Omnibus – complex, highly detailed legislative proposals covering one or more subjects or programs.

• Broad coalition of support to encourage passage and make it harder for defeat.

• Avoid the danger of hostile committee chair bottling up the bill in committee.

• Leadership in House (Speaker of the House) can help fashion bill and mover through standing committees.

• Leadership can also change its provisions to broaden its base of support and increase chance of success.

Introduction of bills

• To pass legislation
• Symbolic gestures –knowing it probably will not pass
• Score political points
• Hope bill will not pass

Decline in legislation because of decrease in scope of government rather than to create new programs.

Origin and Introduction

Bill -A proposal of law

Resolution

All revenue raising bills must begin in House. Other bills may start in either chamber.

• Assigned a number and is referred to a committee. H.R./S

Overlapping jurisdiction leads to multiple referral legislation (more than one committee)

Senate may also have joint, sequential, and partial referral of legislation.

House (sequential and partial)

Multiple referral of legislation enhances the Speaker’s power. Enhance policy goals and set timetable for committee consideration of multiple referral bills; negotiate policy compromises; prevent bill stalling.

Many bills introduced (8,321) but few make it to the floor (621).

Broad support of legislation

Large segment of general public consider important

Measure approved by White House

• In committees preparations are made for separate reports for the Full committees/Subcommittees

• Hearings (Full committee/Senate; Subcommittee/House). Public figures, bureaucrats and others attend hearings.

After hearings, legislative markup-go over measure line-by-line revising, amending, rewriting.

Informal negotiations important (occur before and during markup). Committee chairs and ranking minority members involved. President, interest groups, and party leadership also involved.

• Once markup finished voted out of subcommittees/full committees. If yes, then to House Rules committee.

In Rules Committee set time limitations and ground rules for debate and amendments. (Remember: Speaker of House appoints members to Rules committee)

Open

Closed

• Debate on the entire floor of House. If passes out of floor of the House it will then go to the Senate.

Senate:

Unanimous consent

Non-Germane Amendments

Killer

Filibuster

Cloture

• If Senate signs off and it is identical to House bill, then it goes to President. But seldom identical. The Senate usually adds amendments, changes wording etc.

• So it goes to a conference committee where they are not bound by the current legislation and can include or delete provisions from either bills. A compromise is reached and then it is resubmitted once again to the House and Senate for an up or down vote on the measure. If it passes both chambers in identical form it goes to the president. ( As you can see, many avenues for an opportunity to kill legislation)

• President

Sign with great fanfare

Not sign and will become law after 10 days (If Congress is in session, which it usually is)

Allowing a measure to die without signature after Congress has adjourned. (called pocket veto and seldom used)

Veto (House will need 290 and Senate will need 67 to override veto)

You cannot kill legislation by just not signing it! You will have to veto it.

Examples in class.

• Other factors that affect congressional legislation

Political Ideology

Political Party

Constituency

Interest Groups

Leadership

White House - Different goals, constituency, time preparations. Ex. 2/4/6/ House Pres Senate