How a Bill Becomes a Law

Drafting legislation into a bill and then having that bill become law is not an easy process. In fact, only roughly 4% of bills drafted and introduced to Congress ever become law.
What does that tell you?

So then, how does a bill become a law
   See graphic on p.151

Not all bills are intended to become codified into law. Some bills are resolutions. Refer to p.150
Some bills are specific in what they address and some bills are very big (omnibus bills) and cover lots of issues. These types of bills are the most common place to find riders. They may be in the form of an earmark or some other type of pork-barrel project.

Basic flow of bills: (House of Representatives)
- Introduction
- Referral to Committee
- Referral to Sub-committee
- Hearings on bill
- Report back to Committee
- Markup by Committee
- Report back to full House
- Referred to Rules Committee & assigned rules
- Referred to Speaker for scheduling
- Introduced to the floor for debate (refer to p.153 on how debate functions in the House)
- Vote on bill
- Sent to the Senate
- Bill goes through senate process
- Vote in Senate
- Bill referred to Conference Committee
- Final bill vote in House
- Final bill vote in Senate
- President signs/vetoes

A classic!

The Senate

The membership of the Senate was designed by the framers of the Constitution to be chosen by the state legislatures with each state appointing 2 senators to represent the interests of that state.
What changed that?

Formal qualifications for the Senate
- minimum 30 years of age
- US citizen for a minimum of 9 years
- resident of the state to be represented

Now that the people at-large get to elect their senators, there are certain informal qualifications that the people look for (whether they mean to or not)
- older (wiser)
- prior experience
- high education (ivy league)
- whiter (Senate is less diverse than House)
- manlier (Senate has fewer women proportionally than House)
- wealthier (called the 'millionaire's club')

"In a recent election, Senate candidates spent over $400 million in 33 races." -- from the text
Do the math. How much spent per race? Average of how much per candidate?

Leadership positions in the Senate
(again, selected by party caucus)
Party leaders (majority and minority) special note: majority leader most powerful in Senate
Party whips (majority and minority)
President of the Senate
President Pro-tempore

Committee structure is roughly the same thought the committees themselves are different. Also, pay attention to the seniority rule.

The most unique thing about Senate procedure is the filibuster.

Basically, a filibuster is an attempt to talk a bill to death. By perpetuating debate, the opposition hopes that the party in the majority will table the bill in order to move on to other legislation.
1917 - Senate adopts rule which allows motion for cloture to be adopted with 2/3 vote
1975 - cloture motion rules changed from requirement of 2/3 support to 60 votes

The Senate too has rules on expulsion and filling a vacancy. read p.147

The House of Representatives

Members of the House are chosen every two years by the people of their district through elections.
(See chart on p.138 for salary and privileges)

Minimum qualifications (per Article I Section 2)
- minimum 25 years of age
- US citizen for a minimum of 7 years
- resident of the state in which the district representing is

Q: Once voted in, can someone be kicked out of the House?
A: Yes. The House can vote to expel a member for any reason with a 2/3 majority vote.

Informal qualifications for a seat in the US House
- live within the boundaries of the district
- military background or name recognition
- quality education
- wealthy
     "In 2006, the winning and losing candidates for each seat in the House spent a combined average of more than $1.5 million." --from p.138 of the text

Reapportionment & Redistricting
- 435 members in the House (fixed at that number in 1929)
- Each district represents approx. 690,000 people for correct apportionment
- Each state guaranteed a minimum of 1 seat in the House, so ratio not always perfect
- House is reapportioned based on census
- Malapportionment is unconstitutional (Wesberry v Sanders ; Davis v Bandemer)
- Gerrymandering (drawing district boundaries for political advantage) does happen and isn't necessarily          unconstitutional
                depends on whether the courts feel that the boundaries disenfranchise or violate the equal                             protection clause

Leadership positions in the House    Article I Section 2 Clause 5
(selected by party caucus)
Speaker of the House (most powerful)
Party leaders (majority and minority)
Party whips (majority and minority)

House Committees
This is where things happen

Standing Committees
- permanent committees; usually have sub-committees that report to them
   examples: Budget, Foreign Affairs, Rules*, Ways & Means* (*=something notable)

Select Committees
- created to carry out a specific task
   example: Watergate investigative committees

Joint Committees
- addresses issues that affect both House and Senate

Conference Committee
- members of House & Senate resolve differences in two similar bills passed for same purpose

Note importance of Committee Membership and Committee Chair positions

Implied, Non-legislative, and Limits on Congressional Power

Implied Powers
Again, this is all about the necessary & proper clause (aka the elastic clause)
See chart on p.134 for examples


Non-legislative powers
These are the powers that Congress exercises that don't involve lawmaking (legislating)
- propose amendments to the Constitution
- conduct investigations (oversight)
- impeachment (House: impeach / Senate: trial)
- choose President if no victor in electoral college (House)
- choose Vice-President if no victor in electoral college (Senate)
- advice & consent (primarily Senate)


Limits on Congressional power
See Article I Section 9

additional checks that limit Congressional power
- judicial review
- Presidential veto
- limited enforcement of law by the executive

Congressional Checks on Power & the Expressed Powers of Congress

Congressional checks on power
The legislative branch can check the power of the executive and/or judicial in the following ways:

- power of the purse (executive)
only Congress controls appropriations (bills that direct funds to a specific purpose)

- advice & consent (executive & judicial)
treaties, government officials, justices of the court are appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate

- impeachment (executive & judicial)

Congress can charge a member of the executive or judicial branch with wrongdoing (impeachment) and bring them to trial

Rough diagram of the impeachment process

- amendments (judicial)
only Congress can propose an amendment to the Constitution

- veto override (executive)
Congress can override a Presidential veto of legislation with 2/3 support in both Houses

