How a Bill Becomes a Law

1. Chapter 5:
The Legislative Branch
Section 4:
How A Bill Becomes a Law

2. Types of Bills
 A “bill” is a written idea for a law
 Two types of Bills:
1. Private Bill : bills that concern
only certain individuals or places.
2. Public Bill: apply to the entire
nation

3. Step 1
 These ideas can come from Congress, private
citizens or from the White House (i.e. The
President)
 Special Interest Groups (groups of individuals
who try to influence Congress) may also present
ideas to Congress that may become bills.

4. Step 2
 Every “bill” must start out and be
introduced by a Senator or
a member of the House .
 But any citizen can suggest a bill
to him/her
 Every “bill” is given a title and
number when it is introduced –
H.R.1 or S.1

5. Step 3
 After it is introduced, each “bill” is then sent to
the committee that seems most qualified to
handle it.
 A bill about standardized testing would be sent to the
Education Committees in the House and the Senate.
Standing Committee can do 5 things:
1. Pass bill without change
2. Make changes and suggest the bill
pass
3. Replace with alternative (new/better)
bill
4. Pigeonhole: ignore the bill until it
dies
5. Kill the bill by majority vote.

6. Step 4
 Committees receive hundreds of “bills” and they
decide the life or death of these bills
 Those that the committee feels are valuable are then
sent to a subcommittee to be researched (public
hearings may be held)
 In a public hearing about standardized testing, the
subcommittee would hear from principals, teachers, parents,
etc.

7. Step 5
 The subcommittee will report back to the committee
who will decide if the “bill” should:
1. Pass without changes
2. Have changes and be passed along
3. Be replaced with a new/better bill
4. Die – the bill is killed and has no chance of becoming a law that
session of Congress.

8. Step 6
 If a “bill” is approved by the committee, then it is ready
to be heard and voted on by the full House of
Representatives or the full Senate.
 When a bill reaches the floor of the House or Senate, the
members argue their pros and cons
 The Senate (only) can add riders (a completely
unrelated item to the bill)
 The Senate also allows filibusters (when a Senator
tries to “talk a bill to death”)
 A filibuster can only be stopped by a 3/5ths vote for
cloture, meaning to end the filibuster and take a
vote.

9. Longest Filibuster Ever…
 The record for the longest
filibuster goes to U.S. Sen.
Strom Thurmond of South
Carolina, who spoke for 24
hours and 18 minutes
against the Civil Rights Act
of 1957, according to U.S.
Senate records.

10. Step 7
 The next step is for the members of the
House of Representatives or the Senate to
vote.
 There are three different ways that a vote can
be taken:
1. Voice Vote (Senate only)
2. Standing Vote (Senate only)
3. Roll-call or today’s Computerized
Vote
 A simple majority vote is all that is needed
to pass a “bill”. If either house refuses to pass
it, the bill dies.
 The “bill” must be passed in identical formats
in both houses – conference committees may
be needed

11. Step 8
 Presidential Action is the final step in the process.
 To help us remember the possible Presidential
actions on a bill, we will use the mnemonic device
SVD(P2)
After a bill passes through both houses, it goes to the President.

12. SVD(P2)
S stands for Sign It! The President can sign the
bill into law!
V stands for Veto – which means to refuse to sign.
 As a limit on the President’s power to veto, Congress can
override the veto with a 2/3rds vote in each house – very
unlikely
D stands for “Do Nothing” … The President can
avoid acting on a bill by just leaving it on his desk.
He is given 10 Days to “do nothing”… after 10 Days,
 If Congress is still in session – the Bill becomes a Law, it
automatically PASSES!
 If Congress’ session ends before the 10 Days are up, the bill
dies and this is called a POCKET VETO!

13.  The basic steps in the
lawmaking process are
much the same in the
House and the Senate.
 There are a few differences,
for example: The Rules
Committee is specific to
House and they approve
the conditions of which the
House consider the
measure.

14. How a Bill Becomes a law
1. Idea
2. Introduced
3. Committee
4. Subcommittee
5. Committee
6. Full House or Senate Debate
7. Full House or Senate Vote
8. Presidential Action
Video Review – how did “Bill” go
through our “steps” of the law making
process?
Click here!

15. Mini Quiz
 1. Who gives Congress ideas for laws?
 2. True/False: Only members of Congress can
introduce bills?
 3. How many bills are introduced each year?
 4. How many actually become a law?
 5. What is the difference between a private and a
public bill?
 6. If the President veto’s a bill, is it dead?