To pass a bill, a bill is submitted, referred to a committee, debated and voted on in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then sent to the President for approval. If the bill passes in both houses identically, it is sent to the president, who can sign it into law, veto it, or take no action, which can also lead to the bill becoming law. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If published by the committee, the bill is placed on a schedule to be voted on, debated, or amended.
If the bill is passed by a simple majority (218 out of 43), the bill goes to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if published, is debated and voted on. Once again, a simple majority (51 out of 100) approves the bill. Finally, a conference committee comprised of members from the House of Representatives and the Senate resolves any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
The resulting bill returns to the House of Representatives and the Senate for final approval. The Government Publications Office prints the revised bill in a process called registration. The president has 10 days to sign or veto the registered bill. Once the bill has been drafted, it must be submitted.
If a representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate. Once a bill is submitted, it can be found on Congress, gov, which is the official government website that tracks federal legislation. If the bill is approved by one body of Congress, it goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes and voting. Kids in the House was originally published by the Office of the Secretary of the United States House of Representatives, providing educational and entertaining information about the legislative branch of the United States Government to students of all ages.
Find activities and lessons about the role of the U.S. UU. The House of Representatives and the Legislative Process. This site is under construction; please revisit it for new material.
View and download activities designed for young students about how the House works, its architecture, art and history. The legislative process begins with a new political idea. Senators often come up with these ideas, but they come from many other places, such as the constituents of a senator, an organization calling for a new law, or a state official. Regardless of the source, this idea serves as a starting point for any bill or new bill. A bill can go through committee meetings, debates, changes, and votes.
If both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve it, the governor decides whether to sign it into law. Below are the most common steps a bill will take. Members can submit bills one month before the session begins. This is called an early filing. Pre-submitted bills are officially presented on the first day of the session.
The path of a law, from the time it's just an idea to the moment it reaches the governor's desk for approval, is full of detours. For an idea (in the form of a bill) to become law, both houses must approve it in the same way. This is achieved through the gradual process described below. A bill can be introduced in any chamber; however, for the following example, we will use the House of Representatives as the home chamber. Bills can also be introduced by individuals or groups of citizens who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress who represents them.
A bill will become law without the governor's signature if you don't sign or veto it within a certain period of time. When the House of Representatives or the Senate approves a bill, it is referred to the other chamber, where it normally goes through committees and finally goes to the plenary. If the president decides to veto a bill, in most cases Congress can vote to override that veto and the bill becomes law. While the Legislature is in session, the governor has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to sign or veto bills passed by both houses.
Both houses must vote to approve the conference committee report for the bill to be approved by the Legislature. Learn how a bill becomes law and how the process is different in the House of Representatives and the Senate. When a bill is in the hands of the committee, it is carefully examined and its chances of being approved by the entire Congress are determined. In this second step, the rules committee decides whether to schedule the bill for a second reading in the House of Representatives or the Senate. The committee system acts as a funnel through which the large number of bills submitted at each session must pass before they can be considered.
However, if the governor doesn't sign or veto a bill within the 10-day period, it means that it automatically becomes law. Bills that are not approved or that are vetoed by the governor must be reintroduced in the next session; the bill number is not kept. Any member of Congress, whether in the Senate, House of Representatives, or Representatives, who has an idea for a bill can write a bill. This is called rule review in the House of Representatives and white rules in the Senate (the report that lists bills from this stage in the Senate is printed on white paper).
If the president doesn't take any action for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. Once an idea for a new law has been established, it must be drafted as a bill before it can be considered by the Senate.
