Anyone
may draft a bill; however, only members of Congress can introduce
legislation, and by doing so become the sponsor(s). There
are four basic types of legislation: bills, joint resolutions, concurrent
resolutions, and simple resolutions. The official legislative
process begins when a bill or resolution is numbered—H.R. signifies
a House bill and S. a Senate bill—referred to a committee and printed
by the Government Printing Office. Throughout the legislative
process, MBA members should communicate their views to lawmakers.
When a member of either the House
of Representatives or the Senate introduces a bill, it is then referred
to the appropriate committee with jurisdiction. Note: all
spending or tax bills must originate in the House of Representatives.
A bill sent to committee
can be referred to the committee’s appropriate subcommittee for
relevant action or it can be taken up by the full committee.
At this point the subcommittee or full committee will hold hearings,
debate the bill, make any changes and vote on the bill. If
a bill is submitted to a subcommittee, that body will deliberate
and vote to move the bill—with any changes—to the full committee.
If no action is taken, the bill is considered “dead.”
After a bill is reported back to the
chamber where it originated, the Speaker and majority leader in
the House of Representatives largely determine if and when the bill
will be debated by the full chamber. In the Senate, the Majority
Leader decides when to take action on a bill. When a bill reaches the
floor of the House or Senate, there are rules or procedures governing
the debate on legislation. These rules determine the amount
of time allocated for general debate and if any amendments can be
offered. Amendments will be debated and voted on. After all
amendments are voted on, a vote on the final bill will proceed.
If a final bill is passed,
the bill “crosses over” to the other chamber, and the process begins
again. When a bill “crosses over,” it usually follows the
same route through committee and floor action. This chamber
may approve the bill as received, let it die or amend it.
If only minor changes
are made to a bill by the other chamber, it is common for the legislation
to go back to the first chamber for concurrence. However,
when the actions of the other chamber significantly alter the bill,
a conference committee is formed to reconcile the differences between
the House and Senate versions. If the conferees are unable
to reach agreement, the legislation dies. If agreement is
reached, a conference report is prepared describing the committee
members’ recommendations for changes. Both the House and the
Senate must approve of the conference report.
A final, agreed-upon bill is then sent to
the President. The President can either sign it or kill the
bill by veto. To overcome a presidential veto, each chamber
of Congress must acquire a two-thirds vote in support of the bill
for it to become law. If two-thirds is not reached in each
chamber, the bill is dead. |