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THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH. Mr. P’s Class. Yellow on the left, RED on the right. KEY QUESTION. You have a great idea for a new bill. Describe the process, in detail, of how a bill becomes a law. The Legislative Branch. The Great Compromise created two houses of Congress:

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THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

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  1. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH Mr. P’s Class Yellow on the left, RED on the right

  2. KEY QUESTION You have a great idea for a new bill. Describe the process, in detail, of how a bill becomes a law.

  3. The Legislative Branch The Great Compromisecreated two houses of Congress: • House of Representatives– 435 members. The number of members per state is based upon the population. • The Senate– EVERY state has two senators.

  4. The Legislative Branch VOCABULARY REPRESENTATIVES – (Members of the House of Representatives). SENATORS–(Members of the Senate).

  5. The Legislative Branch VOCABULARY APPORTIONED –(How the 435 members are divided up between the states). - based on the census. CENSUS– (Every ten years, the government counts the number of people in the U.S.A.)

  6. The Legislative Branch VOCABULARY (cont.) DISTRICTS– Area that an elected member represents. TERM– Amount of time that a member serves. CONSTITUENT– People that a member of Congress represents.

  7. The Legislative Branch REQUIREMENTS for Congress

  8. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • Two-year term. • Member must be… • Elected by people in their district. • at least 25 years old. • citizen for at least seven years. • resident of the state that they represent. The Legislative Branch

  9. THE SENATE • Six-year term. • Members must be… • elected by the people in their states. • at least 30 years old. • citizen for nine years. • resident of the state that they represent. The Legislative Branch

  10. RULES FOR CONGRESS: The Legislative Branch • If a person elected to Congress is of “questionable” character, the other members may challenge their qualifications. The Supreme Court will decide.

  11. RULES FOR CONGRESS: The Legislative Branch • Campaign money will not be used for personal expenses. • Violations of conduct may result in EXPULSION(being kicked out). • A 2/3 vote is required to expel someone.

  12. RULES FOR CONGRESS: (cont.) The Legislative Branch • SESSIONS (The amount of time that Congress meets) begin January 3rd, end in September. • In an Emergency, the President can call congress back for a “SPECIAL SESSION”.

  13. PEOPLE IN CONGRESS The Legislative Branch MAJORITY PARTY - party in a house with the most members. MINORITY PARTY - party with fewer members.

  14. SPEAKER OF THE SENATE - Vice President of the United States. -runs the Senate meetings. The Legislative Branch Joe Biden– V.P. and Speaker of the Senate

  15. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE - runs the meetings in the House of Representatives. • Elected by the membership. The Legislative Branch John Boehner (R-OH) - Speaker of the House

  16. PRESIDENT PRO-TEMPOREruns the Senate when the Vice-President is not there. • Elected by the membership. The Legislative Branch Senator Dan Inouye (D-HI) - President Pro Tempore of Senate

  17. MAJORITY LEADER(FLOOR LEADER)– Top member of the party with the most members.Elected by the party members. The Legislative Branch Eric Cantor (R-VA) – House of Rep. Harry Reid (D-NV) - Senate

  18. MINORITY LEADER (FLOOR LEADER) -Top member of the party with fewer members.Elected by the party members. The Legislative Branch Mitch McConnell (R-KY) - Senate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) - House

  19. PARTY WHIP – assists the Floor Leader. The Legislative Branch • They have to “whip” party members into shape. • Elected by the party members. Dick Durbin Steny Hoyer Kevin McCarthy Jon Kyl D-IL R-AZ D-MD R-CA Senate House House Senate

  20. DELORES ON A FRIDAY NIGHT She wanted to be “Party Whip”

  21. The Legislative Branch HOW TO MAKE A LAW HEY! Watch that pen!

  22. The Legislative Branch BILL – (a proposed law)

  23. a member of Congress has an idea for a law; • the “bill” is put into a box known as the “hopper” (sort of like a “suggestion box”). The clerk of the house empties the hopper every day, and gives all of the bills to the appropriate committee. HOPPER

  24. A bill may be introduced in either; • The House of Representatives • The Senate

  25. Before the entire House of Representatives (or Senate) votes on it, it must first pass a vote in a small committee.

  26. COMMITTEE(a group of Congressmen who work on details and create bills). The Legislative Branch Majority party has more members on the committee. This is where the REAL work of Congress is done. Members of the committees are elected by their party.

  27. 19 committees in the House. 17 in the Senate. Then the bills are sent to be worked on in a SUB-COMMITTEE. The Legislative Branch

  28. Bills are debated, worked on, compromised over, and then voted on by the FULL House of Representatives (all 435 members) or Senate (100). The Legislative Branch

  29. TYPES OF COMMITTEES The Legislative Branch SELECT COMMITTEES –deal with issues not covered by the regular committees. Iraq War, etc.

  30. TYPES OF COMMITTEES The Legislative Branch JOINT COMMITTEES–Senators and Representatives meet before a bill is voted on.

  31. TYPES OF COMMITTEES The Legislative Branch CONFERENCE COMMITTEES–Senators and Representatives meet to work out a compromise between two versions of the same bill.

  32. After going through all of this… The bill must be voted “YES” by a majority of the members of EACH house. Legislative Branch

  33. The Legislative Branch • Congress may add a “Rider”, another part of the bill that may have nothing to do with the original bill.

  34. FILIBUSTER– In the Senate only, the minority can keep debate going to prevent a losing vote. Legislative Branch As long as someone is standing and talking, the debate continues.

  35. 60 votes are needed for CLOTURE –(ending debate and beginning the vote) on a bill. Legislative Branch As long as someone is standing and talking, the debate continues.

  36. The Legislative Branch The President will VETO(reject), or sign the bill into law. VETO

  37. Legislative Branch

  38. The Legislative Branch • Ordinary citizens can create laws. • PETITION (a document with the proposed law explained in writing, followed by signatures of registered voters).

  39. INITIATIVE - (a bill created by a citizen or citizens). PROPOSITION(proposed law)- If the initiative has enough signatures it will appear on the nextBALLOT(the list of people and propositions that people will vote for or vote against). The Legislative Branch

  40. The Legislative Branch

  41. REFERENDUM(After a bill is passed by the legislature, people must also vote yes by a majority for the law to take effect). The Legislative Branch This is a way that the people can “check” the power of government.

  42. The Legislative Branch

  43. KEY QUESTION You have a great idea for a new bill. Describe the process, in detail, of how a bill becomes a law.

  44. The Legislative Branch END OF THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

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