DEVIATIONS FROM THE CONVENTIONAL METHOD: AN EXAMPLE
Answers: 1.d; 2.bCONVENTIONAL STEPS
after a bill is introduced.
(See the preceding page.)A committee and a
subcommittee revise
the billConference committee
reconciles House and
Senate versions.Adoption of final bill by
both House and SenatePresident signs bill into law.THE 2010 AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA)
provides an example of how passing legislation
often deviates from the conventional method.President Obama was intensely involved.
The White House held daily meetings
with the committees.In the House,
3 committees
crafted the bill.5 committees
worked on the
Senate version.Speaker Nancy Pelosi
assumed a central role
in shaping the final bill,
adding things that weren’t
in the committee version.After a deadlock between
two committees, Majority
Leader Harry Reid pushed
through a merged version
of the bill, adding things
that weren’t in the
committee version.The Senate version of the
bill was passed by the
House, but then the House
also passed a separate
reconciliation bill that
included many amendments
to the Senate version.That reconciliation bill was
then passed by the Senate.No conference committee. Instead, committee
leaders, White House staff, and party leadership
negotiated the details of the bill.President Obama signed the ACA into law.Floor action Floor action Floor actionACAACAPOP
QUIZ!
A conference committee’s job is to
a draft an original bill.
b determine whether a bill should be
considered by Congress.
c determine whether a bill is constitutional.
d reconcile differences between House and
Senate versions of a bill.
e convince the president to sign the bill.One way the passage of the ACA differed from
the conventional process is that
a committees were not involved.
b President Obama and party leaders were
directly involved in shaping the bill.
c no floor action took place.
d only one house voted on the bill.
e the president signed it into law.1 2How It Works