- Congressional oversight
Congress can hold hearings, conduct investigations, etc regarding what various other elements of the government are doing

Let's quickly review the various powers of Congress: Article I Section 8
Expressed (Enumerated) A1 S8 C1-17
Inherent
Implied A1 S8 C18

And don't forget the powers denied to Congress: Article I Section 9

Now let's examine the Expressed Powers in detail
Article 1 Section 8 Clause 1 - power to levy taxes (remember sources of tax revenue)
Clause 2 - power to borrow money (borrowing can lead to deficits)
Clause 3 - power to regulate commerce (commerce clause; Gibbons v Ogden; HofA v US)
------
Clause 11 - power to declare war (War Powers Act)
Clause 12 - raise an army
Clause 13 - raise a navy
------
Clause 18 - to do what is necessary & proper (necessary & proper clause/ elastic clause)
This gives implied power and we will look at that next time.

Welcome to the Congress

We live in a democratically-elected representative republic. Therefore, each elected representative is tasked with representing the will of their constituents (the people they represent). This is not an easy task however. Think of what it really means to represent a large group different people. For every decision, a good representative must take into consideration the following:
- constituents
- interested groups (interest groups)
- "the people" (the good of the nation as a whole)
- self (personal beliefs)

If you take all of those into consideration for each decision, then you can see that legislating well can be a very difficult task.

The Structure of Congress
As we know, by way of the Great Compromise, Congress is a bicameral body.

Theoretical map of US for apportionment

Map of the US for equal representation of state

And this is a map of the United States Congressional Districts

Time to play..... Who's in Congress?!!!!

Basic rule of thumb (yes, it's a huge generalization but tends to be true....awkward)

-older

-whiter

-manlier

-richer

than the general American population as a whole

Fiscal Federalism

The most influence that the national government has over state governments today comes by the way of what we call fiscal federalism.

Fiscal federalism - taxing, spending, and providing aid within the federal structure

The national government can have an immense amount of influence over what the states do by offering grants-in-aid to the states. (We can just refer to them as grants) This is money that is given to the state by the national government to aid the state governments in doing something.

Grants come in 2 forms: categorical grants or block grants

Categorical grants - money is designated and can only be used for a specific purpose (category)
  Example: Money is provided to the state to assist specifically with bridge repairs/renovations

Block grants - money that is provided for use in a general area
  Example: money is provided to the state to assist with general transportation needs

So the national government just gives away money to state governments? Is the national government the most benevolent institution or what? Well.......no.
As with many gifts, there are strings attached. The strings, we call mandates.

Mandates - conditions of aid
  Things the state has to do in order to receive the grant money
  Examples: Education money & 'No Child Left Behind'; National Drinking Age

Some mandates exist, not so that a state can get aid, but so that the state can continue to receive the aid it already received regularly. These are referred to as unfunded mandates. (comply or else)

Again, it all comes down to money. What is money? (Power) How much of it do you want? (All of it or as much as you can get) So are you willing to comply with some rules and stipulations in order to get it?
Welcome to the world of grants & mandates. Fiscal federalism at its finest.

Dual Federalism

Reserved powers (powers held by the states) and Concurrent powers (powers held by both state and national government)

Concurrent powers include

  taxation, establish courts, build roads

Reserved powers of the states are held in two primary areas under the current federal structure

  - education

  - issue licenses to citizens of the state to engage in certain activities

      examples: license to drive, license to hunt, license to practice cosmetology, license to marry, license to kill (kidding)

As we have discussed, the Constitution is a very logical document. As an outline for government, if Article I Section 8 identifies the powers that Congress has, does it not stand to reason that Article I Section 9 would identify the powers that Congress does not have? ..... Yes

Look at Article I Section 9

For a brief description of what is denied, read the description on p.100

Student: "Wow, the Constitution sure has a lot to say about the different powers that each level of government have."

Teacher: "It sure does Timmy."

Student: "Does the Constitution say anything else about what government can or can't do?"

Teacher: "It sure does Timmy. Do you want to hear about it?"

Student: "Boy, do I!"

Article IV Section 1 - 'full faith & credit clause'

   so long as the conditions are similar, all contracts, licenses, etc issued by one state must be recognized by the other states (based on the principle of reciprocity) 

Article VI Clause 2 - 'supremacy clause'

  "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding"

This was clarified in the case of McCulloch v Maryland (1819) - see p.107

Dual Federalism is the concept that both state government and national government are completely sovereign and authoritative within their separate sphere of influence. History shows us, however, that conflict and tension between state and national government are inherent in the system. Let's look at a select, brief history of it.

 - The Bank of the United States (necessary & proper clause)

 - McCulloch v Maryland (supremacy clause)

 - Nullification crisis ('might makes right')

 - Secession & Civil War (14th Amendment)

 - Progressive regulations (commerce clause)

 - The New Deal (cooperative federalism)

 - The Great Society (creative federalism)

 - The Conservative Era (new federalism / devolution)

Powers of Government in the Federal Structure

Recall the difference between a confederal model of government & the federal model created.
Refer to the graphic on p.97

Because of the nature of the system created under the Constitution, there are certain powers that are held by the national government and certain powers held at the state level.

Delegated powers - powers held by the national government
Reserved powers - powers held by the state governments
Amendment X - "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Of the delegated powers, we divide them into three categories:
Expressed powers
Inherent powers
Implied powers

Expressed powers (Enumerated powers)
  - powers of the national government spelled out in the Constitution
       example: Article I Section 8 Clauses 1-17

Inherent powers
  - powers that are traditionally known to belong to a national government
       example: conducting foreign affairs

Implied powers
  - powers not specifically granted but are logical extensions of expressed powers
        Implied powers are derived from Article I Section 8 Clause 18 (necessary & proper clause)