How a Bill Becomes a Law
United States
In the U.S. anyone can draft a Bill, however only members of Congress can introduce legislation. The legislative process begins when a Bill or resolution is numbered, referred to the appropriate committee and printed by the Government Printing Office. The Bill is then placed on the committee’s calendar, and the committee reviews the Bill and determines whether they think it can pass.
After the hearings, the subcommittee can make changes and amendments to the Bill as necessary. It then refers it back to the committee for further hearings and discussion, and the committee then votes to recommend, or ‘report,’ the Bill to the appropriate chamber as a whole. If the committee or subcommittee ignores the Bill at any point during this process, the Bill dies.
Once the Bill is reported, the Bill is placed on the calendar of either the House or Senate – wherever it originated. The Bill is then debated on the chamber floor. After the debate ends and any amendments have been approved, the Bill is voted on – it either passes or is defeated. If the Bill passes, it is referred to the other chamber where it follows the same route through committee and debate. This chamber can approve the Bill as received, reject it, ignore it, or change it.
If the other chamber makes only minor changes, the legislation returns to the first chamber for concurrence. However, when the actions of the other chamber significantly alter the Bill, a ‘conference committee’ is formed to reconcile the differences between the two versions. If the they cannot reach an agreement, the legislation dies. If they do, a conference report is prepared describing the committee members’ recommendations for changes. Both chambers of Congress must then approve the conference report.
After a Bill has been approved by both the House and Senate in identical form, it is sent to the President. It becomes law if the President either signs the legislation or, while Congress is in session, takes no action for ten days. If the President opposes the Bill, he can veto it, and this can only be overridden with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.
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How a Bill Becomes A Law
European Union
The European Commission, which functions as the executive branch of the EU, is the only EU body that can propose new legislation.
When the Commission decides to put forward a proposal, the College of Commissioners adopts it, publishes it in the Official Journal of the European Union, and forwards it to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
The Parliament debates and amends the proposal in a process known as the Parliament First Reading. The proposal then returns to the Commission, which incorporates the changes into an amended proposal and forwards it to the European Council for the ‘Council First Reading.’ The Council, which is composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one for each member state), can either approve and adopt the act, which is then signed into law by the presidents of the Parliament and the Council, or it can decide it does not share the Parliament’s view, in which case it states its differing opinion on how the act should read, known as its ‘common position.’
The common position is forwarded to the Parliament along with the Council’s reasons, and the Parliament has three months to act. This is called the ‘Parliament Second Reading.’ If the Council approves the amended common position, the legislation is adopted. If the Council does not approve the amended common position, a Conciliation Committee, made up of equal members of Council and Parliament, works to produce a joint text. If the Committee cannot agree on a text, the act is not adopted. If it does produce a joint text, and both Parliament and Council then vote to approve it, the act is adopted and signed into law.
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How a Bill Becomes A Law
United Kingdom
In the UK, ministers and their civil servants are responsible for the content of Bills which is drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel. Before a Bill is drafted, the government often organises a period of formal consultation. A ‘Green Paper’ or a ‘White Paper’ is published and the general public and interested organisations can submit their comments and suggestions.
Once a Bill has been drafted, it is presented to Parliament for first reading. This is simply a formal introduction, without discussion, after which the Bill is printed. Bills can be introduced in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. All Bills concerned with finance are introduced in the House of Commons.
The second reading debate is a general and wide-ranging discussion of the principles and scope of the Bill, usually lasting for one day.
Following the second reading is the committee stage, a detailed clause-by-clause examination of the content of the Bill. The committee must discuss and approve every clause of the Bill, but does not debate its overall scope and purpose. Following this, the Bill enters the ‘Report stage’ in which all MPs can take part in the discussion. Once approved, the Bill returns to the House of Commons for the third reading.
The third reading is a final debate on the overall content of the amended Bill. It is often very short and is then passed on to the House of Lords. If a Bill passes through the House of Lords unchanged, it is immediately submitted for Royal Assent. However if any amendments have been made, the Bill returns to the Commons which then debates each Lords amendment.
Once the Bill has cleared the Lords, it is sent to Buckingham Palace for Royal Assent. When the Queen has given this, the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and can be implemented.
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