How a Bill Becomes a Law

A bill can be introduced in either chamber of Congress by a senator or representative who sponsors it. The president can approve the bill and sign it into law or not approve (veto) a bill. If the president chooses to veto a bill, in most cases Congress can vote to override that veto and the bill becomes a law.

If a bill has passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and has been approved by the President, or if a presidential veto has been overridden, the bill becomes a law and is enforced by the government.

1. STEP 1: The Creation of a Bill. Members of the House or Senate draft, sponsor and introduce bills for consideration by Congress.
2. STEP 2: Committee Action.
3. STEP 3: Floor Action.
4. STEP 4: Vote.
5. STEP 5: Conference Committees.
6. STEP 6: Presidential Action.
7. STEP 7: The Creation of a Law.

Bills are laws in the making. They pass into law when they are approved by both houses and the President of the Philippines. A bill may be vetoed by the President, but the House of Representatives may overturn a presidential veto by garnering a 2/3rds vote.

A bill may become a law, even without the President’s signature, if the President does not sign a bill within 30 days from receipt in his office. A bill may also become a law without the President’s signature if Congress overrides a presidential veto by two-thirds vote.

A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute.

Once each chamber has approved the bill, the legislation is sent to the President. The President then makes the decision of whether to sign the bill into law or not. If the President signs the bill, it becomes a law. If the President refuses to sign it, the bill does not become a law.

Any member of Congress – either from the Senate or the House or Representatives – who has an idea for a law can draft a bill. These ideas come from the Congress members themselves or from everyday citizens and advocacy groups. The other members who support the bill are called “co-sponsors”.

Bill: Formally introduced legislation. Most ideas for new laws, called legislative proposals, are in the form of bills and are labeled as H.R. (House of Representatives) or S. (Senate), depending on where they are introduced. They are also numbered in the order that they are introduced during each Congress.

An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by Congress. For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both houses with a majority, then be either signed into law by the president of the United States or receive congressional override against a presidential veto.

The power of the President to refuse to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevent its enactment into law is the veto. The president has ten days (excluding Sundays) to sign a bill passed by Congress. This veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.

A local ordinance is a law for a political division smaller than a state, i.e., a local government of a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, etc.

statute law: the body of law enacted by the nine parliaments (one Commonwealth, six state and two territory), for example: – state legislation such as the Goods Act 1958 (Vic); Crimes Act 1958 (Vic); – Commonwealth legislation such as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

A statute is a law enacted by a legislature. Statutes are also called acts, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Common law is made by judges in a court , using precedent—decisions made in previous similar cases—to decide how they will judge a case before them. If no statute law applies to cover a particular situation, common law will apply; however, statute law always overrides common law.

Common law is defined as law that has been developed on the basis of preceding rulings by judges. Statutory laws are written laws passed by legislature and government of a country and those which have been accepted by the society.

A bill is proposed in the legislature and voted upon. If approved, it passes to the executive branch (either a governor at the state level or the president at the federal level). If the executive signs the bill it passes into law as a statute. Statutory law usually becomes effective on a set date written into the bill.

A Bill becomes a law if the bill has passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and has then approved by the President, or if a presidential veto has been overridden, the bill becomes a law and is enforced by the government.