Chapter 8 Congress at Work Section 1 How a Bill Becomes a Law Essential Questions - Why is it easier to defeat legislation than to pass it?

- Why does it take so long for Congress to pass legislation?

Why is it easier to defeat legislation than to pass it? Thousands of bills are introduced to Congress each year. Why are so many bills introduced? Congress, as the national legislature, must be open to all Americans who want things from the government. The president, federal agencies, labor unions, business groups, and individual citizens all look to Congress to pass laws favorable to their various interests. Out of those thousands of bill introduced, only a few hundred become laws. Most die in Congress while others are vetoed by the president. If a bill is not passed by the end of a Congressional term, it must be reintroduced to the new Congress. The legislative process is lengthy, and it should be. Lawmakers need to be sure that what is going out of the Capitol is something that will be positive for a majority of Americans.

There are 2 types of bills introduced in Congress. Private bills deal with individual people or places. They often involve claims against the government or immigration problems. Private bills used to account for a large number of the bills introduced to Congress, but lately, their numbers have declined. On the other side are public bills. Public bills are bills that deal with general matters and apply to the entire nation. These are the bills we see in the news. They are often controversial. They may involve issues such as raising or lowering taxes, national health insurance, gun control, civil rights, or abortion. Major public bills account for about 30% of the bills passed in each term of Congress.

Congress can also pass resolutions during their sessions to deal with temporary or unusually matters. Simple resolutions cover matters affecting only one house of Congress and are passed by that house alone. If a new rule or procedure is needed, it is adopted in the form of a resolution. This is different than establishing new laws that affect 320 million Americans. A simple resolution affects only the chamber of Congress that passes it. Joint resolutions are passed by both houses and are given the force of law with the president’s signature. Joint resolutions are used to correct errors in earlier laws or to propose constitutional amendments. Concurrent resolutions cover matters requiring the action of both the House and the Senate but for which a new law is not needed. A concurrent resolution might set the date for the adjournment of Congress or may be used to express Congress’s opinion on an issue. Both houses must pass a concurrent resolution which does not require the president’s signature or have the force of law.

Bills and resolutions usually deal with only one subject. It could be immigration reform, health care, or tax law but typically the bill will only cover one topic. Sometimes, however, a rider is attached to a bill. A rider is a provision on a subject other than the one covered in the bill. Lawmakers attach riders to bills that are likely to pass and these riders typically have clauses that benefit the constituency of certain Congressmen. Some lawmakers attach a large number of riders to a bill, which becomes a “Christmas Tree Bill”. Such a bill resembles a Christmas tree loaded with ornaments. The original topic is the “tree” and the riders are the “ornaments” which make it more than just a tree.

Less than 10% of all bills introduced in Congress become public laws. Why so few? One reason is that the lawmaking process itself is very long and complicated. There are many steps in the process and a “no” at any of those steps could derail a bill. The process has 2 important implications. First, it means that groups that oppose a bill have an advantage over those that support it. Opponents can amend the bill or kill it at many steps. Second, sponsors of a bill must be willing to bargain for its passage. This is the politics that we often think of based on TV. Lawmakers must compromise with other congressmen and interest groups. A bill is often added to or taken away from which could water down the purpose of the legislation. Without strong support, major bills have little chance of passing. This leads lawmakers to attach the riders and other pork attached to bills.

Another reason so few bills become law is sometimes lawmakers introduce bills that they know will not pass. They do this to publicly support a particular issue. This will please the constituency as the congressman will be able to tell voters that he tried to push a bill through but people from other states prevented it. By introducing a bill, lawmakers can report that they have taken action on a particular problem. When the bill does not pass, they can blame a committee or other lawmakers. Either way, it’s not his fault that the bill he knew wouldn’t pass didn’t pass.

Why does it take so long for Congress to pass legislation? The first step in the legislative process is to propose and introduce a new bill. Ideas for new bills come from private citizens, interest groups, the president, or officials in the executive branch. Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill. Lawmakers will sponsor a bill and will often try to find cosponsors to show that the bill has wide support. Bills introduced in the House and Senate are printed, distributed, and given a title and number.

