Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Legislative Process
Legislative Process
Preliminary Procedures
The type of measures that Congress may consider and act upon (in addition
to treaties in the Senate) include bills and three kinds of resolutions. They are:
1. Bills
These are general measures, which if
passed upon, may become laws. A bill is
prefixed with S., followed by a number
assigned the measure based on the order
Once a measure has been introduced and given a number, it is read and
referred to an appropriate committee. It must be noted that during the reading
of the bill, only the title and the author is read on the floor. The Senate President
is responsible for referring bills introduced to appropriate committees.
The jurisdictions of the Standing Committees are spelled out in Rule X,
Section 13 of the Rules of the Senate. For example, if a bill involves matters
relating to agriculture, food production and agri-business, it must be referred to
the Committee on Agriculture and Food.
In Committee
Under Section 45 of Rule XVI of the Rules of the Senate, the Senate shall have
three calendars, to wit:
(e)
With
the
debate
closed,
consideration of amendments, if
shall be in order.
the
any,
Calling a Conference
Either chamber can request a conference once both have considered the same
legislation. Generally, the chamber that approved the legislation first will
disagree to the amendments made by the second body and will make a request
that a conference be convened. Sometimes, however, the second body will ask for
a conference immediately after it has passed the legislation, assuming that the
other chamber will not accept its amendments.
Selection of Conferees
Under the Rules of the Senate (Rule XII, Section 34), the Senate President
shall designate the members of the Senate panel in the conference committee
with the approval of the Senate. The Senate delegation to a conference can range
in size from three to a larger number, depending on the length and complexity of
the legislation involved.
Authority of Conferees
The authority given to the Senate conferees theoretically is limited to matters
in disagreement between the two chambers. They are not authorized to delete
provisions or language agreed to by both the House and the Senate as to draft
entirely new provisions.
In practice, however, the conferees have wide latitude, except where the
matters in disagreement are very specific. Moreover, conferees attempt to
reconcile their differences, but generally they try to grant concession only insofar
as they remain confident that the chamber they represent will accept the
compromise.
The Conference Report
When the conferees have reached agreement on a bill, the conference
committee staff writes a conference report indicating changes made in the bill
and explaining each sides actions.
Once a conference committee completes its works, it can now be submitted to
the floor for its approval. Debate on conference reports is highly privileged and
can interrupt most other business.
Approval of the conference report by both houses, along with any
amendments on disagreement, constitutes final approval of the bill.
Final Legislative Action
After both houses have given final approval to a bill, a final copy of the bill,
known as the enrolled bill, shall be printed, and certified as correct by the
Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary General of the House of
Representatives. After which, it will be signed by the Speaker of the House and
the Senate President.
A bill may become a law, even without the Presidents 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 Presidents signature if Congress overrides a
presidential veto by two-thirds vote.
Summary