Gov: House Final Steps

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Content Objective:

Understand the process by which laws are developed at the federal level, and key differences between how laws are developed at the federal level and state level.

Language Objectives:

• Understand, learn, and use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly through informational text and direct instruction.
• Identify and/or summarize main ideas, facts, supporting details, and opinions in an informational and/or practical selection.
• Read and synthesize information found in various parts of charts, tables, or diagrams to reach supported conclusions.

Learning Target:

Students will explain the formal process of how a bill travels through Congress and factors that influence the lawmaking process.

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Legislative Process in Action

This activity introduces students to the central action of representative government by engaging them in analyzing a model sequence of lawmaking. In practice, the legislative process can be abbreviated or more complex; this lesson introduces the 10 elemental steps that demonstrate how Congress acts. Before it becomes law, a bill must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate. These distinct institutions have different rules and unique traditions which slightly alter the process. However, the 10 steps described here are common to both chambers:

1. Desire for legislation is voiced
2. Bill is introduced and referred to committee
3. Committee collects testimony and information
4. Committee reports to full chamber
5. Floor debate
6. Vote on bill
7. Process is repeated in other chamber
8. House and Senate bills are reconciled in a conference

Final Steps

Once the House or Senate passes a bill, the bill does not go directly to the president. Both chambers of Congress must vote to approve the bill in identical form before it goes from Capitol Hill to the White House for the president’s signature. A bill first passed by the House must be voted on by the Senate and vice versa.

If the bill is changed in any way by the second chamber, the House and Senate will have to work out a compromise version. This often happens informally, and leaders from the two chambers iron out their differences and come to an agreement on any amendments.

However, with major or controversial legislation, House and Senate leaders cannot reach agreement informally. In such cases, the bill is sent to a joint conference committee. The task of this committee is to work out a compromise that a majority of lawmakers in both chambers can accept and that the president will sign into law.

The speaker of the House and the presiding officer of the Senate appoint members to a conference committee. These members are known as conferees Conferees are the members of a congressional conference committee. Typically, each chamber appoints about a half dozen conferees, mainly senior members of the committees involved with the bill. The conferees bargain face to face. To reach agreement, they may heavily revise a bill or even rewrite it completely. For this reason, conference committees are sometimes called “the third house of Congress.”

An agreement reached by a conference committee must have the backing of a majority of each chamber’s conferees. That agreement, known as a conference report, goes back to the House and Senate for an up­-or­-down vote. An up­-or­-down vote is a direct vote on a bill in the full House or Senate; the bill must be approved or rejected as is, with no further amendments or delays. This type of vote means that the revised bill must be adopted or rejected as is, with no further amendments, by a majority of the full House and Senate. Only if both chambers approve it can the bill be sent to the president.

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Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the students and speakers of our government classes and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of this website, institution, or organization. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.