This is where things start to get weird. It would be much easier if the chamber that introduced the bill simply voted on it as is. But that’s not the way it works. First bills get sent to committees that deal with their subject matter. For example, a bill dealing with taxes would go to the House Ways and Means Committee. When committees decide to act on a bill they will hold hearings on the bill. During a hearing, the committee listens to testimony from witnesses who may include experts on the subjects of the bill. Skillful chairpersons can use hearings to sway public opinion in favor of or against the bill. To reject a bill, committee members can ignore it and simply let it die in a process called “pigeonholing,” or they can kill the bill by a majority vote. Committees also have the right to rewrite the bill or recommend that the bill be adopted as is before sending it to the House or Senate for further discussion. What you should get out of this is how important it is for your party to have a majority in Congress. The majority party controls committees; therefore, they control the lawmaking process.

If committees and hearings didn’t change the bill beyond recognition, markup sessions will. After the hearings are completed the committee meets in a markup session to decide what changes, if any, to make in the bill. The committee members will go through the bill line by line and make any changes they think the bill will need. A majority vote of the committee is required for all changes that are made to the bill. I really like government. I find it fascinating and love teaching it. But even I can’t imagine sitting through a markup session. There’s simply no way that’s an enjoyable way to spend the day. The process of moving legislation through committees takes a long time. Months at a minimum. The next important step is the debate on the bill on the floor of the House and Senate. Usually only a few lawmakers take part in floor debates. The pros and cons of the bill have been discussed in the committee hearings and are already well known to those with any interest in the bill. The floor debate is where amendments are added to the bill. During the floor debate the bill is read by a clerk of the Congress section by section. Opponents of a bill will sometimes propose amendments after each section is read to slow progress on the bill. You might have noticed that opponents of bills have a lot of opportunities to delay the bill’s passage. This is an important step in the legislative process. It ensures that the bill is palatable to most Americans (most of the time at least).

After the floor debate, the bill, including any proposed changes, is ready for a vote. A quorum, or a majority, of the members must be present. The House or Senate now receives a final reading of the bill and a vote is taken. Passage of the bill requires a majority vote of all members present. House and Senate members can vote on a bill in 1 of 3 ways. The first is by a voice vote in which members together call out “aye” or “no.” This is only done if there is reason to believe the vote will not be close. You might see how deciding how many people said “aye” is difficult. The second way of voting is by standing vote, or division vote, in which those in favor of the bill stand are counted and then those against stand and are counted. The roll-call vote is a voting method in which everyone responds “aye” or “no” as their names are called in alphabetical order. The House will also use a fourth method called a recorded vote where their votes are recorded electronically and displayed on panels in the House chamber. This obviously saves the House a lot of time.

To become a law a bill must pass both houses of Congress in identical form. A bill passed in the House of Representatives often differs at first from the Senate’s bill on the same subject. If one house will not accept the version of a bill the other house has passed, a conference committee must work out differences between the versions (that’s right- more committees). The conference committee is usually made up of the members of the committee that handled the bill in each house. The committee will work out differences by arranging compromises. A majority of the members of the conference committee from each house drafts the final bill. The bill must then return to each house for final approval.

So let’s say a bill is read and goes through committee, and is voted on in the House and passes, and is rejected by the Senate, and fixed in committee, and voted on again and passes again. Got that? In order for the bill to become law, the president must sign it. If t he president doesn’t like the bill, he can veto it. A veto means that the president refuses to sign the bill and returns it to the house of Congress in which it originated. The president can also kill a bill passed during the last 10 days Congress is in session by refusing to act on it. This is called a pocket veto. It is possible for Congress to override a veto. This requires a 2/3 vote of both houses and is very rare. Chances are if the bill is popular enough to get 2/3 support in Congress, the people will be very unhappy with the president. Look at the first sentence. Many bills go through the legislative process only to be killed by the president. All that work for nothing. Vetoes are relatively rare. Obama has vetoed only 4 bills. FDR vetoed 635 bills, by far the most of any president. He was also elected 4 times so he had a lot more opportunities. FDR was notorious for his inability to work with Congress (and other branches). Section 2 Taxing and Spending Bills Essential Questions - What authority does Congress have over how the national government will raise and spend money?

