How a Bill Becomes a Law

1. How a Bill Becomes a Law Objective 2.02/2.03

2. Types of Bills • Private Bills - concern individual people or places • Public Bills - apply to the entire nation • Joint Resolution - used to propose amendments, designate money for a special purpose, and to correct errors in bills already passed

4. Ideas can come from • Congress • Private Citizens • White House • Special Interest Groups • M.A.D.D. or NAACP

7. When introduced—all bills dealing with money begin in the H.O.R. • Other bills can be entered into either house

9. Committees can: • Pass a bill without changes • Add changes and suggest it be passed • Replace the original bill with a new alternative • Pigeonhole the bill—ignore it and let it die • Kill the bill by majority vote

10. Committees - REVIEW • Standing Committee- Permanent committees of .Congress. • Select Committees- Presidential committees .made for a special issue. • Joint Committees- committees of both houses of .Congress. • Conference Committees- committees to work out .a compromise bill. • Seniority: People who served longest in Congress .get preferred committee jobs

14. Only takes a majority to pass a bill and then it goes to the other house • If either house wants to change it before voting it through then a conference committee can be formed

16. The Senate allows “riders” - unrelated amendments to be tacked onto the bill during floor debate • Senators can talk as long as they want on the floor—known as a filibuster • Filibuster can be ended with a cloture - causing no talking for over 1 hour

18. The president can… Sign the bill into law

19. Veto, or refuse to sign, the bill

20. Sit on a bill for 10 days, while Congress is in session, to automatically make it a law • Sit on a bill for 10 days, while Congress is NOT in session to kill it - a.k.a. Pocket Veto

22. To overturn a veto a 2/3 vote in BOTH houses is needed

24. Unit 4 Extra Credit: How A Bill Becomes A Law • Create an ORIGINAL artistic representation of how a bill becomes a law. You can create a unique graphic organizer, comic strip, etc. but your work must have the following: • All steps of how a bill becomes a law • Each step has a title • Each step has a picture or scene • Each step has a short explanation or text box • Your work is clearly organized