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'''How Bills are Proposed to ==The Bill Process through Congress'''==
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<onlyinclude>In the United States, a bill is a proposed piece of legislation to be considered by the legislature. Specifically, entities ranging from corporations, citizens, special interest groups, and anything in between, can propose an idea for a bill to a legislator. The legislator then sponsors the bill and introduces it to the respective house in congress. Since there are numerous bills proposed daily, committees composed of small groups of legislators, review the content of the proposed bill in detail. Subsequently, committees make a recommendation on whether or not they believe the bill should pass, be rejected, or they can abstain from making a recommendation. Once a bill is passed on from the committee, the committee's recommendation is read aloud to the legislative floor. In accordance with state constitutional laws, a A bill is subjected to three readings. The first reading is purely informational, allowing the recommendation of the committee to must be heard approved by the legislatureU. The second reading is the amendment process whereby members of the committee or individual legislators propose amendments to the billS. Finally, the last reading House of a bill is the vote of passage or rejection reading. Conditional upon being passed by one chamberRepresentatives, a bill is sent to the other chamber where the process is repeatedU. All bills originating in the House of Representatives begin with "H.R."S Senaten, and all bills originating in the federal case, the Senate begin with an "SExecutive Branch in order to become a law.". If a bill passes in both chambersis enacted into law, it is sent to the governor for rulingthen formally reassigned as an Act or a statute.</onlyinclude>
[[File:6_Bill_Becomes_Law_P4_U2_L6_201A-B1billprocess.jpgpng |thumb|A simple bill process ''[[Process]]''.800 px]]
===House of Representatives===
'''The Creation'''
A corporation, citizen, group, or any other entity can propose an idea for a bill to a legislator as the first step to get a bill created. If the legislator is in favor of the idea, he or she researches the idea and writes it into a bill.
'''The Proposal'''
Since there are numerous bills proposed daily, committees composed of small groups of legislators, review the content of the proposed bill in detail. In addition, the bill needs a sponsor. Once a bill acquires this sponsor and gains the support of some other legislators, it is fit for introduction to the U.S House of Representatives
'''The Introduction'''
Only legislator in the House of Representatives can introduce the bill to the House. The bill is then read out to all of the Representatives and sent to one of the House standing committees.
'''The Committee'''
When the bill arrives at the committee, members of the committee that are experts on the bill's topics research and review the bill before voting on whether or not to send it back to the House floor. If more information on the bill is needed, committees may refer a bill to a subcommittee for further study and hearings on the piece of legislation. Hearings provide an opportunity for experts, proponents, and opposition to make their views known during the subcommittee review process. Following the hearing process, subcommittees may amend the bill prior to forwarding the piece of legislation to the full committee.
'''The Report'''
Full committees then make a recommendation to the House floor on whether or not they believe the bill should be approve or rejected. Furthermore, they may abstain from making a recommendation. The procedure is formally known as "ordering a bill reported".
'''The Debate'''
The Representatives of the House discuss and debate the bill. Representatives recommend changes and with enough support, enact those changes onto the bill. When all changes are final, the bill is ready to be voted on.
'''The Vote'''
There are three methods by which bills are voted on in the House of Representatives
#Voice Vote - The Speaker of the House ask the Representative to either say "aye" if they support the bill or "no" if they oppose the bill.
#Division - The Speaker of the House first asks the Representatives to stand up and be counted if they support the bill and subsequently asks those who oppose the bill to stand up and be counted.
#Recorded - Each representative will record their vote using an electronic voting system. Possible responses are limited to "yes", "no", or "present" (if they want to withhold their vote).
If the vote indicates a majority of the Representatives are in favor of the bill, the bill officially passes in the House and is sent to the U.S Senate.
===The Senate===
When a bill is passed by the House of Representatives, it is then referred to the Senate and undergoes a similar approval process. The Senate may approve the bill, reject it in its entirety, or propose changes.
Depending on the severity of amendments, if the Senate proposes changes, a bill is either returned to the chamber of origination for agreement, or for greater changes, a conference committee is created. The conference committee is formed to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate. If the conference committee fails to reach agreement, the legislation dies. If agreement is achieved, a conference report is drafted and forwarded to the both parts of the legislative branch for approval.
Senators vote on bills through the method of Voice Vote. If there is a majority of Senators who vote in favor of the bill, the bill officially passes the U.S Senate and is delivered to the Executive Branch, or more specifically, the President.
===The President===
Once a bill has passed through both chambers of the Legislative Branch, it is delivered to the President for a final review. The President has three possible courses of action when receiving a bill.
#Sign the bill and officially turn the bill into a law.
#Veto, or refuse to sign, the bill. In a situation in which a President vetoes a bill, the bill along with the President's reasons for vetoing it is sent back to the House of Representatives and Senate. If the House and Senate still firmly believe that the bill should be a law, they can hold one last vote on the bill. If at least two-thirds of the Representatives and Senators vote in favor of the bill, the President's veto is denied and the bill becomes a law.
#Do nothing - if Congress is in session, the bill will automatically be approved and become a law after 10 days. If Congress is not is session, the bill is discarded an does not become a law.
'''Joint Resolutions'''
'''Simple Resolutions'''
*A simple resolution, is a legislative form used for matters that relate to an individual chamber of Congress; often to change the rules of the chamber, or organize a debate for a related bill. The resolution must be agreed to in the chamber of original proposal. A simple resolution is widely considered as a non-binding position because it does not result in the formation of a new law. Simple resolutions are often employed to adopt or change rules of procedures within the legislative body.
==References==
1. http://www.legis.state.wv.us/educational/bill_becomes_law/bill_becomes_law.cfm
2. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-simple-resolution.htm#didyouknowout
3. http://hussainsite.blogspot.com/2012/05/history-of-constitution.html
4.http://congress.org/advocacy-101/the-legislative-process/
[[Category: Public]]
