How a bill becomes a law 405- The conference committee works out any differences between the House and
Senate versions of the bill. (If the two chambers pass the same version, steps 5 and 6
are not necessary.) - The conference committee version is given final approval on the f loor of each chamber.
- The president either signs or vetoes the final version.
- If the bill is vetoed, both chambers can attempt to override the veto with a
two-thirds vote in both chambers.
The first part of the process, unchanged from the earliest Congresses, is the
introduction of the bill. Only members of Congress can introduce the bill, either by
dropping it into the “hopper,” a wooden box at the front of the chamber in the House, or
by presenting it to one of the clerks at the presiding officer’s desk in the Senate. Even the
president would need to have a House member or senator introduce his or her bill. Each
bill has one or more sponsors and often many co-sponsors. Members may introduce
bills on any topic they choose, but often the bills are related to a specific constituency
interest. For example, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced Senate Resolution 399,
“Congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles on their triumph in Super Bowl LII” (see
Figure 11.7). Obviously, most legislation is more substantive, but members of Congress
are always attentive to issues their constituents care about.
The next step is to send the bill to the relevant committee. House and Senate rules
specify committee jurisdictions (there are more than 200 categories), and the bill
is matched with the committee that best fits its subject matter. In the House, major
legislation may be sent to more than one committee in a practice known as multiple
referral, but one of the committees is designated the primary committee and the bill is
reviewed by the other committees sequentially or in parts. The practice is less common
in the Senate, partly because senators have more opportunities to amend legislation
on the floor. However, there were three committees in the House and five in the Senate
that simultaneously worked on health care reform in 2009.
Once the bill goes to a committee, the chair refers it to the relevant subcommittee,
where much of the legislative work is done. One important point: 80 to 90 percent of bills
die at this stage of the process; they never make it out of the subcommittee or committee.
For bills that see some action, the subcommittee holds hearings, calls witnesses, and
NUTS
& B O LT S
11.3Types of Legislation
- Bill: A legislative proposal that becomes law if it is passed by both
the House and the Senate in identical form and approved by the pres-
ident. Each is assigned a bill number, with “H.R.” indicating bills that
originated in the House and “S.R.” denoting bills that originated in the
Senate. Private bills are concerned with a specific individual or organi-
zation and often address immigration or naturalization issues. Public
bills affect the general public if enacted into law. - Simple resolution: Legislation used to express the sense of the House
or Senate, designated by “H.Res.” or “S.Res.” Simple resolutions affect
only the chamber passing the resolution, are not signed by the pres-
ident, and cannot become public law. Resolutions are often used for
symbolic legislation, such as congratulating sports teams or naming a
post office after a famous person (see Figure 11.7).- Concurrent resolution: Legislation used to express the position of
both chambers on a nonlegislative matter to set the annual budget or
to fix adjournment dates, designated by “H.Con.Res” or “S.Con.Res.”
Concurrent resolutions are not signed by the president and therefore
do not carry the weight of law. - Joint resolution: Legislation that has few practical differences from a
bill (passes both chambers in identical form, signed by the president)
unless it proposes a constitutional amendment. In that case, a two-
thirds majority of those present and voting in both the House and the
Senate, and ratification by three-fourths of the states, are required for
the amendment to be adopted and it does not require the president’s
signature.
- Concurrent resolution: Legislation used to express the position of
Full_12_APT_64431_ch11_374-417.indd 405 16/11/18 10:30 AM