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The Legislative Process: How Bills Become Laws

Learn about the process by which federal legislation is proposed, reviewed, and enacted, including the power of Congress to raise and spend money, factors that influence members of Congress, and how they help constituents.

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The Legislative Process: How Bills Become Laws

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  1. Splash Screen

  2. Chapter Focus Section 1 How a Bill Becomes a Law Section 2 Taxing and Spending Bills Section 3 Influencing Congress Section 4 Helping Constituents Chapter Assessment Contents

  3. Why It’s Important

  4. Chapter Objectives • How a Bill Becomes a Law Explain the process by which federal legislation is proposed, reviewed, and enacted. • Taxing and Spending Bills Analyze the power of Congress to raise and spend money through tax laws and appropriations bills. • Influencing Congress Identify factors that often influence members of Congress. • Helping Constituents Explain how members of Congress help voters in their state of district. Chapter Objectives

  5. End of Chapter Focus

  6. How a Bill Becomes a Law • Key Terms • private bill, public bill, simple resolution, rider, hearing, veto, pocket veto Find Out • Why is it easier to defeat legislation than to pass it? • What are the positive and negative implications of the lengthy process through which all bills must go before becoming laws? Section 1 Introduction-1

  7. How a Bill Becomes a Law • Understanding Concepts • Political ProcessesWhy does it take so long for Congress to pass legislation? Section Objective Explain how federal legislation is proposed, reviewed, and enacted. Section 1 Introduction-2

  8. One important bill was passed in a single day. In March 1933, on his first day in office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt drafted a bill closing the nation’s banks to prevent their collapse. The Senate and House both debated and passed the bill, and President Roosevelt signed it into law that evening. Section 1-1

  9. I. Types of Bills and Resolutions (pages 181–183) • A. Public bills involve national issues; private bills deal with individual people or places. B. Resolutions may be passed by either house or by both houses jointly. C. Both houses pass concurrent resolutions, which do not have the force of law. D. A rider is a provision attached to a bill on an unrelated subject. Section 1-2

  10. I. Types of Bills and Resolutions (pages 181–183) • E. Only a few bills become laws because: 1. the process is long and complex; 2. measures must have broad support; 3. supportersmustbewillingtocompromise; 4. many bills are introduced that have no chance of passing. Section 1-2

  11. I. Types of Bills and Resolutions (pages 181–183) Why might a major public bill require months to move through Congress? Many major public bills deal with controversial issues and may be debated for months. Section 1-3

  12. II. Introducing a Bill (pages 183–186) • A. Introducing a new bill in Congress is the first step in the lawmaking process. B. New bills are sent to committees and sometimes subcommittees. C. Both houses usually agree with the committees’ decision on a bill. D. If a committee decides to act on a bill, it holds hearings on it. E. When a committee hearing is complete, committee members review the bill line by line and make changes in it by a majority vote. Section 1-4

  13. II. Introducing a Bill (pages 183–186) • F. The committee kills or reports the bill to the House or Senate, sending with the bill a written report that describes the bill, explains the committee’s actions, lists the committee’s changes, and recommends passage or defeat. Section 1-5

  14. II. Introducing a Bill (pages 183–186) Why do congressional committees play such a key role in bills after they are introduced? Committee members have authority because they are considered experts on the bills they receive. Section 1-6

  15. III. Floor Action (pages 186–187) • A. During debate any lawmaker may offer amendments. B. The bill, including proposed changes, must receive a majority vote in both the House and Senate to pass. C. Congress may use standing, roll-call, record, or voice votes. Section 1-7

  16. III. Floor Action (pages 186–187) How may bills be changed during floor debates in each house? Amendments may be added. Section 1-8

  17. IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188) • A. To become a law, a bill must pass in identical form in both houses; conference committees work out differences when necessary, and send a compromise bill to each house of Congress for final action. B. The president may then let the bill become law by signing it or keeping it 10 days without signing it, or kill it using a veto or pocket veto. C. Congress can override a presidential veto by a two-thirds vote in each house. Section 1-9

  18. IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188) • D. The line-item veto was challenged in the Supreme Court and declared unconstitutional. E. After a bill becomes a law, it is registered with the National Archives and Records Service. F. Citizens can track legislation using an online information resource called THOMAS. Section 1-10

