How does a Bill become a Law in the US?

Are you studying politics? Or just interested in knowing how the laws are made in The United states? Are you one of those people who love to keep track of various aspect of the way legal processes take place in various countries? Do you wish to know how bills become laws in The United States?

Well, you seem to be at the right place, this article gives you detailed information regarding the process a bill has to go through in order to become law in the United States.

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The Journey From A Bill To A law

#1. The first step is the idea that leads to the beginning of it all. Before this entire process kick starts, there is an idea. Some one identifies the fact that a particular law needs to be passé or there is a need for some kind of law to deal with some critical issues which the existing laws are not already taking care of. This idea may come from anyone; it can be a citizen or any representative of the house. If a citizen has an opinion regarding any matter, they can get in touch with any representative of the house, who will research the topic and formulate it into a bill if it is worth considering.

#2. The next step is getting a sponsor and the support of other members for the bill that the representative has formulated. For this, the representative will need to approach other members and will have to gather their support. Once the bill has the sponsor and the support required, it can be introduced.

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#3. In the U.S House of Representatives when it is placed in the special box kept at the side of the clerk's table, known as the hopper. A bill can only be introduced by a representative, in the U.S House of Representatives. While it is being introduced, a reading clerk reads it aloud to all the representatives. The speaker of the house will then send it to a house standing committee.

#4. In the committee, there are various experts related to various fields. According to their expertise, they examine the bill and decide whether or not to send it back to the house floor. These members do a good amount of research before they decide whether they will need to send the bill back to the house floor. If they require more information related to the bill they can take their time before they send it back to the house floor.

#5. Next, the bill is reported to the house floor. Once it is reported it is ready to be debated by the House of Representatives. When the discussion on the bill is done the bill is ready to be voted on.

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#6. The next step is voting for the bill which is done by three methods. Firstly the speaker of the house asks who are for the bill and who are against. They say ‘aye’ or ‘no’ accordingly. The other way is when the speaker asks the people in favor of the bill to stand up, and then the counting is done. Or the representatives record their votes using an electronic voting system.

#7. Next, the bill is sent to the Senate where the members do a similar kind of voting for or against the bill.

#8. Lastly, the bill is sent to the President. If it is approved by the President and passed in both the House and the Senate, then the bill becomes law.

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