...American Public University Systems POLS210 Prof. E September 26, 2013 How a Bill Becomes a Law at National Level When deciding whether a bill should become law or not, there are several steps the government must take. An idea for a new law can start from anywhere such as; an ordinary citizen, president, state legislatures, members of Congress, governor, executive branch, and congressional staff. “Constitutional Provisions whose primary purposes are to create obstacles, govern the process that a bill goes through before it becomes law.”(American Government, n.d). A bill must pass the Congress and then the President must sign the bill prior to it being able to even become law. The bill must be able to be passed at the same congressional session of the proposal, which is a year. If for some reason the process is not completed, the bill with then be dropped and can only come back if it enters the entire process again. Furthermore, the bill is first introduced by congress, which can either be done by House of Representatives, Senate, or even both. It is important to remember tough, that each bill must start in the house. “A bill is assigned (S. 1, for instance, for the first Senate bill introduced; or H.R. 50 for the fiftieth bill introduced in the house.)” (National School Boards Association, n.d). The first step is committee consideration. The bill will be passed along to the right committee which is based on what issue is being brought up and then to...
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...Laws are very crucial part of the world today. They protect us and our rights. However the process to make a law takes more than one step and more than one person, it’s not easy as it seems. It’s a very long and arduous process. Some bills will never make it through this process, but others have made it. Although it’s a long process, is not difficult to understand. This process is established in the Constitution of the United States. The whole process starts with an idea for a bill, anyone can come up with one but only a member of congress can introduce a bill. A bill can be proposed in either the Senate or the House of Representatives. This example begins in the Senate. The bill is reviewed by a small committee in the Senate which discusses the pros and cons. Then the entire Senate debates the bill. A vote is taken and the bill is passed to the House of Representatives where is also debated and amended. If the House of Representatives approve the bill, it goes back to the Senate for even more debate, until both Senate and House of Representatives agree on the exact wording. Finally, the bill is send to the President, when he signs it the bill becomes a law. If both Senate and the House of Representatives pass the bill by a two-thirds majority the president’s veto is overruled and the bill becomes a law. Bills may be sponsored by more than one member of the Congress. This is a way for members of the Congress to demonstrate their support for a bill. Many people criticize Congress...
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...by step process is the process of a bill becoming a law. In order for a bill to become a law it takes more than just adding rules to a rule book, it’s a very extensive process that involves a lot of people and time. Some bills will never make it through this process, but for those who really want their bill to pass, they have to keep fighting as the bill goes through every process that it needs to become a law. The whole process begins when a representative have an idea for a new law, this representative becomes the sponsor and submits the bill to the clerk of the house, or places the bill in the box called the Hopper. The bill is then assigned a legislative number; H.R for bills going to the house and S. for bills going to the senate. Once the speaker of the house receives the bill, he/she assigns the bill to one of the twenty-two committees to be studied, they also hear testimonies form those who are interested in the bill. The Committee may then release the bill with a recommendation to pass it, revise the bill then release it, or let the house vote on the bill. Once the bill is released it gets added to a list of bills awaiting action, the committee could call for the bill to be voted on quickly. But to do this they must write a report on why they favor this bill and why they want the bill to become a law. One the bill is placed on one of the houses calendars, the speaker of the house and the majority leader will decide which bills will reach the floor and when. If a...
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...For a bill to become a law it takes more than one step and more than one person deciding, it's not as easy as it seems. First, the legislation is introduced, and then you have the committee action, afterwards floor action, conference committee, the president, and then the bill becomes a law. Some bills will never make it through any of these processes but for those who really want their bill to pass, if they fight for it they just might get lucky. This paper will show you that it takes more than one person and is a long process. Throughout this paper I will explain how a bill becomes a law so that you will have a better understanding of the process. The whole process starts when a Representative has an idea for a new law, that person becomes the sponsor and introduces the bill by giving it to the clerk of the House or placing it in a box, called the Hopper. The bill is then assigned a legislative number by the clerk with H.R. for bills introduced in the house and S. for the Senate. The Government printing office then prints the bill to give copies to each representative. The Bill is then assigned a committee by the Speaker of the House, so the bill can be studied. There are twenty-two standing committees, each with jurisdiction over bills in certain areas. The standing committee studies the bill and hears testimony from people interested in the bill. The committee may then release the bill with a recommendation to pass it, or revise the bill and release it, or lay it to...
