44-533: [REDACTED] The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 ( Pub. L. 110–81 (text) (PDF) , 121 Stat. 735 , enacted September 14, 2007 ) is a law of the United States federal government that amended parts of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 . It strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding, places more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills. The bill
88-450: A private member's bill . Some legislatures do not make this terminological distinction (for example the Dutch parliament uses wetsontwerp and wetsvoorstel interchangeably). Bills generally include titles , enacting provisions , statements of intent , definitions , substantive provisions , transitional clauses , and dates which the bill will be put into effect. The preparation of
132-577: A public bill committee ; after that it became House of Lords Bill 33. Then it became House of Lords Bill 77, returned to the House of Commons as Bill 160, before finally being passed as Act 29. Parliament recommences numbering from one at the beginning of each session. This means that two different bills may have the same number. Sessions of parliament usually last a year. They begin with the State Opening of Parliament , and end with prorogation . In
176-673: A slip law and in the United States Statutes at Large after receiving the act. Thereafter, the changes are published in the United States Code . Through the process of judicial review , an act of Congress that violates the Constitution may be declared unconstitutional by the courts. A judicial declaration that an act of Congress is unconstitutional does not remove the act from the Statutes at Large or
220-531: A bill may involve the production of a draft bill prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature. In the United Kingdom, draft bills are frequently considered to be confidential. Pre-legislative scrutiny is a formal process carried out by a parliamentary committee on a draft bill. In the Parliament of India , the draft bill is sent to individual ministry relating to the matter. From there
264-407: A firm that lobbies, and 13 of those are even registered as lobbyists. Both 2008 presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain offered amendments to the act, although neither were official cosponsors of the final act. The bill passed easily by an 83–14 margin, with Obama voting for and McCain voting against. Act of Congress#Public law, private law, designation An act of Congress
308-450: A law to be made it starts off as a bill and has to go through various stages: In the United Kingdom, a proposed new law starts off as a bill that goes through seven stages of the legislative process: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading, opposite house, and royal assent. A bill is introduced by a member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons or by
352-496: A member of the House of Lords . There will be a first reading of the bill, in which the proposition in the bill is read out, but there is minimal discussion and no voting. A second reading of the bill follows, in which the bill is presented in more detail and it is discussed between the MPs or Lords. The third stage is the committee stage , in which a committee is gathered. This may include MPs, Lords, professionals and experts in
396-475: A sequential number and are prefixed with "Republic Act" or "R.A." for short. They are also given a secondary sequential number by the chamber they are introduced in. Aforementioned numberings restart every three years after the formation of a new Congress. In the United Kingdom, for example, the Coroners and Justice Act in 2009 started as Bill 9 in the House of Commons. Then it became Bill 72 on consideration by
440-563: Is a statute enacted by the United States Congress . Acts may apply only to individual entities (called private laws ), or to the general public ( public laws ). For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both houses with a majority, then be either signed into law by the president of the United States , be left unsigned for ten days (excluding Sundays) while Congress remains in session, or, if vetoed by
484-580: Is made by the third method, the presiding officer of the house that last reconsidered the act promulgates it. Under the United States Constitution , if the president does not return a bill or resolution to Congress with objections before the time limit expires, then the bill automatically becomes an act; however, if the Congress is adjourned at the end of this period, then the bill dies and cannot be reconsidered (see pocket veto ). If
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#1732779717758528-410: Is sometimes used in informal speech to indicate something for which getting permission is burdensome. For example, "It takes an act of Congress to get a building permit in this town." An act adopted by simple majorities in both houses of Congress is promulgated , or given the force of law, in one of the following ways: The president promulgates acts of Congress made by the first two methods. If an act
572-456: Is the third reading of the bill, in which the full bill is read out in the house along with all amendments and is given final approval by the House. The next stage is where the bill is handed over to the opposite house for approval. (If it started in the House of Commons it will be handed to the House of Lords and vice versa.) Here the bill will go through the same process as before, with amendments able to be brought. If amendments are brought,
616-679: Is typically promulgated by being published in an official gazette . This may be required on enactment, coming into force, or both. Legislatures may give bills numbers as they progress. Bills are not given numbers in Australia and are typically cited by their short titles . They are only given an act number upon royal assent . In Brazil, bills originating in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are numbered sequentially, prefixed with "PL" ( Projeto de Lei ) and optionally suffixed with
