How a Bill (Like UAFA) Becomes a Law

By Steve Ralls on 04/18/2011 @ 02:39 PM

With last week's reintroduction of the Uniting American Families Act in both the House and Senate, we know that many of you have questions about what happens next, how we score a Congressional win and what we need to do to move UAFA forward.

Over the past week, some of our supporters have posted questions about the Congressional process via Facebook and Twitter, and we want to take an opportunity to clarify what has happened, will happen and needs to happen with the legislation.

First, its important to note that co-sponsors are incredibly important, but co-sponsors are not votes. When a lawmaker co-sponsors legislation, they are, essentially, endorsing the bill and signaling to leaders in Congress that they support the bill. Many lawmakers, however, ultimately vote for bills they do not co-sponsor . . . and, on rare occasions, do not vote for bills they do co-sponsor. The co-sponsor number, however, is an important message to party, and Congressional, leaders about the level of support a bill enjoys.

Building co-sponsors now is imperative for when we have a vote on UAFA in the future. Some supporters have noted, in recent days, that co-sponsorship may just be symbolic. The reality, however, is that when we have Congressional leadership ready to move the bill, it will be the number of co-sponsors that leaders look at first. If we sign up an impressive number of lawmakers as co-sponsors of UAFA, when the moment arrives to bring the bill to a vote, we'll have the ammunition we need to do so.

Moving UAFA to a vote in Congress is a multi-step process. Bills do not move directly to a full Congressional vote. Instead, they must first clear several key hurdles. Initially, a bill must be voted out of the sub-committee (in this case, the Judiciary's Immigration Subcommittee) of jurisdiction. To advance from a sub-committee, a majority of lawmakers on that sub-committee must vote in favor of moving the bill. When they do so, it then advances to the full committee of jurisdiction, which in the case of UAFA is the Judiciary Committee. Similar to the sub-committee process, the full committee must have a majority vote in favor of moving the legislation to the full House or Senate for an up or down vote.

Once a bill has passed both a sub-committee and committee vote, it is then sent to the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Majority Leader, for a vote in those respective chambers. In the House, another majority vote (218 Members) is needed to pass the legislation. Because of various rules - most notably the Senate filibuster rules - legislation often needs a "super-majority" vote of 60 Senators to be approved in that Chamber. (There are some exceptions to that rule, including in cases where a smaller bill is added to a larger bill, in which case a majority vote is needed to keep it intact, if there is a move to remove it from the larger bill.)

In every step of the process, it is a bill's co-sponsors that champion moving it forward to the next level, and that give that forward momentum the fuel it needs to see a bill across the finish line.

UAFA has strong support, via co-sponsors, every step of the way. In the Senate, our lead champion - Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont - chairs the full Judiciary Committee. In the House, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (UAFA's sponsor) sits on the Judiciary Committee, and our outspoken advocate, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, is the ranking member of the Immigration Sub-Committee. Lining up additional co-sponsors to stand with them, however - and building the number we need to move to a vote when the moment is right in both chambers - is key to winning.

All of this is to say, of course, that nothing is simple on Capitol Hill. But, because of the work all of you have done with us, we are inching closer to the finish line.

(For a simple, catchy version of "How a Bill Becomes a Law," there's the timeless Schoolhouse Rocks take on the matter, which you can also find via YouTube, here.)

Image from Schoolhouse Rocks.