The Legislative Process

7 steps for a bill to come into place:

1. First Reading

2. Committee Stage

3. Timetabling

4. Second Reading

5. Third Reading

6. Conference Committee

7. Presidential Action

• This stage is just a formality
• No debate
• No vote
• Immediately sent to the Committee Stage
• The proposal is read out in the Senate
• The House places it into the 'hopper'

• Bills referred to a specialist committee called a ‘standing committee'
• Committee can amend the bill
• Committee can put aside thousands of suggested bills
• Some bills sent to sub-committees for special scrutiny
• Can last hours, days, weeks or months

Committee finally marks-up any changes it wants and writes up the report, sending it to its next stage.

By the time they have been sitting for months, there will be thousands of bills waiting for a second hearing.

Many committee rooms in Congress but only on one floor so they are placed on a timetable. The House Rule Committee (HoR) and the Consent Agreement (Senate) decide the order.

• First opportunity for a whole house debate
• In the Senate, bills can be subject to fillibustering
• Further amendments can be made in both houses
• Votes are taken on the bill
• A simple majority gets the bill to its third reading

• Final opportunity to debate the bill
• If few amendments were made at the second reading, the third can follow almost immediately
• If lots of changes were made, the third will be several weeks later
• At the end, another vote will be taken

If the bill comes out of the House and the Senate in a similar state then this stage is not needed.

If they are different then members of both chambers form a conference committee to come to a compromise.

• Sign it into law – it is seen as a Presidential law
• Leave it on his desk – 10 days later it becomes law without his blessing
• Veto the bill - Congress can overturn the veto with 2/3 majority in each house
• can 'pocket' the veto if near the end of a Congressional two years e.g. in the last 9 days of their term