The Legislative Process (PART I)

Well, you have to start somewhere, so here goes.

I'll start simple and then briefly touch on some more detail. I will also throw out a disclaimer that I am likely to not convey all of my thoughts as clearly on paper (or on screen as the case may be) as I do in my head, so hopefully, I will be clear enough to spark questions or debate about my view of the legislative process. My point of view of the legislative process is from the perspective of the Appropriations Committee, so I will take you through that specific process.

Let's start from the beginning of the Congressional calendar. Congressional sessions run in two-year terms. We are currently in the 2nd session of the 110th Congress. The 111th Congress will convene around the 3rd or 4th week of January 2009 following this November's elections. Not much really happens the first couple of weeks until the 1st week of February.

During the 1st week of February, the President submits his annual budget to Congress. From this budget Congress will determine funding for Departments, agencies, programs and projects (yes, projects...whether you like it or not, earmarks exist and are a useful tool in the Congressional Appropriations process).

Now, I'll begin a real debate. In my opinion, the entire Congressional calendar revolves around the Appropriations process. Congress begins working in a public fashion after the submission of the President's budget and usually adjourns soon after the final Appropriations action for the year. Appropriations bills are passed annually, the Committee on Appropriations is the only committee that is required to pass bills each and every year, and the bills that are passed out of the Committee allow the federal government to operate. That doesn't make it the most important committee on Capitol Hill, but certainly much of the schedule is defined by what happens in that Committee.

April and May are reserved for hearings with Executive Branch officials to discuss the individual budgets of each Department and many of the key agencies of the Federal Government. Also during this time, Members of Congress write letters to Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Subcommittees to ask that certain programs or projects receive adequate funding to accomplish their missions. This is not worthy because this is also the time table we are under to convince Members to sign letters asking for funding for the Prostate Cancer Research Program at DoD.

In June and July, Appropriations bills begin to be "marked up" meaning that the Subcommittees and then the full Appropriations Committee will recommend by voting to bring the bills to the floor. The bills are considered on the floor of the House and sent to the Senate for consideration. Often the House and Senate consider their own versions of the bill, but keeping the conversation simple, we'll assume that the Constitution sets the rules all of the time.

The Senate process will follow the same path first being considered at the Subcommittee level, then the full Committee level and then on the floor of the Senate. Usually there will be differences between what passes the House floor and the Senate floor given that the two chambers have different priorities and will have accepted different amendments during their respective floor debates.

Once each chamber has passed their versions of a bill, it is sent to a Conference Committee. The Conferene Committee is a committee made up of members from the House and from the Senate (typically from the respective subcommittee in which the bill originated because they have the most expertise on the topics of the bill). The two sides must decide how to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills. Once they have done that and it is voted on and passed by the separate House and Senate Members of the Conference Committee, the bill is taken to the floor of the House and then the Senate for consideration. The Conference Bill must pass both Chambers before it can be sent to the President to be signed into law.

There are obviously several things that can delay, sidetrack or even derail this process for any one or all 12 of these bills which must navigate this general process.

As far as where we are at right now, we have just finished our campaign to have Members of Congress send a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. In the House, 94 Representatives signed the letter to Chairman Murtha and Ranking Member Young while in the Senate 32 Senators signed the letter to Chairman Inouye and Ranking Member Stevens.

In general, any bill that passes through Congress whether it's an appropriations bill, an authorization bill or some other legislation -- it must follow this general pathway to becoming a law.

Over time, I will try to explore some of the individual processes in more detail.