Things You Should Know About the Legislative Process
Its good to read more and understand the way government works as it helps get involved in the positive changes made. Thousands of bills are introduced to Congress each year. The fact that these bills have a detrimental impact requires to know more about them. Having an insight on the legislative system requires one to click here on this site for more info.
There are two houses in the legislative branch. The House of Representative and the Senate are the two houses. Such split was brought about by the Great Compromise of 1787 that attempted to resolve issues of representation for states with large population vs. those states having smaller ones. After every two years the member of the lower chamber are elected. The number of representatives are determined by the population level with each state guaranteed to have one representative. On the other hand the Senate which is the upper chamber, its members are elected every six years here! There can be no change based on state population.
The lawmaking process. New laws are drafted in a process where a member of the Congress introduces a bill. As from this website, a bill is a law proposed by someone in the House or representatives or Senate. The bill after introduction moves to a committee for consideration comprising of experts on specific subjects. Approving or rejecting the bill are the options here. The law goes on the next process after approval. The members of the Congress debate and vote on it after approval. It’s after the bill passes both the House and the Senate that it goes to the President now! The bill is either vetoed or signed.
Next is Filibuster. This tends to be a legislative tactic used by lawmakers to delay or prevent drafting new laws. Senators delay the voting of a bill by speaking about it for more time. Given that the Senate rules says that any senator can talk about a bill for as long as they want unless three-fifth of the senate votes to end the debate, it means that filibuster can be used to delay and prevent a bill from being voted. There are considerable debates about reforming or removing filibuster but its unlikely that it will change in the future.
Next is conference committees. The committee plays a crucial role by resolving differences between the Senate and the House. Passing different versions of a bill by the House and the Senate calls for the conference committee to discuss the differences. There is making significant changes to the bill or negotiating new provisions. Completion of the new bill version it’s then voted for and goes to the President.
Presidential veto. Its good to note that Presidents lacks the ability to make laws without working with the Congress despite them having super powers. This bill is signed, ignored or vetoed by the President within ten days.
