roberts Examples • Boeing • Child Healthcare • Greensburg

13. Compensation • Salary (2009) • Senators and Representatives: $174,000 • Speaker of the House: $223,500 • Majority and Minority floor leaders: $193,400

14. Compensation • Nonsalary Compensation • Specific tax exemptions • Members must maintain two residencies • Home state • Washington • Travel allowances • Cheap life and health insurance • Retirement plan based on years of service • Offices • Funds given for staff • Franking privileges • Free printing • Etc.

15. Compensation • Limits on Congressional Pay • Presidential Veto • Voter Backlash • Membership Privileges • Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 • Legislative Immunity • Pg: 285