The legislative process and different forms of United States legislation

¶ … Law making Process of the U.S. Government

The Law Making Process of the United States Government

The law making process in the United States government is carried out by the Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. In fact, law-making is the chief function of the Congress, and the legislative powers have been provided to it by Article I, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution that states: "All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." The legislative process comprises a number of steps, starting with the introduction of a Bill in the House or the Senate, and ending with its signing into law by the President. This research paper describes the steps in detail.

Different Forms of Legislation

Most proposed legislation is introduced in the form of a "bill" in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, except that all bills for raising revenue have to originate in the House of Representatives. A bill becomes the law after its approval by both Houses and Presidential approval. Bills may be of two types of bills -- public and private. A public bill is one that affects the public generally, while a private bill affects a specified individual or a private entity rather than the public at large. Most bills presented in the Congress are of a public nature ("Enactment of a law")

Other forms of legislation dealt with by the U.S. Congress are the joint resolution, the concurrent resolution, and the simple resolution. Joint resolutions are similar to bills, except that a joint resolution for amending the Constitution approved by two-thirds of both Houses is not presented to the President for approval, but requires to be ratified by the legislature of three-fourths of the States to become law. A concurrent resolution is concerned only with the rules, operations or opinions of both the Houses; it may originate in either House, does not require approval of the President, and according to a ruling of the Supreme Court, is not legislative in character. A simple resolution is similar to a concurrent resolution except that it is concerned with the rules, operations and opinions of either House alone (Johnson 7).

Introduction of Bills

Legislative proposals may come from any of the executive departments of the Government including the President, from private organized groups or associations, or from any individual U.S. citizen. However, a bill can only be introduced for consideration in either House by a member of the respective House, while it is in session ("Enactment of a Law," para on "Origins of Legislation").

In the House of Representatives, any member of the House may introduce a bill at any time while the House is in session by pacing it in the "hopper"; no permission is required for introducing the bill. The member who introduces the bill is called the primary sponsor and the bill may have an unlimited number of co-sponsors. The bill must carry the signature of the primary sponsor for it to be accepted. Co-sponsors' signatures on the bill are not required.

The procedure for introducing a bill in the Senate is slightly different where multiple sponsorship of a bill is permitted. A bill (or resolution) is usually presented in the Senate by presenting it to one of the clerks at the Presiding Officer's desk without comment; at other times a Senator may introduce the bill from the floor and make a statement about the measure when introducing it (Johnson 9)

Referral of Bills to Committees

Immediately after a bill is introduced and is assigned an appropriate legislative number, it is sent to an appropriate committee(s) by the Speaker of the House or the Presiding Officer. The printed and electronic versions of the bill (along with the committee(s) to which they have been referred are then made available in both Houses as well as to the public.

Until 1975, the Speaker of the House could refer a bill to only one committee but according to current rules, a bill may be sent to multiple committees for consideration of the relevant parts of the bill that may fall within the jurisdiction of each committee. However, the Speaker is usually required to designate a primary committee of jurisdiction on bills referred to multiple committees (Johnson 10).

Consideration by Committee

One of the first actions taken by a committee, after receiving a bill for consideration, is to seek the input of the relevant departments and agencies, including the General Accounting Office about a bill. Although reports from these departments are given serious consideration, they are not binding on the committee.

Public Hearing: Typically, a committee sends the bill to an appropriate subcommittee for further consideration and public hearing, unless the full committee votes to retain the measure at the full committee. Anyone, including government officials, industry experts, or a member of the public with an interest in the bill, can present testimony (in person or in writing) about a bill at these hearings (Ibid, 13).

Mark-up: After the hearings, the subcommittee considers the bill in a markup session, in which the views of both sides are studied in detail and a vote is taken to determine the action of the subcommittee. The action may consist of reporting the bill favorably to the full committee, with or without amendment, or unfavorably, or without recommendation. If the subcommittee votes not to report a bill to the full committee, the bill "dies" at this stage (Ibid. 14-15).

