What the Cartoon Didn’t Show You: The Strategies and Deals behind the Law

The famous educational cartoon, "How a Bill Becomes a Law," forgot to illustrate an elemental part of legislation-making: party strategy. Bills are often passed or killed because of deals made among congresspeople and stratagems launched by party leaders. These tactics are central to lawmaking, so we the people, who are represented by Congress, should be aware of them.

This congressional term, the 109th, Republican leaders are experimenting with a new strategy - launching contentious bills in the Senate instead of the House. During President Bush’s first term, they did just the opposite by starting bills in the House and finishing them in the Senate, which would often reject them.

Along with failed legislation, the old strategy created discord between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R- Tennessee) and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R- Illinois). But this year, the two leaders are getting along much better, having agreed to this new formula for passing controversial measures.

Why the "Senate first" strategy?

The House has a much larger Republican majority than the Senate, so bills that President Bush favors have an easier time there. The Senate, while under Republican control, has a strong Democratic minority that has the power to block, or, filibuster a bill.

If the Senate first works out a compromise that can win more than 60 votes, then the House should have an easy time passing a similar version.

Hastert and Frist are interested in conserving floor time since they’re both anticipating lengthy Senate debates over Bush’s judicial nominees. If the Senate passes several bills before the House, the House can work on them while the Senate fights over the judiciary. Only the Senate must give its consent to judicial nominees.

Not just a matter of efficiency

But the new plan isn’t just an effort to save time. House members don’t want to risk their careers by voting on legislation that The White House favors but the public doubts, like Bush’s Social Security reforms.

Many House reps don’t want to choose between defying their party and denying their district for a measure that may just die in the Senate. Let the Senate pass it first, they say, and then we’ll take a look at it.

For more on the Bush administration’s plans for Social Security, click here.

Loopholes in the Constitution

The Constitution dictates that all revenue bills begin in the House, but there’s a way to get around that stipulation. By using a House-approved bill with a revenue component as a template, the Senate can create its own revenue-related legislation and cut-n-paste it over the House version.

Democrats are opposed to Hastert and Frist’s plans. They say that GOP leaders are circumventing the debate process by negotiating and dealing amongst themselves first.

But planning new approaches and making deals is a time-honored tradition in the Congress. It’s how things get done and how things get blocked. To be informed voters, we need to stay abreast of these strategies, and let our representatives know whether or not we approve.

WomenMatter will continue to illuminate the strategies along with the policies and philosophies of each party.

What do you think?

WomenMatter is a place to discuss life issues with other women. We don’t want to wedge women apart, but rather bring them together to dialogue. To log onto one of our online forums, click here.

WomenMatter encourages women to educate themselves on the issues and then approach their representatives with ideas.

Even though the election is over, your voice is vital. Make sure your leaders know what’s important to you. To see how your representatives vote and to contact them, click here

WomenMatter is dedicated to empowering women to participate in the political process. To do this we have invested in the most in-depth NONPARTISAN information, because we trust each woman to make up her own mind.

• We track nine issues every week and update this website several times a week.
• We launch after school GirlsMatter Clubs in middle and high schools to grow the next generation of politically aware women through a full curriculum and startup kit on girlsmatter.com.
• We do continuous research to make sure that we are meeting the needs of women across the country of all ages, races, incomes, preferences, and religions.
• We provide partnerships with nonpartisan organizations that provide services to women and advocate for them.

We offer all our services free of charge without memberships or subscriptions. To help us maintain this work - not just in election years but as a continuing part of women’s lives - please make a tax deductible donation, click here.

Update Posted on: 4/9/2005