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A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to substantially alter an existing law. [1] A bill does not become law until it has been passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Bills are introduced in the legislature and are there discussed, debated on, and voted upon. Once a bill has been enacted into law by ...
Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to as "legislation" while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to outlaw, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare, or to restrict.
Conference Committees- No bill can be sent to the White House to be signed into law unless it passes through both chambers in original form. Sometimes called the "third house" of Congress, Conference Committees are in a position to make significant alterations to legislation and frequently become the focal point of policy debates.
Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills.A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction.A private bill is a proposal for a law affecting only a single person, group, or area, such as a bill granting a named person citizenship or, previously, granting named persons a legislative divorce.
For example, P. L. 111–5 (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) was the fifth enacted public law of the 111th United States Congress. Public laws are also often abbreviated as Pub. L. No. X–Y. When the legislation of those two kinds are proposed, it is called public bill and private bill respectively.
A bill may pass backward and forward several times at this stage, as each House amends or rejects changes proposed by the other. If each House insists on disagreeing with the other, the Bill is lost. Disagreement between the Houses: Often, when a bill cannot be passed in the same form by both Houses, it is "laid aside", i.e. abandoned.
For the bill to become law, both houses must agree to identical versions of the bill. [6] If the second house amends the bill, then the differences between the two versions must be reconciled in a conference committee, an ad hoc committee that includes both senators and representatives. [6]
Generally, there is no legal difference between a joint resolution and a bill. Both must be passed, in exactly the same form, by both chambers of Congress, and signed by the President (or, re-passed in override of a presidential veto ; or, remain unsigned for ten days while Congress is in session) to become a law.