Revision [3611]
This is an old revision of LegislativeProcessGuide made by ThomasStepleton on 2010-02-01 12:41:35.
Legislative Process
The "how a bill becomes law" lesson inevitably emerges in the curriculum of any general American Government course, both in High School and at the University level. You've likely been briefed on this more than once in your life, but most people gradually discard this knowledge over time because they do not rely upon the information regularly. Even when performing research that relies heavily upon the content of legislation, people tend to neglect the process that is necessary to produce such legislation. Therefore, to commence your training, you'll be required to review this process again with an emphasis on the specifics of the process you'll need to know for this internship. By the end of the semester you will likely, or at least hopefully, be very well versed in this process, as you will be dealing with it any time you're working in the Key Votes department.
First and foremost, remember that our organization covers all 50 state legislatures, in addition to the U.S. Congress. The principle of federalism ensures that every state is afforded its own constitution, and thus ensures that every state is entitled to its own legislature, with its own individual rules for passing legislation and sending it to the Governor. Therefore, you'll find that every state's legislative process differs by varying degrees. However, you should also remember that state governments are microcosms of the federal government and their legislatures tend to follow a relatively uniform set of principles and procedures for passing legislation. It is that uniform set of principles and procedures that allows us to cover all 50 states under one program.
This guide is divided into three parts:
Make-Up of the Legislatures
How A Bill Becomes Law
Writing Legislation
