During a hearing, committee members invite policy experts, agency representatives, and other stakeholders to testify on how the bill will affect the country. After holding a hearing or hearings, the chair of the committee can decide to hold a "markup" during which committee members debate, modify, and ultimately vote for or against the bill.
If the majority of the committee members vote favorably for the bill, it is advanced to the Senate floor, where every Senator has an opportunity to review and debate the legislation.
Sometimes, less controversial pieces of legislation will be included in related larger bills as amendments in order to help speed up the legislative process. Because this was well crafted, bipartisan legislation our colleagues on the Committee did not deem it necessary to make any amendments to our bill.
The bill was voted upon favorably by the committee on June 20, , during a markup and was placed on the Senate calendar for consideration. At this point, Senator Voinovich and I made the decision to include our bill as an Amendment into a larger energy bill that originated in the House of Representatives, the Energy Policy Act of H. We did this to ensure that our legislation had the greatest chance of passing Congress as soon as possible.
After being voted upon favorably by a committee, the bill is referred to the full Senate for a vote. Here, the Majority Leader of the Senate is responsible for deciding when to bring up a piece of legislation for a vote and what type of vote it needs.
Often times, though, legislation requires more debate and must be discussed in-depth on the Senate floor. During the floor debate, every Senator is given the opportunity to speak for or against a bill and multiple votes are taken to move the bill through the legislative process.
After much debate and consideration, the Majority leader may schedule a vote with all the Senators. If this route is taken, a series of votes must be taken in order for a bill to pass the Senate. First, the Senate must agree to consider the legislation by voting on a "Motion to Proceed" which indicates the start of debate. On June 28, , H. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is responsible for introducing and voting on a companion bill of its own.
Just like in the Senate, when a bill is introduced in the House, the House Parliamentarian is responsible for assigning that legislation to a specific House committee or committees for further deliberation. Sometimes the House authors will give the bill a different title and sometimes the House Parliamentarian will give the legislation a different bill number than its Senate companion. Ultimately, a law can only be passed if both the Senate and the House of Representatives introduce, debate, and vote on similar pieces of legislation.
During , the House had been working hard to pass a large Energy Bill, H. There is also an Executive calendar to deal with treaties and nominations. Scheduling of legislation is the job of the Majority Leader. Bills can be brought to the floor whenever a majority of the Senate chooses. Debate: House: Debate is limited by the rules formulated in the Rules Committee. The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill but cannot technically pass it.
Debate is guided by the Sponsoring Committee and time is divided equally between proponents and opponents. The Committee decides how much time to allot to each person. Amendments must be germane to the subject of a bill - no riders are allowed. The bill is reported back to the House to itself and is voted on.
A quorum call is a vote to make sure that there are enough members present to have a final vote. If there is not a quorum, the House will adjourn or will send the Sergeant at Arms out to round up missing members.
Senate: debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked. Members can speak as long as they want and amendments need not be germane - riders are often offered. Entire bills can therefore be offered as amendments to other bills. Unless cloture is invoked, Senators can use a filibuster to defeat a measure by "talking it to death.
House - Legislation is handed to the clerk of the House or placed in the hopper. Senate - Members must gain recognition of the presiding officer to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour.
If any senator objects, the introduction of the bill is postponed until the next day. Committee Action - The bill is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. Bills may be referred to more than one committee and it may be split so that parts are sent to different committees. The Speaker of the House may set time limits on committees.
Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned. Failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. Bills in the House can only be released from committee without a proper committee vote by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership members.
House: Bills are placed on one of four House Calendars. The Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader decide what will reach the floor and when. Legislation can also be brought to the floor by a discharge petition.
Senate: Legislation is placed on the Legislative Calendar. There is also an Executive calendar to deal with treaties and nominations.
Scheduling of legislation is the job of the Majority Leader. Bills can be brought to the floor whenever a majority of the Senate chooses. House: Debate is limited by the rules formulated in the Rules Committee. The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill but cannot technically pass it.
Debate is guided by the Sponsoring Committee and time is divided equally between proponents and opponents. The Committee decides how much time to allot to each person. Amendments must be germane to the subject of a bill - no riders are allowed. The bill is reported back to the House to itself and is voted on. A quorum call is a vote to make sure that there are enough members present to have a final vote.
If there is not a quorum, the House will adjourn or will send the Sergeant at Arms out to round up missing members. Senate: debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked. Members can speak as long as they want and amendments need not be germane - riders are often offered. Entire bills can therefore be offered as amendments to other bills. Every bill must be passed in identical form by each of the two bodies, Senate and House, before it is sent to the Governor. If a bill has been amended by the non-originating body, it is sent back to the originating body for concurrence.
At this point, there are three options:. All reports of conference committees must be distributed to the members of each body before action can be taken. The originating body acts first on a conference committee report. When a bill has passed both houses, it is sent to the Committee on Enrolled Bills for the purpose of enrolling. This committee carefully examines the bill for clerical errors or formal imperfections.
In case of such errors, it reports them back to both houses for amendment in those particulars only. Once the enrolling reports are read in each house, the bill is signed by the Senate President or the Speaker of the House. This is an administrative function only and does not carry power of veto by refusal. The bill is then forwarded to the Secretary of State. The bill is transmitted to the Governor by the Secretary of State.
It may be recalled from the Governor any time before it is acted upon, by a majority vote of the Senate or House, whichever last had possession. If the legislature has not adjourned, the Governor has five days in which to sign the bill, veto the bill, or allow the measure to pass without signature.
When the bill is signed, it becomes law; if it is neither signed nor vetoed, it becomes law without signature. If the bill is vetoed, it returns to the body where it originated, with a veto message. This veto, to be overturned, must have a two-thirds roll call vote in each body. Without the two-thirds affirmative vote in both bodies, the veto is upheld. If the Legislature has adjourned, the Governor has five days excluding Sundays and holidays in which to sign the bill.
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