Legislative Process

How a Bill Becomes a Law
It is essential to have a basic understanding of the legislative process if one hopes to have an influence on the content of the bills passed by Congress. For a bill to be passed by Congress, it has to find its way through procedures in both the House and Senate. Only if a bill is successfully processed through the many steps required by both bodies for legislation, will it have the opportunity of becoming law.

Introduction of Bills
Any House or Senate member may introduce any one of several types of bills or resolutions, at anytime when the respective house is in session. Each bill is numbered consecutively in the order it is introduced and labeled with the sponsor's name. Bills are designated by a number preceded by "H.R." (in the House) and "S." (in the senate). This is the form for most legislation. Joint Resolutions, designated as "H.J.Res.", are usually subject to the same procedures as bills and statutes that have been initiated as bills by joint resolutions and vice versa. Concurrent Resolutions are labeled "H.Con.Res." or "S.Con.Res." and are used to express the opinion of Congress and to take joint action. Resolutions, designated as "H.Res." or "S.Res.," are used for matters concerning either house alone.

Committee Action
The most important phase of the legislative process is consideration by the committee to which the bill is assigned. After the bill is referred to the appropriate committee, the chairman assigns it to a subcommittee. This is the point at which it is most effective to contact your Senators or Representatives to inform them of your stand on the legislation. In the committee and subcommittee stages you have the best opportunity to make a difference and to be heard by your representative. The other members of the committee and subcommittee will also be more receptive at this time to concerned opinions from people outside their own district or state.

Essential to the consideration of any bill in the House of Representatives is the opinion of the majority leadership. The Speaker of the House, Majority Leader and Majority Whip wield tremendous influence over the Committee and Subcommittee Chairmen. The majority leadership exercises its power by setting the legislative agenda and framing the rules governing debate and amendments. In most cases, serious considerations of any legislation can be significantly expedited or impaired by the will of the majority leadership.

The subcommittee's deliberations are the most important stage of the legislative process. Chances for a bill's passage are quickly determined, and failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. If a bill is to proceed very quickly, the subcommittee may request comments from executive departments or agencies. Detailed study of the proposed legislation is made, and hearings are scheduled and interested parties, at the discretion of the Chairman, are invited to testify. The subcommittee then analyzes the bill and reports its amendments and its recommendations for action to the full committee.

At this point the full committee meets in "markup" sessions to discuss the bill in detail, consider other amendments, and decide whether or not to report the legislation to the full House or Senate. The committee can recommend the bill with or without amendments, order it unfavorably reported, or table the bill, which effectively kills it.

When the committee sends a bill to the full House or Senate, it explains its reasons in a written statement, called a report. Committee members opposing the legislation often include minority or dissenting statements. The committee report is viewed by courts and administrative agencies as an important indication of Congressional intent in the proposed legislation.

Floor Consideration
When the bill is reported by the full Committee, it is placed on the proper calendar for consideration by the full House or Senate. Before floor considerations by the House of Representatives, the bill must first pass through the Rules committee. This committee determines how long floor debate will be and what type of amendments will be allowed to be proposed. The Senate has no Rules Committee and the length of debate on any bill on the Senate floor is unrestricted unless passed by a two-thirds vote of the Senate.

In both Houses, the bill is debated at length. The proponents and opponents present their views to acquaint the members as well as the public, with the issues involved. Amendments are frequently offered to make the measure more acceptable. While considering a bill, the Congress may enter various parliamentary motions to determine members' sentiment with respect to the pending legislation. The measure may be postponed to some future date or referred again for more consideration to the committee from which it was reported.

After Passage
If the bill is voted on and passed in either house, it is then sent to the other chamber and is referred to the committee having jurisdiction (unless it has been unanimously accepted in its current form). The entire committee and subcommittee processes are then repeated.

If there are substantial differences between the House and Senate versions of a given bill, the measure is sent to a conference committee comprised of members of both bodies. Only those issues with differences are discussed and negotiated in the conference committee. Identical issues are neither discussed nor changed. The committee tries to adjust differences in the two versions and report its agreement back to the House and Senate. If a compromise cannot be reached, and the bill is rejected in either chamber it is dead unless it is again sent back to the conference. If, however, the bill is agreed to in identical form by both the House and Senate, it is signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate and sent to the President.