  19. IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188) Section 1-11

  20. IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188) Do you believe the president’s line-item veto is constitutional? Explain. Answers will vary. Students should demonstrate understanding of legislative powers. Section 1-12

  21. Checking for Understanding • 1. Main Idea Create a flow chart to analyze the major stages by which a bill becomes a law. Which stage do you think takes the longest? Introduced, Committee action, Floor action, Conference action, Sent to president. Answers will vary. Students may suggest the committee step is the longest step because of hearings that may take place regarding the bill. Section 1 Assessment-1

  22. Checking for Understanding • A. when a president kills a bill passed during the last 10 days Congress is in session by simply refusing to act on it • B. a statement adopted to cover matters affecting only one house of Congress • C. a provision included in a bill on a subject other than the one covered in the bill • D. rejection of a bill • E. a bill dealing with general matters and applying to the entire nation • F. a bill dealing with individual people or places Match the term with the correct definition. ___ private bill ___ public bill ___ simple resolution ___ rider ___ pocket veto ___ veto F E B C A D Section 1 Assessment-2

  23. Checking for Understanding • 3. Identify voice vote, standing vote, roll-call vote. A voice vote occurs when a bill is voted upon and members together call out “Aye” or “No.” A standing vote, or division vote, occurs when those in favor of the bill stand and are counted and then those opposed stand and are counted. A roll-call vote is a voting method in which everyone responds “Aye” or “No” as their names are called in alphabetical order. Section 1 Assessment-3

  24. Checking for Understanding • 4. Why do so few bills actually become laws? The process provides opportunities to kill a bill. Many bills are introduced that have little chance of becoming law. Section 1 Assessment-4

  25. Critical Thinking • 5. Drawing Conclusions Is it possible for all members of Congress to keep abreast of all bills under consideration? Support your answer. Possible answer: Because the task is impossible single-handedly, Congress has the subcommittee system, aides, party leaders, and so on. Section 1 Assessment-5

  26. Political Processes Imagine that you are asked to help younger children learn how laws are made in the United States. Create a poster, using cartoonlike illustrations, to show how a bill becomes a law. Section 1 Concepts in Action

  27. End of Section 1

  28. Taxing and Spending Bills • Key Terms • tax, closed rule, appropriation, authorization bill, entitlement Find Out • What authority does Congress have over how the national government will raise and spend money? • What is the procedure whereby Congress provides money to the executive agencies and departments? Section 2 Introduction-1

  29. Taxing and Spending Bills • Understanding Concepts • Public PolicyWhen Congress votes to begin a government program, what process is followed to fund that program? Section Objective Analyze the ways in which Congress raises and spends money. Section 2 Introduction-2

  30. Members of Congress often promote spending bills that benefit their district or state. For example, in 1997 Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama added a measure to the House appropriations bill to spend $3 million for fertilizer research in Alabama. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas added a bill to build a new commuter lane on a bridge in El Paso. Both senators were important members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and their efforts were successful. Section 2-1

  31. I. MakingDecisionsAboutTaxes(pages 189–190) • A. The House of Representatives has exclusive power to start all revenue bills, and all important work on tax laws occurs in the House Ways and Means Committee. B. Until the 1970s the closed rule forbade members of Congress from amending tax bills from the floor of the House; members felt tax bills were too complicated and in too much danger of being amended under pressure from special-interest groups to allow such changes. Section 2-2

  32. I. MakingDecisionsAboutTaxes(pages 189–190) • C. In 1973 the House revolted against the powerful Ways and Means Committee and its chairperson to do away with the closed rule; critics charge that doing away with this rule has allowed tax bills to become a collection of amendments favoring special interests. D. The Senate may propose changes in tax bills, and the Senate Committee on Finance has primary responsibility for tax matters. Section 2-3

  33. I. MakingDecisionsAboutTaxes(pages 189–190) Compare the role of the House Ways and Means Committee in tax legislation before the 1970s with the role it plays today. See discussion of changes in closed-rule procedure on text page 190. Section 2-4

  34. II. Appropriating Money (pages 191–192) • A. Congress has the power of appropriation, or approval of government spending. B. Congress uses a two-step procedure in appropriating money: 1. an authorization bill, setting up a federal program and specifying how much money may be spent on it; 2. an appropriations bill, providing the money needed to carry out the program or law. C. In each house of Congress, an appropriations committee and its subcommittees handle appropriations bills. Section 2-5

