HY 357 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Pocket Veto, Voice Vote, Cloture
6 Jun 2018
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Each Congress is elected for a two-year term and holds two annual sessions. During that time, as
many as 20,000 bills might be introduced, but only 5 percent to 10 percent of them are actually
signed into law. While some may pass through Congress rather quickly, others lead to lengthy
hearings in the subcommittees or committees and protracted debates on the floor of the House
and Senate. Few legislative proposals emerge from the process exactly as they were first written.
What many have called the "dance of legislation" is influenced by partisan politics, the lobbying
of interest groups, and public opinion.
A bill is introduced
With the exception of revenue or tax bills, which must originate in the House, legislation can be
introduced in either the House or the Senate; sometimes identical bills are introduced in both
houses. The majority of bills are written by the executive branch. In the State of the Union
address, the president presents a legislative program for the coming session. Members of
Congress, usually through their staffs, draft legislation as well. Very often, an interest group that
wants a particular law passed will work with congressional staff or the administration to get a bill
introduced. A Senate or House member may sponsor (introduce) a bill, and the bill may have
numerous congressional cosponsors. Each bill is assigned a number (and the prefix HR in the
House or S in the Senate) by the clerks of the House or the Senate. Bills are then sent to the
appropriate committees by the Speaker of the House or the Senate majority leader.
A bill in committee
A bill goes to one of the standing committees and then to a subcommittee, as determined by the
committee chair. The subcommittee holds hearings on the bill, taking testimony from its
supporters and opponents. After the hearings, it usually issues a report that is either favorable or
unfavorable to the bill. Or it may report out an amended or changed bill or rewrite the original
bill entirely as a committee print. The standing committee usually accepts the recommendation of
its subcommittee.
A bill favorably reported out of a Senate committee is put on the calendar for floor action. The
bill's sponsors schedule when the debate on the bill will begin through a unanimous consent
agreement. The process is different in the House. Here bills must first go through the Rules
Committee, which decides when the full House will hear the bill, if the bill can be amended
from the floor, and how much time will be allowed for debate.
A bill before the full House and Senate
The procedures for debating and voting on legislation are different in the House and the Senate.
In the House, each member is allowed five minutes to speak on a bill. If amendments are allowed
by the Rules Committee, these must pertain to the bill itself. Amendments are accepted or
rejected by a vote of the members present. In the Senate, there is no time limit on debate. A
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