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- Stage 1: The Bill HB 2290 designating January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month is introduced. The members of the house or senate will draft the bill HB 2290 and then they will introduce it for the congress to take into consideration. The house and senate clerk assign the bill a number, the senate assigns a number if the bill is introduced into the senate. The house assigns a number if the bill is introduced into the House of Representatives. Any Member of Congress can introduce a piece of legislation, which is then given a number. The Member introducing that introduces the bill is known as the “sponsor”. Other Members who support the bill can be listed as “co-sponsors” of the legislation.
- Stage 2: The Bill HB 2290 is assigned to a certain Committee The House and Senate have Committees that are assigned specific jurisdictions. For example, the Senate Finance Committee handles tax bills. The newly introduced bill HB 2290 is referred to the Committee Homeland Security and Public Safety which is the committee with expertise in its issue for further consideration. The Committee may then assign the bill to one of its Subcommittees. Subcommittees are allowed to request reports from agencies and also hold hearings to give interested parties a chance to offer their opinions and testimonies on the bill. If a Committee does nothing further with the bill, it will “die” which is also known as not becoming a bill in Committee.
- Stage 3: The Committee holds hearings on the bill The Subcommittee or the full Committee, or both, can hold hearings on the piece of legislation. Witnesses testify about possible ramifications, positive or negative, of the legislation. Members of Congress may ask questions of the witnesses and make statements about their views on the legislation. Many pieces of legislation often skip this step.
- Stage 4: The Committee “marks-up” the bill A “mark-up” session is when the Committee decides whether or not to accept or reject a piece of legislation. Amendments can be offered to alter the original piece of legislation, and are discussed and then voted on by the Committee Members. Once all amendments and debate are complete, a vote is taken on final passage for the legislation. If it passes, it is “reported out” of Committee, meaning that Committee Members will explain their opinions and recommend it for consideration by the full House of Representatives. If the bill is defeated, it will be “tabled,” meaning that the bill will not receive any further legislative consideration, and is effectively dead, In this case the bill HB 2290 was not tabled and did move further allowing it to be put into effect.
- Stage 5: The bill is considered on the floor Floor consideration simply means that the full House or full Senate is considering the bill HB 2290. During floor consideration, Members debate the pros and cons of this bill. In the House, a rule, set by the Rules Committee, may govern the length of debate and number and type of amendments that can be offered during debate. In the Senate, the Majority Leader sets the structure of the debate. When the debate and amendments are complete, the full House or Senate will then decide if the bill will pass. Whichever chamber passes the bill first will then send it to the other chamber. Unless there has been a similar bill that has been already under consideration.
- Stage 6: The bill goes to Conference Committee If the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, a Conference Committee will be appointed to negotiate a compromise. Conferees must settle every difference between the two bills. Once agreement has been reached, the Conferees write a conference report that is then submitted to both the House and Senate. (Note: If the House and Senate bills are identical, the bill skips both steps 6 and 7 and is sent directly to the President)
- Stage 7: The Conference Report is considered The House and Senate have to approve the conference report of the bill HB 2290. There is generally debate about the report before a vote on final passage is called.
- Stage 8: The bill HB 2290 is then sent to the president. After the bill is passed by both of the chambers, it is then sent over to the President to be signed or to be vetoed. When it is vetoed that just means the president may have not agreed with the bill. With the bill HB 2290, it was signed and put into effect.. This takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate, but in this case the bill was passed and was signed into effect
- Stage 9: The bill HB 2290 finally becomes a law After the long process of the bill HB 2290 being introduced, referred to a committee, Hearings have been held for the bill, The committee has marked up the bill, the bill has been considered on the floor, gone to conference committees, the conference report is considered and the bill is sent to the President and he signs the bill or Congress overrides a veto, the bill officially becomes a law. It is then assigned a number and organized and filed with laws within the same topic.