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...How A Bill Becomes a Law Amanda Squiciarino HCA260c Write 75- to 150-word answers for each of the following questions, based on this simulation and your readings for this week: · Describe the United States legislative process. The Legislative process has an order to follow as listed below. Step 1. Referral to Committee Step 2. Committee Action Step 3. Subcommittee Review Step 4. Mark Up Step 5. Committee Action to Report A Bill Step 6. Publication of a Written Report Step 7. Scheduling Floor Action Step 8. Debate Step 9. Voting Step 10. Referral to Other Chamber Step 11. Conference Committee Action Step 12. Final Actions Step 13. Overriding a Veto · Describe the hierarchy of laws in the US judicial system. The federal court system is made up of several levels of hierarchical court. The top-level court is the United States Supreme Court. Below this are the District Court of Appeals. Below this is the United States District Courts, for various geographical areas as defined by the United States Congress. State courts take a wide variety of forms, as defined by each state's legislature. For example, in New York, there is a Supreme Court which is actually the lowest-level trial court; its name is based on the fact that it is higher ranked than all administrative and local courts. The highest court in New York is the New York Court of Appeals. A wide variety of governmental agencies have the power to enact regulations and to enforce them....
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...Rep. Isaac, Jason District 45 E1.414, Capitol Extension Texas of Representatives Austin, TX 78768 Dear Representative: A current problem/concern has occurred in my community lately and in need of attention to find the best solution. There has been an extreme increase of mosquitoes at the Missouri City Texas community areas. Due to these mosquitoes, there will be an increase chance of illness (west nile virus, malaria, dengue fever, dog heartworm and mosquito-borne diseases etc…..) that can lead to death, skin irritation, abrasion, allergy reaction etc. Parents, children, and community member will have to decrease outdoor activities. My propose is that Missouri city need to make sure that the adequate closed drainage treatment, control and maintain from the storm , drainage and sewage water against mosquitoes breathing. I have some information of my personal experience from the proposal to give you a better insight on the concern in my community. In my personal life experience, I have notice that there were significant decreases of outdoor activities in my children and others children in the neighborhood. When I hosted an outdoor fun event for my neighborhood, but due to so much mosquitoes the event was cancel earlier than it supposed to. Everyone in the party stated that the reason they would not allow their children out door was due to the increase of mosquitoes. I heard some family has move out of the areas due to increase of mosquitoes with open drainage and...
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...In the creation of a law, it has to pass through many steps and be passed by several different people. Laws first start out as an idea. Someone gets an idea about a new law that could potentially better society. The idea can be made by even an ordinary citizen. Office of Clerk reports, “These ideas may also come from a Representative.” Once the citizen has an idea, they contact their Representative and if the Representative thinks it is a good law, the bill is then wrote. Once the bill has been written, it needs support from other Representatives. If the bill gets the support, it is then introduced by being placed in the hopper. Office of Clerk states, “The hopper is a special box on the side of the clerk’s desk. Only Representatives can introduce bills in the U.S. House of Representatives.” Once the bill is introduced it is given a number. It is then read to all Representatives and is then sent to the House committee. Office of Clerk states, “Once the bill reaches committee, they review, research, and revise the bill before voting on whether or not to send the bill back to the House floor.” Sometimes more information is needed for the bill before it is sent back to the House floor. If this happens, it is sent to a subcommittee who extensively examines and gives professional opinions before it is sent back to committee. Once the committee has approved the bill, it is then sent to the House floor where it is debated over. Office of Clerk states...
