How are Bills Made Into Laws?

1. How are Bills Made Into Laws?

2. Laws start as ideas people have • They want to make something better • People have many ideas • All ideas must go on the same path to become laws.

3. How a Bill becomes a Law • They all start in Congress • They can start in the House of Representatives or in the Senate • Bills about taxes MUST start in the H of R. • There are 6 steps to make a bill a law

4. Step 1: Introduce the Bill • Imagine our friend Nour is in the H of Reps. She has an idea to lower taxes in her state to help businesses grow • She writes her ideas down as a bill and then puts her bill into a box called the Hopper. • Nour’s bill is then read by a person who gives it a number and description, and prints it in the Congressional Record. • Then the bill is sent to a committee

5. Step 2: The Committee Stage • The committee that works with issues related to Nour’s bill read it carefully. • They listen to people who want the bill and people who do not want the bill • They ask a LOT of questions • Then the Committee votes • If the bill passes, then it goes to the House of Representatives

6. Step 3: Debating in the H of R • Representatives read the bill very carefully • They debate the bill, and are each allowed 1 hour to talk about it • Some will agree and some will disagree about the bill • This debate can last HOURS • When the debate finally is over, the bill is printed in its final form • Then they vote. If it passes, it goes to the Senate and they start all over again!

7. Step 4: Debating in the Senate • Senators do the same thing • Let’s say that Senator Hassan from Michigan adds an amendment to Joan’s bill. • Then, the Senate votes • If the bill passes, then it has to go to a special conference committee, because now there are 2 versions of the bill • How did that happen?

8. Step 5: Conference Committee • Because Senator Hassan made an amendment, there are now 2 versions of Nour’s bill. • The Conference Committee has to make both versions agree with each other • They meet in secret, and can ONLY talk about the things in the bill that are not the same • Then the bill has to go BACK through both H of R and the Senate, and pass again. This is usually pretty fast the 2nd time

9. Step 6: The President • The final step is getting the President to sign the bill • President Beale can do 4 things: • Sign the bill right away so it is a law • Veto the bill. If this happens, then Congress has to get 2/3 of both the H of R and Senate to vote for it, then it can pass anyways (Overriding a Veto) • Leave the bill unsigned for 10 days while Congress is in session. Then it automatically becomes a law without the President • Leave the bill unsigned for 10 days while Congress is NOT in session. They the bill “dies”—it does not become a law and they would have to start all over.

10. Filibusters • Representatives can only speak for 1 hour • But Senators can speak for as long as they want • Sometimes Senators try to kill a bill by talking for so long that Congress has to work on something else and it dies • One Senator once spoke for 15 hours straight • Senate can end a filibuster by voting for a cloture. If 3/5 of the Senate (60 Senators) vote for cloture, then the filibuster is stopped. Then everyone only has 1 hour to speak and a vote has to be made

11. Homework over the weekend: • Draw a diagram, picture, or something else that represents the steps a bill has to take to become a bill. • Due Monday!