Committees and How to Make a Law - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Committees and How to Make a Law

American GovernmentSlide2

Standing Committees in the House

Standing committees

are committees that exist from one Congress to the next

Standing committees

are permanent subject matter committees

where similar bills are sent for analysis and debate

Currently there are 19 standing committees in the House

House committees have between 10 and 75 members

Bills get their most consideration in these bodies

The leading committees in

the House are the

Rules Committee

Ways and Means Committee (all revenue bills originate

here, the means that tax bills are created in

this committee)Slide3

Standing Committees in the Senate

Currently there are 17 standing committees in the Senate

Senate committees have between 14 to 28 members

In the Senate the leading committees are the:

Judiciary Committee (they approve Presidential judicial appointments) Slide4

Policy

Political issues

are the types of things that Congressmen are supposed to fix through the passage of legislation

When politicians prioritize and decided on the types of legislation that they are going to pass, this is known as a

policy agenda

A policy agenda can be impacted by a variety of things, including:

Public Demand

Presidential Priorities

Party Priorities

Environmental/Contextual Impacts Slide5

Bills

Public policies are addressed through the passage of bills. There are a variety of types of bills in the U.S. They include:

Bill-

A bill is a

proposed

law

P

ublic

bill:

A

public bill applies

to the entire

nation

P

rivate

bill:

A private bill applies

only to certain people or

places

In

order for any official business to take place in Congress, there must be a

quorum

of Congressmen present

A quorum represents a majority of either Senators or Representatives in their respective housesSlide6

Bills in the House

Introduction

The bill is first introduced in the House.

Committee action:

The bill is then referred to its respective

standing

committee

It

then goes to a subcommittee for study, hearings, revisions, and

approval

It then goes back to full committee for more hearings and

revisions

The bill then goes to the

rules committee

where conditions for

debate and

the process for amendments is set

The rules committee can

speed up,

delay, or kill the legislation

Floor Action

Its then debated on the floor then passed or defeated. If its passed it then goes to the

SenateSlide7

Bills in the Senate

Senate

The bill is first introduced in the Senate.

Committee action

The bill is then referred its respective standing

committee

It then goes to a subcommittee for study, hearings, revision, and

approval

It then goes back to full committee for more hearings and

revisions

In order to receive debate and a floor vote the bill must be placed on the calendar by the Majority Floor Leader

The bill is then debated then passed or

defeated

If

passed it then goes to the

HouseSlide8

Getting to the Floor

The

House Rules Committee

is known as the traffic cop

This committee screens bills before they reach the floor

This committee has the power to speed up, delay, or kill a measure

In the

Senate the Floor Leader

controls the appearance of bills on the

floor in the Senate

The appearance of bills are scheduled on the calendar and can not reach the calendar without the approval of the Senate Floor LeaderSlide9

Joint Committees

A

joint committee

is composed of members of both houses

Some joint committees are investigative in nature and issue reports to the House and Senate, some are routine groups

Before a bill can be sent to the President it must be identical in both houses

A

conference committee

, is a temporary committee, that gets together to compromise on the billSlide10

Road to the White House

Conference Committee

The Conference Committee

reconciles

differences between House and Senate versions of a

bill

Congressional Approval

The House and Senate vote on the final passage of the bill

The approved bill is then sent to the president

President

The President then signs the bill into law or the bill is

vetoed

A Presidential veto can be overturned by two-thirds vote in each house in

Congress

This is referred to as a

legislative veto

When the bill is printed in its final form, it is referred to as being

engrossedSlide11
Slide12

Procedure

Filibuster

The filibuster is a tactic used in the Senate whereby a vote on legislation can be delayed through

debate

The longest filibuster was

conducted

by Strom Thurmond and lasted 24 hours

This tactic is rarely used in the traditional sense in today’s Senate

Generally if a filibuster is threatened (and the required number of Senators can’t be reached for cloture) the bill is returned to committee

Cloture

This is

the voting

process

that can be initiated to end a filibuster.

It requires 60

S

enators

to cut off a

filibusterSlide13

Legislative Power

Pork Barrel Spending

This is the concept of passing legislation that will only benefit your constituency

Pork barrel spending is also referred to as earmarking or riders

Pork barrel spending is often referred to as wasteful spending by those who appose the process of earmarks and riders

Many times

pork/earmarks/riders

are added to bills because of political logrolling

Logrolling

is similar to the concept of you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours Slide14

Difficulties Pass Laws

The vast majority of bills are

pigeonholed

in the law making process

This means that most bills are never introduced in a session of Congress and are buried away and never acted upon

There is a way in which pigeonholed bills can be pushed through the legislative process and that is through the use of the

discharge petition

A discharge petition allows for the Representatives to force a bill onto the floor for a vote

This requires an absolute majority of Representatives to agree on the petitionSlide15

Select Committees

Select committees

are special committees

They are setup for a specific purpose and most often for a limited

time

The Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate appoints the members of these special committees

They are normally setup to perform investigations into what type of legislation should be passed in order to take care of the countries’ needs