- What is the procedure for Congress to provide money to the executive agencies and departments?

What authority does Congress have over how the national government will raise and spend money? The national government gets most of the money it needs to keep the government functioning from taxes. Taxes are money that people and businesses pay to support the government. The House of Representatives takes the lead on tax bills because the House has the exclusive power to start all revenue measures. That means ALL tax bills must come from the House of Representatives. All important work on tax laws occurs in the House Ways and Means Committee. We’ve talked about the Ways and Means Committee before. This alone should clue you into the fact that it’s an important group with a lot of influence. The Ways and Means Committee decides whether to go along with presidential requests for tax cuts or increases. It also sets the rules for and regulations that determine who will pay how much tax.

It depends on who is in charge as to who the burden to pay falls on. Conservatives tend to think that cutting taxes on the rich and corporations will encourage them to employ more people. This would be good for everyone as the new employees would be able to spend money on goods and services and help the economy. Liberals tend to believe that tax breaks should go to poorer citizens. This way they will be able to afford goods and services independently (read: without government assistance). Again, it’s all very dependent on the party or person in charge. The president will have a say in tax cuts or increases because he set the party line on those issues.

The Senate also plays a role in tax legislation, albeit a smaller one. Remember, the House must pass a tax bill before the Senate gets to see it. The Senate may propose amendments, that is change, to the bill the House has already passed. As a result, many people view the Senate as the place where interest groups can get House tax provisions they do not like changed or eliminated. The Senate Committee on Finance has the primary responsibility for dealing with tax matters. The Committee on Finance does not have the clout of the Ways and Means Committee but it does serve an important purpose. This Committee is the go-to group for any information on tax bills and they will guide the bill through Senate.

What is the procedure for Congress to provide money to the executive agencies and departments? In addition to passing laws to raise money, Congress also has the power over government spending. This is referred to as the power of appropriation- or approval of government spending. Congress must pass laws to appropriate money for the federal government. If the money is not appropriated, it can’t be spent. For example, let’s say the military wants to buy a fleet of new fighter jets. The cost for a fleet is about $400 billion. Let’s say the military had $1 trillion appropriated to it. If the military has spent more than $600 billion, they cannot afford a new fleet. Of course it’s not really that simple. The military can petition for more money and they will probably get it. I mean who’s going to turn down the military? They protect us and they have guns. Life advice: don’t say “no” to a guy with a gun. Congress follows a 2 step procedure in appropriating money- an authorization bill and an appropriations bill. The first step is the authorization bill which sets up a federal program and specifies how much money may be appropriated for that program. So the authorization bill will say the program is limited to spending X amount of dollars per year (X is a variable for the first year math students out there). The bill will also state who is in charge of the program, that is, which government entity will set up the plan. The second step is the appropriations side. The appropriations bill will actually give the X amount of dollars the authorization bill wanted. Typically, the money asked for in a particular bill is only a small part of the overall budget for a federal organization.

Each year the president presents his budget to Congress. There the appropriations committees create their own appropriations bills. Congress might decide to grant only ½ of the X amount that was requested. That is Congress’s choice. Each year following, the federal organization will have to ask to continue the appropriation.

The House and Senate appropriations committees and their subcommittees handle appropriations bills. The same subcommittees in each house will review particular parts of the bills. Every year heads of departments and agencies and program directors testify before the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees about their budgets. During the budget hearings, these offices explain why they need the money they have requested. Each year agency officials must return to Congress to request the money they need to operate in the coming year.

The House and Senate appropriations committees, however, do not have a voice in all the current spending of the federal government. By previous legislation, about 70% of the money the federal government spends each year is already committed to certain uses and, therefore, not controlled by these committees. These expenditures are termed uncontrollables because the government is legally committed to spend this money. Such required spending includes Social Security payments, interest on the national debt, and federal contracts that are in force. Some of these expenditures are known as entitlement s because they are social programs that continue from one year to the next.