If the President approves of the bill and signs it, the bill becomes law. It may also become law without his signature if he does not return it, with his objections, to the Congress within ten days. The President can also veto the bill by refusing to sign and return it within ten days. If Congress takes no further action, the bill dies. Congress, however, can attempt to override the President's veto and enact the bill. With a two-thirds vote of both the House and the Senate, the veto is overridden and the bill becomes law. Otherwise, the bill is dead.

The Budget Process
Congress plays an important role in formulating the federal budget. It is important to understand the congressional budget process in order to contribute to discussions of our national spending priorities.

In theory, the budget process has two cycles. The first budget resolution sets spending targets. Based upon those spending targets, each appropriations committee must determine the priorities for funding the programs within each budget category under its jurisdiction.

The House and Senate budget committees would determine the funding levels. the appropriations committees would then determine how to allocate the spending to the specific programs.

The second cycle of the budget process establishes spending ceilings which, in theory, are considered to be binding limits for appropriations.

It should be noted that the budget process is designed to function independently of the authorization and appropriations processes. The process largely ignores the value and/or desirability of one program over another. Instead, its function is to balance income and expenditures.

The Budget Process Timetable
The annual budget process begins in early February, when the President is required by law to submit his budget requests to Congress for the coming fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The Budget Committee then holds extensive hearings on the coming budget, receiving testimony from representatives of the administration, business and labor leaders, economists, academics, and members of Congress. Additionally, congressional committees and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) submit reports to the Budget Committee analyzing the president's budget request.

After completion of the hearing process, the Budget Committee reports its concurrent resolution on the budget (the budget resolution) setting forth the congressional budget plan for the coming fiscal year. On or before April 15, both bodies of Congress are to adopt the budget resolution.

Until the budget resolution is adopted, as a general rule, Congress is prohibited from considering any revenue, spending, entitlement, debt or credit legislation. This prohibition is enforced through Budget Act points of order. However, House consideration of appropriations measures is allowed after May 15 even if the budget resolution has not yet been adopted.

Reconciliation instructions may be contained in the budget resolution and direct certain committees to report legislation changing existing law to decrease direct spending, increase revenues, or both by a specified amount. The committees then report legislation to the Budget Committee accomplishing the budget resolution's directives. The usual procedure is for these provisions to be combined by the Budget Committee, without substantive revision, into a single reconciliation bill for consideration by the House.

The House Committee Appropriations is required to report its annual appropriations bills by June 10. On or before June 30, the House is to complete action on all annual appropriations bills, which are to be adopted by Congress prior to the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1. If annual appropriations bills are not adopted prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, Congress may adopt a continuing resolution, a measure providing appropriations on a temporary basis, until the regular appropriations bills are enacted. Beginning January 1, 1997, the President has the authority to veto specific funding line items in any appropriations bill.

Appropriations and Authorization Bills
Any legislation that requires federal funding must go through two processes: authorization and appropriation. The first without the second is meaningless. If only limited funds are appropriated by Congress, a program can be so restricted that it can't get off the ground.

An authorization bill authorizes a program for a specific length of time, specifies its general aim and conduct, and unless "open-ended", puts a ceiling on monies that can be used to finance it. Authorization is usually enacted before an appropriation bill is passed.

Appropriations are reconsidered every year. The President asks for a certain amount, the authorizing committees add to the President's requests, and Congress appropriates somewhat less than has been authorized.

Multi-year appropriations would appear to be more secure in their funding than those which must return to Congress each year. This is not the case, however. Because they diverge so much from current spending levels and are not constrained by incremental norms, multi-year appropriations offer ample opportunity for sharp swings in their spending patterns.

An appropriations bill grants the actual monies approved by authorization bills, but not necessarily to the total permissible under the authorization bill. An appropriation bill originates in the House and normally is not acted on until its authorization measure is enacted. General appropriation bills are supposed to be enacted by September 30, before the start of the fiscal year to which they apply, but this does not always happen.