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Policy Guide:
How a Bill Becomes Law Instructions 1. Federal: The U.S. House of Representatives (http://www.house.gov/house/Tying_it_all.html) and the U.S. Senate (http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/legprocessflowchart.pdf) each provides a summary of their legislative process from when the bill is drafted to when it is signed into law by the President. Review each document to understand how a bill becomes a law at the federal level. 2. State: Log on to your state legislature web site. For my home state, Washington, the legislature web site is: http://www1.leg.wa.gov/legislature. A listing of all state government web sites is provided by Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm). For the Washington State Legislature, information on how a bill becomes a law is posted on the "Kids Page". For your state, information may be listed under a similar page or under the headings "Legislative Process" or "General Information." If you are unable to locate these headings, you could type "how a bill becomes a law" in the web site's search engine. You may find a general statement on the legislative process or find separate statements from your state's Senate or House of Representatives. 3. Prepare a brief essay, 2-3 pages, summarizing the legislative process for your state, comparing it to the federal process. 4. Optional. If the legislature is in session during your course, you could follow the status of specific bills. Your state legislature web site should also provide instructions and links.
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