HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

Prepared and presented by: Mr. Rogelio L. Paredes Jr.

 Elements of a Bill
 
To be complete a bill must have:
1. Heading – to indicate where the bill is
filed
2. Subject – expressed in the
3. Title
4. The name/s and signature of author/s
5. Statement of policy
 Elements of a Bill
 
To be complete a bill must have:
6. Purposes
7. Definition of terms
8. The bill proper containing the policy or
program proposed, the acts allowed as well as
prohibited
9. Funding provision, if a budget is needed to
implement the law
  Elements of a Bill
To be complete a bill must have:
10. Implementing agency, the institution that will implement
the law
11. Repealing clause - a provision that states that existing
laws that are changed by the new law are deemed to have
been repealed
12. Separability clause - a provision that states that parts of
the new law remain valid and effective even if some parts
are declared void or unconstitutional by competent courts
13. The date when the law will take effect and in some cases
the date when efficacy of the law will expire.
Third Reading

🞆 a bill on this stage is not debatable anymore and members vote to

approve or reject the bill.
🞆 reading of the bill number and title
🞆 voting may be : viva voce, nominal voting (members register their
votes as they are called)
TRANSMITTAL OF APPROVED BILL

🞆 a bill that has been approved on the final reading by on house is transmitted the
next day by the secretary general. together with the list of the House’s Bicameral
panel, to the other HOuse, with a request that said bill be adapted by other House.
🞆 The latter will undertake the same process
🞆 Once the other House approves the bill, it will inform the originating House that
the bill has been approved.
🞆A conference committee report shall be ratified by the
majority vote of the Members of the House of
Representatives present, there being a quorom.
🞆The same procedure goes to the Senate
THE PRESIDENT’S APPROVAL/ VETO
POWER

🞆 The ratified bill will then be submitted to the president for approval. If
approved by the president, the bill is sent back to both Houses. if
vetoed by the President, the latter will cite the provisions vetoed with
reasons for such veto and is sent to the House where it originated
within 30 days from receipt of the bill.
🞆 Congress has the option to accept the president’s veto or to override
the veto by a 2/3 votes in both Houses, voting separately.
 Types of Legislation
1. Bills
These are general measures, which if
passed upon, may become laws. A bill
is prefixed with SB./HB, followed by a
number assigned the measure based
on the order in which it is introduced.
The vast majority of legislative
proposals––recommendations dealing
with the economy, increasing penalties
for certain crimes, regulation on
commerce and trade, etc., are drafted
in the form of bills.
 Types of Legislation

They also include budgetary

appropriation of the
government and many others.
When passed by both
chambers in identical form and
signed by the President or
repassed by Congress over a
presidential veto, they become
laws.
2. Joint Resolutions
A joint resolution, like a bill,
requires the approval of both
houses and the signature of the
President. It has the force and
effect of a law if approved. There
is no real difference between a
bill and a joint resolution. The
latter generally is used when
dealing with a single item or
issue, such as a continuing or
emergency appropriations bill.
Joint resolutions are also used for
proposing amendments to the
Constitution.
3. Concurrent Resolutions

A concurrent resolution is usually designated in the

Senate as S. Ct. Res. It is used for matters affecting
the operations of both houses and must be passed
in the same form by both of them. However, they
are not referred to the President for his signature,
and they do not have the force of law. Concurrent
resolutions are used to fix the time of adjournment
of a Congress and to express the “sense of
Congress” on an issue.
4. Simple Resolutions
It is usually designated with P. S. Res. A simple resolution
deals with matters entirely within the prerogative of one
house of Congress, such as adopting or receiving its own
rules. A simple resolution is not considered by the other
chamber and is not sent to the President for his signature.
Like a concurrent resolution, it has no effect and force of a
law. Simple resolutions are used occasionally to express the
opinion of a single house on a current issue. Oftentimes, it is
also used to call for a congressional action on an issue
affecting national interest.