How Does a Bill Become Law?

The United States legislative system may seem a bit arcane to the average person. The procedure of a bill becoming a law is one that is central to the legislative system's job, making for a democratic society with a system of rules that allows everyone to have a say in the process. For a bill to become a law, it has to go through several stages of debate, revision and voting before it sees the light of day.

At the beginning of the long process is a proposal. Somebody in the Senate or the House of Representatives comes up with an idea for a new law (or an idea to alter a law that already exists) and then it is her job to get the proposal written into a bill. After the bill is created, it must be submitted to one of the two houses of Congress, either the Senate or the House of Representatives. The bill is assigned to a particular committee for debate, one that deals with the subject the law happens to concern.

It is that committee's job to debate the value of the law, including its necessity to be passed, the pros versus the cons and other such things. If the bill is received favorably by the committee, it is then read to either the House or the Senate for debate. This process is similar to the debate that occurs within the committees but now the whole branch of Congress debates its merits and its implications.

If the bill is met with the approval of one of the branches of Congress, it goes to the other one to receive the same treatment. During each individual branch of Congress' reading of the bill, it is modified in an effort to be passed by the general consensus. Therefore, if the bill is passed by both branches, it goes to a conference committee to get the modified differences figured out. After the bill has been revised, it is voted on by both houses of Congress.

Finally, the bill is submitted to the president of the United States, who has the power to either put it into effect and have it become a new law or veto it. Even if the president decides to veto the bill, the legislative branch can vote to overrule his decision. If two-thirds of the representatives vote to overrule it, the bill becomes a law anyway.

Resources

• Project Vote Smart