Legislative Process

Question 1

How is a bill presented in the House?

Answer 1

Presented into a hopper.

Question 2

How is a bill presented in the senate?

Answer 2

Read aloud

Question 3

What follows the initial presentation of a bill?

Answer 3

Members are given time to research a bill

Question 4

Who allocates the bill to a committtee?

Answer 4

Congressional leadership decides whether to send the Bill forward or to combine it with other bills - an ‘omni-bus bill’.

Question 5

What role can the President have in the creation of bills?

Answer 5

A bill can be something a president has called for, such as in the State of the Union, but it has to be presetned by at least one individual member of congress.

Question 6

What are some weaknesses of the omnibus combination?

Answer 6

Opposing bills can be combined to dissuade voting against or for them. For example,support for Ukraine and Israel and border control being pushed together.

Question 7

What is a negative of the research time?

Answer 7

Allows for lobbying from pressure groups.

Question 8

What is a negative of the influence congressional leadership can have?

Answer 8

Allows it to be open to partisan bias.

Question 9

What role do committee chairs have?

Answer 9

They have the ability pigeonhole the bill (where it is left unheard) or send it to a subcommittee or wether to debate it as a full committee

Question 10

Who are committee members?

Answer 10

Policy specialists

Question 11

What can happen during the committee stage?

Answer 11

Amendments can be proposed and voted on and lobbyists and the white house can attempt to influence committee members.

Question 12

Analyse the committee stage

Answer 12

Committee chairs are selected by the majority party so open to partisan influence
Non-democratic for all power to keep a bill going to be put into one persons hands.
Specialists are good.

Question 13

What follows the committee stage?

Answer 13

TImetabling

Question 14

What is the role of the House Rules committee?

Answer 14

Control hte order of bills and procedures, including ho long to discuss, whether amendments are allowed etc.

Question 15

Who decides the order of bills in the senate?

Answer 15

Majority and minority leader.

Question 16

What is a discharge vote?

Answer 16

Allows members to red and bills are prioritised and released eg: bipartisan campaign reform act 2002.

Question 17

Analyse the timetable stage.

Answer 17

As with other committees, the chair of the House Rules committee can influence the order of bills, and prioritise bills that they deem important, as well as using other means to minimise the chances of a bill being passed.
There is also no committee in the senate.

Question 18

What is allowed to happen during the debate stage?

Answer 18

Members can make amendment but only if permitted by the rules committee / senate leaders

Question 19

How many votes are needed to approve a bill?

Answer 19

simple majorities

Question 20

What power do senators have during the debate?

Answer 20

Filibuster (subject to closure motions that need 60 votes)
EG: Strom Thurmond for 24 hours for 1957 Civil Rights bill.

Question 21

What follows the debate stage?

Answer 21

Conference committees, where members of each chamber meet to reach a compromise on their bill. Not used as much anymore as party leaders work informally.

Question 22

What can happen during conference committees if two chambers are controlled by different parties?

Answer 22

Party leaders tend to offer take it or leave it offers.

Question 23

Analyse the conference committee

Answer 23

Encourages bipartisan bills but means they can get stuck if no compromise can be reached.

Question 24

What is the final step of the legislative process

Answer 24

Signing of a bill by a President - can be done with a signing ceremony where the President denounces or supports the bill.

Question 25

What can the president do

Answer 25

send it to veto.