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 | 1. A bill becomes a law through many steps. First, it depends upon the type of bill, public or private. Then, if the bill has a rider attached to it. A rider is a provision on a subject other than the one covered in the bill. Once the bill is proposed by a representative or senator, it goes thorugh the houses of Congress. The bill travels to the committees in both Houses of Congress where it can be amended or stopped. | |
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| 2. Then, there's a debate on the House floor, right? During the amendments can still be proposed. | |
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| 3. Right. And after the debates, voting is held over the bill. The House or Senate now receives the third reading of the bill, and the vote is then taken. When one of the houses does not accept the version of the bill, a conference committee must work out the differences the two chambers have. After both houses have approved an identical bill, it is sent to the president. If he or she signs the bill, it becomes law. | |
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| 4. And the president can still veto the bill if he or she desires to. But how does Congress find the right amount of money for a bill? | |
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| How Congress appropriates money |
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| 5. Congress follows a two-step procedure in appropriating money, an authorization bill and an appropriations bill. The first step is an authorization bill, which sets up a federal program and specifies how much money can be used for it. Next, Congress has an approriations bill-legislative grant of money to pay for a government program. There are committees for approriation bills called approriation committees. However, when a congressman wants part of a bill to go to a specific purpose, they use an earmark . | |
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| 6. But The House and Senate appropriations committees do not have a voice in all current spending of the federal government. Economists call these uncontrollable expenditures. Some of these expenditures are known as entitlements because they are social programs that entitle individuals to a certain program or monetary benefits. | |
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