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...For a bill to become a law it takes more than one step and more than one person deciding, it is not as easy as it seems. First, the legislation is introduced, and then you have the committee action, afterwards floor action, conference committee, the president, and then the bill becomes a law. Some bills will never make it through any of these processes but for those who really want their bill to pass, if they fight for it they just might get lucky. This paper will show you that it takes more than one person and is a long process. Throughout this paper I will explain how a bill becomes a law so that you will have a better understanding of the process. The whole process starts when a Representative has an idea for a new law, that person becomes the sponsor and introduces the bill by giving it to the clerk of the House or placing it in a box, called the Hopper. The bill is then assigned a legislative number by the clerk with H.R. for bills introduced in the house and S. for the Senate. The Government printing office then prints the bill to give copies to each representative. The Bill is then assigned a committee by the Speaker of the House, so the bill can be studied. There are twenty-two standing committees, each with jurisdiction over bills in certain areas. The standing committee studies the bill and hears testimony from people interested in the bill. The committee may then release the bill with a recommendation to pass it, or revise the bill and release it, or lay it to...
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...Congress’s primary duty is to pass laws. The legislative process is often slow, just as the framers of the Constitution intended. The framers believed that a slow-moving legislature would be less able to infringe on citizens’ rights and liberties. Bills and Laws Most bills that Congress considers are public bills, meaning that they affect the public as a whole. A private bill grants some relief or benefit to a single person, named in the bill. Many private bills help foreign nationals obtain visas, but they can cover a variety of other matters. The process through which a bill becomes law occurs in several stages in both houses: 1. Introduction: Only a member of Congress may introduce a bill. After a bill is introduced, it is assigned a designation number. Only members of the House of Representatives may introduce bills concerning taxes. 2. Referral to committee: The leader of the house in which the bill was introduced then refers the bill to an appropriate committee or committees. 3. Committee action: The committees can refer the bill to subcommittees for action, hearings, markup sessions, and votes. The committee can also kill the bill by doing nothing at all, a process known as pigeonholing. 4. Referral to the full body: If a committee approves a bill, the bill is sent on to the full House or Senate. 5. Floor debate and vote: The full body debates the bill and then votes. The two houses differ significantly in how they handle debate: * In...
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...Congress Differences between a bill and an omnibus bill To answer the question what is the difference between a bill and an omnibus bill we need to start with what is a bill. As stated in many the schoolhouse rocks video a bill is an idea for a new law that a congress man sponsors to become a law. A bill for the most part deals with a specific item or problem. Once a bill in introduced in congress it goes to a committee. In committee the bill is debated. In committee amendments can be added to a bill and the language in the bill can be changed. If the committee votes to approve the bill it will go to the full House to be voted on. If approved it moves to the Senate and the process starts again at the committee. If the Senate passes it the bill goes to the president to be signed to become a law. Now let’s answer the question what is an omnibus bill. An omnibus bill is defined as a bill that combines amendments to several laws or measures on diverse subjects into one bill, such as reconciliation bills, combined appropriation bills, spending bills and private relief and claims bills. An omnibus bill is a bill like the federal budget or a bill that has had a separate bill added to it that may not have passed on its own. Omnibus bill have become more common in recent years. This can be a good thing. By using omnibus bill the Congress can spend less time debating budget bills by combining all of the budgets into one omnibus bill. An omnibus bill can also be a bad thing. In recent...
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...Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act Boarder security in the United States of America has been a big topic of discussion for many years. Many bills and laws have been passed, denied, or ignored completely. One in particular is currently still fighting to become law, though. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act was introduced in the United States Senate on April 16th, 2013, and was proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York. The bill has been approved and passed by the Senate, but still lies in wait to be approved by the House, and by the President, before becoming an official law. This bill, if passed, will make it possible for immigrants to live in the United States legally. They will gain legal statues, and then become official citizens. This bill will also tighten boarder control, adding 40,000 more patrol agents. Visas as well will be affected, creating new ones for entrepreneurs, as well as lower skilled workers. The bill will require roughly $46.3 billion for border enforcement alone, making its chance of becoming a law rather slim. Despite the cost, this bill should be put into law because its overall effect is much greater than the monetary worth. If this was to become law, the lives of many people could be improved. Most immigrants will be coming in from Mexico in search for a better life for their families. Mexico’s position is not as well as America’s, and the people there...