Reporting" of the Bill: After receiving the bill from the subcommittee, the full committee reviews the recommendations of the subcommittee. The committee may, at this stage, conduct further review, hold additional public hearings, or just vote on the report from the subcommittee. If the committee decides to support the bill, it shall send its final recommendations to the House or Senate. Once a bill has successfully passed this stage it is said to have been "reported." (Ibid. 16-17)

Committee Report: The final committee action consists of the publication of the Committee Report that comprises the purpose of the bill, its impact on existing laws, budgetary considerations, and any new taxes or tax increases that will be required by the bill. The report also typically contains transcripts from public hearings on the bill, as well as the opinions of the committee for and against the proposed bill (Ibid. 17-18)

House Floor Consideration

All reported bills next enter the stage of debate by the members on the floor of the House.

Calendars: The first step in this stage is the placement of the bill on the legislative calendar of the House or Senate. The House has several "calendars" such as the Union Calendar, the House Calendar, and the Private. Those public bills, which involve raising of revenue, or a tax or charge on the public, are placed in the Union Calendar; public involves that do not involve a cost to the government are placed on the House calendar and the private bills are placed on the Private Calendar. The Senate, on the other hand, deals with fewer bills and has only one calendar (Johnson 20). The bills are taken up in chronological order for debate on the floor of the House but the more urgent public bills may be taken up for consideration, out of turn, following a ruling by the Committee on Rules.

Debate: The rules of the House and the Senate that are normally adopted at the opening of each Congress, allow a thorough debate on the pros and cons of the bills placed in the Calendar and to make amendments in the bill if so desired. The length of time allowed for debate on a bill depends on the importance of the proposed measure and the debate time is usually divided equally between the proponents and the opponents of a measure. After the general debate, a 'second reading' of the bill is carried out during which members of the House (or the Senate, if the bill has originated in the Senate) are allowed to propose amendments in the bill ("Enactment of a Law"; Johnson 27-28).

Voting: When the amendment process is completed, the bill is put up to the house for voting. Normally a simple majority vote is required for the passage of a bill. However, the House rules require a three-fifths vote to pass a bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that contains a specified type of federal tax increase. In most cases, the voice vote is considered adequate for the voting process but the division and the recorded vote can also be employed. The division is used when it is difficult to determine the result of a voice vote; in this case the Chair asks those in favor and the ones opposed to the bill to stand and be counted in turn. A member can also demand a recorded vote if the demand is supported by one-fifth of the members. In such a case, an electronic device is used for recording the vote (Ibid., para on "Final Passage").

Referring the Bill to Other Chamber: Once a bill has been approved by one chamber of the Congress (i.e., the House or the Senate), it is sent to the other chamber for its consideration. The bill is again given the same detailed consideration in the other chamber, i.e., it goes through the process of debate and public hearings in the relevant committee and comes up for discussion on the floor of the House or Senate. The other chamber has the right to approve, reject, ignore, or amend the bill. If the bill is approved without amendments, it is sent back to its place of origin for further processing; if ignored or rejected, the bill dies a natural death (Johnson 37).

Conference Committee: If the bill is sent back with significant amendments, the chamber where the bill originated may request for the formation of a "conference committee" comprising of members of both chambers. The conference committee endeavors to reconcile the differences between the points-of-view of the two chambers. If the Committee fails to reconcile, the bill dies. If it agrees on a compromise; it has to prepare a detailed "conference report" for approval of both the chambers (Ibid. 42-45).

Enrollment: If both chambers (the House and the Senate) approve the bill in identical form after considering the conference report, the bill is "enrolled" and sent to the President for his approval. The enrolled bill is the final form of the bill, which meticulously contains all the amendments and their effect on the original bill (Ibid. 50-51).

Presidential Action: The President may sign the bill into law; if he takes no action on the bill for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. The President also has the power to veto the bill and send it back with his objections to the House of its origin; or use the "pocket veto," i.e., takes no action on the bill for ten days after Congress has adjourned their second session; in this case the bill dies (Ibid. 51-53).

Over-riding the Veto: The Congress has the powers to over-ride a Presidential veto by approving the bill with two-thirds majority of the members present (provided the quorum is met) in the House as well as the Senate.