  35. II. Appropriating Money (pages 191–192) • D. Appropriations subcommittees may develop close relationships with certain agencies and projects for which they appropriate funds. E. Powerful interest groups try to influence appropriations subcommittees to give the agencies all the money they request. F. Most of the money the federal government spends each year is for uncontrollable expenditures. Section 2-6

  36. II. Appropriating Money (pages 191–192) Why are certain expenditures such as social security given long-term spending authority? Government entitlement programs must be honored from year to year. Section 2-7

  37. Checking for Understanding • 1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the one below, show the two-step procedure that Congress follows when appropriating money. 1. authorization bill 2. appropriations bill Section 2 Assessment-1

  38. Checking for Understanding • A. forbids members of Congress to offer amendments to a bill from the floor • B. a required government expenditure that continues from one year to the next • C. sets up a federal program and specifies how much money may be appropriated for the program • D. money that people and businesses pay to support the activities of the government • E. approval of government spending Match the term with the correct definition. ___ tax ___ closed rule ___ appropriation ___ authorization bill ___ entitlement D A E C B Section 2 Assessment-2

  39. Checking for Understanding • 3. Identify Ways and Means Committee, HUD. The Ways and Means Committee is a House committee where almost all important work on tax laws occurs. They decide whether to go along with presidential requests for tax cuts or increases. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, is a federal government agency whose mission is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. Section 2 Assessment-3

  40. Checking for Understanding • 4. What control does the House Ways and Means Committee exert over presidential requests for changes in tax laws? It decides whether to go along with presidential requests for tax cuts or increases. Section 2 Assessment-4

  41. Critical Thinking • 5. Synthesizing Information Do you think Congress should have the power both to raise and to spend money? Support your answer. Answers will vary. Students who agree may suggest that the checks and balances provided are sufficient to prevent abuse of the power, and that Congress, as the branch of government closest to the people, is perhaps the most appropriate body to make those decisions. Section 2 Assessment-5

  42. Public Policy Using the library or the Internet, research the major categories of revenue and expenditure in the current federal budget. Find out what amounts of money the government plans to raise and spend in each category. Create an illustrated report or series of graphs and charts. Section 2 Concepts in Action

  43. End of Section 2

  44. Influencing Congress • Key Terms • lobbyist, lobbying Find Out • How closely should the votes of members of Congress reflect the opinions of their constituents? • What factors must a member of Congress weigh when deciding whether to support the views of an interest group or of the president? Section 3 Introduction-1

  45. Influencing Congress • Understanding Concepts • Political ProcessesWhat specific groups and individuals influence the legislators’ decisions? Section Objective Identify factors that often influence members of Congress. Section 3 Introduction-2

  46. Lobbyists representing interest groups may have gotten their name from favor-seekers operating in the New York state legislature. As early as the 1820s, those favor-seekers sought out New York lawmakers in the “lobby”—the corridor or other parts of the state capital building at Albany—seeking to influence legislators’ votes. Since that time, lobbyists have become one of the most powerful influences on governments. Section 3-1

  47. I. Influences on Lawmakers (page 194) • A. Lawmakers’ views on decisions are seldom based on individual conscience. B. Voters back home, lawmakers’ staff members, lawmakers’ own political parties, the president, and special-interest groups all influence lawmakers’ views. Section 3-2

  48. I. Influences on Lawmakers (page 194) Why do members of Congress consider other factors and not just cast their votes according to their own views on proposed bills? Lawmakers want to serve their constituents, be reelected, and support their party or president. Section 3-3

  49. II. The Influence of Voters (pages 195–196) • A. Lawmakers are heavily influenced by the needs and opinions of their constituents. B. Lawmakers stay informed of voters’ attitudes and needs by making frequent trips back home, by reading messages from home, by questionnaires, and by reports from their staff in their home district. Section 3-4

  50. II. The Influence of Voters (pages 195–196) What influence do voters back home have on lawmakers’ decisions on legislation? On issues that affect their constituents’ daily lives, lawmakers generally listen to voters’ preferences. Section 3-5

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