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...Law Opinion Paper Before a law can be made a situation would come up that would cause a public outcry for the need of change. The people of a state or states would call their Representatives or their senators ask for a written bill is presented for the making of a law. Public action has been known to do more towards government creating law in the United Sates. The evolution of a law from conception to birth, before a law is a law it is a bill or resolution to be introduced either independently, jointly, or concurrently in the House of Representative and/or the Senate. (http://www.vic.edu.com 2008) Once a bill has been properly introduced, it will go to the right committee for study and examination till it has been in most cases rewritten to be sent back to the House and Senate for discussion, and sent back the committee for more study. This same committee can let a bill die by taking no action. (2008) Once the bill has been studied and sent again to the House and Senate they both must agree on the writing of the bill, if that happens then the bill goes to the president to sign or veto the bill or resolution. If he signs it the bill then transforms into a law. But if the president veto or overrides it, the process begins again. When looking at the process of the creation of a law nothing happens real quick, everything takes time to check to see if the bill that is before them is constitutionally sound, the bill must fit into the constitution not contradict...
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...Law Making – AS Summer Homework 1. State 3 influences upon law making. Describe one of these and explain how they influence law making, giving examples. Many laws are introduced by the Government in order to implement its political agenda. Other influences towards law making come from the Law Commission, pressure groups and also the media. The EU and Royal Commissions can also have an influence on Parliament and laws. The Law Commission is and independent law reform set up by the Law Commission Act 1965. It is run by five Law Commissioners with one being the Chairman (a High Court Judge). The other four are qualified lawyers and each one is supported by a team of barristers, solicitors etc. Under s3(1) of the 1965 Act, the role of the Law Commission is to ‘keep under review all the law’. 2. Compare and contrast the different roles of the following in law making – * House of Commons * House of Lords * Crown The three parts of Parliament are The House of Commons, The House of Lords and The Crown (the Queen). The House of Commons contains 650 members called MP’s who are elected at general elections. The leader of the party with the greatest number of MP’s is the Prime Minister. The role of The House of Commons is to debate and vote on whether to approve new laws. The House of Commons also ensures that the legislative process is democratic. There are approximately 700 members of the House of the Lords who are all unpaid and unelected. Sitting in the House...
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...An important feature of the U.S. Constitution is its system of checks and balances. This system is set up into three branches. The power is shared between threw branches, so that one individual branch can’t become too powerful. That is what the checks and balances is all about. The three branches that were created by the U.S. Constitution are a part of the United States government. The branches are the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch. All of the branches have different areas of responsibility, whether it is making the laws, executing the laws, or interpreting the laws. The three branches all have different laws of the checks and balances system. The President is the Commander in Chief, however only Congress...
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...the common laws used legally by the English. However, certain practices previously accepted by the English laws are outlawed by the current US constitution. Common law courts in the US have over the time become stater desicis. This means that common law judges are not only mandated to apply the law but they also create laws. In this context, court decisions become precedents for future case rulings. English law was formally applied in the US through various ways. With the exclusion of Louisiana, all states in the US applied the reception statue that states that the English law is the state law. Another way that the English law became applicable in the US is that most states in the US reenacted the important British statues during the Revolution. One of the statues commonly adapted from the Revolution period is the statue of fraud still commonly used by that name in the US. During early times, American courts hardly cited contemporary English laws. This was as a result of appellate decisions from most American courts not being regularly reported. However with time, English legal decisions disappeared in the 19th century which was as a result of American courts becoming more independent in solving legal problems. According to Carp, today in US courts, foreign laws are never cited as precedent but may be cited as a reflection with regards to western civilization (Carp & Stidham, 2001). There are various types of law in the US. Procedural law is one type of law that controls...
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