The Legislative Process
How Bills Become Laws or Not

Each session, the United States Congress considers thousands of bills.. Yet, only a small percentage of them will ever reach the top of the President's desk for final approval or veto. Along their way to the White House, bills traverse a maze of killer committees and subcommittees, debates, and amendments in both chambers of Congress.

The following is a very simple explanation of the typical process required for a bill to become a law. This is about as basic as it gets and Congressional gurus will find some details missing. If you would like a complete, detailed explanation, a great research source is... "How Our Laws Are Made" (Library of Congress) Revised and Updated by Charles W. Johnson, Parliamentarian, United States House of Representatives. Many of the reference links below come from this great Web resource.

But here are the basics...

Step 1: Introduction
Anybody -- you, me, the President, can write a bill; but only a member of Congress (House or Senate) can introduce the bill for consideration. The Representative or Senator who introduces the bill becomes its "Sponsor." Other legislators who support the bill or work on its preparation can ask to be listed as "Co-sponsors." Important bills usually have several Co-sponsors.

Four basic types of legislation are considered by Congress: Bills, Simple Resolutions, Joint Resolutions, and Concurrent Resolutions.

A bill or resolution has officially been introduced when it has been assigned a number (H.R. # for House Bills or S. # for Senate Bills), and printed in the Congressional Record by the Government Printing Office.

Step 2: Committee Consideration
All bills and resolutions are "referred" to one or more House or Senate committees according their specific rules.
Standing Rules of the US Senate
Rules of the US House of Representatives
House Committees
Senate Committees

Step 3: Committee Action
The committee considers the bill in detail. For example, the powerful  House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee consider a bill's potential impact on the Federal Budget. "Can we afford this thing?"

If the committee approves the bill, it moves on in the legislative process. Committees reject bills simply by not acting on them. Bills that fail to get committee action are said to have "died in committee." Many do.

Step 4: Subcommittee Review
The committee sends some bills to a subcommittee for further study and public hearings. Just about anyone can present testimony at these hearings. Government officials, industry experts, the public, anyone with an interest in the bill can give testimony either in person or in writing. Notice of these hearings, as well as instructions for presenting testimony is officially published in the Federal Register.

Step 5: Mark Up
If the subcommittee decides to report (recommend) a bill back to the full committee for approval, they may first make changes and amendments to it. This process is called "Mark Up." If the subcommittee votes not to report a bill to the full committee, the bill dies right there.

Step 6: Committee Action -- Reporting a Bill
The full committee now reviews the deliberations and recommendations of the subcommittee. The committee may now conduct further review, hold more public hearings, or simply vote on the report from the subcommittee. If the bill is to go forward, the full committee prepares and votes on its final recommendations to the House or Senate. Once a bill has successfully passed this stage it is said to have been "ordered reported" or simply "reported."

Step 7: Publication of Committee Report
Once a bill has been reported (See Step 6:) a report about the bill is written and published. The report will include the purpose of the bill, its impact on existing laws, budgetary considerations, and any new taxes or tax increases that will be required by the bill. The report also typically contains transcripts from public hearings on the bill, as well as the opinions of the committee for and against the proposed bill.

Step 8: Floor Action -- Legislative Calendar
The bill will now be placed on the legislative calendar of the House or Senate and scheduled (in chronological order) for "floor action" or debate before the full membership. The House has several legislative calendars. The Speaker of the House and House Majority Leader decide the order in which reported bills will be debated. The Senate, having only 100 members and considering fewer bills, has only one legislative calendar.

Congressional Schedules and Calendars

Step 9: Debate
Debate for and against the bill proceeds according to the rules of the House or Senate.

Rules of Consideration and Debate

Step 10: Voting
Once debate has ended and any amendments to the bill have been approved, the full membership will vote for or against the bill. The vote may be a voice vote or a roll-call vote.

Methods of Voting

Step 11: Bill Referred to Other Chamber
Bill approved by one "chamber" of Congress (House or Senate) are now sent to the other chamber where they will follow pretty much the same track of committee to debate to vote. The other chamber may approve, reject, ignore, or amend the bill.

Step12: Conference Committee
If the second chamber to consider a bill changes it significantly, a "conference committee" made up of members of both chambers will be formed. The conference committee works to reconcile differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill. If the committee cannot agree, the bill simply dies. If the committee does agree on a compromise version of the bill, they prepare a report detailing the changes they have proposed. Both the House and Senate must approve the report of the conference committee or the bill will be sent back to them for further work

Step 13: Final Action - Enrollment
Once both the House and Senate have approved the bill in identical form, it becomes "Enrolled" and sent to the President of the United States. The President may sign the bill into law. The President can also take no action on the bill for ten days while Congress is in session and the bill will automatically become law. If the President is opposed to the bill, he can "veto" it. If he takes no action on the bill for ten days after Congress has adjourned their second session, the bill dies. This action is called a "pocket veto."

Step 14: Overriding the Veto
Congress can attempt to "override" the President's veto of a bill and force it into law, but this requires a 2/3 vote by a quorum of members in both the House and Senate.

That's the "simple" version? You start to wonder how any bills ever become laws. Fact of the matter is, not many do. The 105th  Congress (1997-98) considered 13,882 pieces of legislation. A total of 354 became Public Laws.