660-627: The Federal Constitutional Court has discretion to rule on bills. Some bills may require approval by referendum . In Ireland this is obligatory for bills to amend the constitution ; it is possible for other bills via a process that has never been used . A bill may come into force as soon as it becomes law, or it may specify a later date to come into force, or it may specify by whom and how it may be brought into force; for example, by ministerial order . Different parts of an act may come into force at different times. An act
704-404: The House of Commons of Canada , the pro forma bill is numbered C-1, Government Bills are numbered C-2 to C-200, numbered sequentially from the start of each parliamentary session , and Private member's bills are numbered C-201 to C-1000, numbered sequentially from the start of each Parliament. The numbering system is identical in the Senate of Canada , except that bills first introduced in
748-530: The Oireachtas and Knesset respectively became/become law immediately (though, in Israel's case, the laws are ceremonially signed after their passage by the president). In parliamentary systems , approval of the head of state is normally a formality since the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead. The exercise of the veto is considered a reserve power and is typically only used in rare circumstances, and
792-543: The Privy Council of Ireland and Privy Council of England , so in practice each bill was substantively debated as "heads of a bill", then submitted to the privy councils for approval, and finally formally introduced as a bill and rejected or passed unamended. In the Westminster system , where the executive is drawn from the legislature and usually holds a majority in the lower house, most bills are introduced by
836-531: The Sunlight Foundation opined that the HLOGA of 2007 drove lobbyists underground. In January 2015, a report by the Sunlight Foundation and OpenSecrets found that of 104 former congressional members and staffers whose "cooling off" period ended during the first session of the 114th Congress which opened January 6, 2015, 29 were already in government relations, "public affairs," or serve as counsel at
880-496: The United States . The parts of a bill are known as clauses , until it has become an act of parliament, from which time the parts of the law are known as sections . In nations that have civil law systems (including France , Belgium , Luxembourg , Spain and Portugal ), a proposed law is known as a "law project" (Fr. projet de loi ) if introduced by the government, or a "law proposition" (Fr. proposition de loi ) if
924-612: The executive . Bills are introduced in the legislature and are there discussed, debated on, and voted upon. Once a bill has been enacted into law by the legislature, it is called an act of the legislature , or a statute . The word bill is mainly used in English-speaking nations formerly part of the British Empire whose legal systems originated in the common law of the United Kingdom , including
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#1732779717758968-541: The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct within three days if they engage in negotiations or agreements for future employment or compensation. Requires that Members prohibit their staff from having any lobbying contact with the Member's spouse if such individual is a registered lobbyist or is employed or retained by a registered lobbyist to influence legislation. Posting of travel and financial disclosure reports on
1012-1061: The Internet Participation in lobbyist-sponsored events during political conventions Procedural reform Congressionally directed spending reform Post-employment restrictions Disclosure by senators and staff of employment negotiations Elimination of floor, parking and gym privileges for former Members who become lobbyists Influencing hiring decisions (K Street Project) Ban on gifts from lobbyists and entities that hire lobbyists National party conventions Restrictions on lobbyist participation in travel Attendance at constituent events Senate privately paid travel public website Lobbying contact with spouses or immediate family members who are registered lobbyists Prohibits senators' immediate family members who are registered lobbyists from engaging in lobbying contacts with their family member's staff. Mandatory Senate ethics training for members and staff Annual reports on ethics enforcement In April 2014,
1056-597: The Senate of Canada begin with "S" instead of "C". In the Irish Oireachtas , bills are numbered sequentially from the start of each calendar year. Bills originating in the Dáil and Seanad share a common sequence. There are separate sequences for public and private bills, the latter prefixed with "P". Although acts to amend the constitution are outside the annual sequence used for other public acts, bills to amend
1100-503: The United States Code; rather, it prevents the act from being enforced. However, the act as published in annotated codes and legal databases is marked with annotations indicating that it is no longer good law. Bill (law) A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to substantially alter an existing law. A bill does not become law until it has been passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by
1144-458: The United States, all bills originating in the House of Representatives are numbered sequentially and prefixed with "H.R." and all bills originating from the Senate begin with an "S.". Every two years, at the start of odd-numbered years, the Congress recommences numbering from 1, though for bills the House has an order reserving the first 20 bill numbers and the Senate has similar measures for
1188-529: The approval of the head of state such as the monarch, president, or governor to become law. The refusal of such an approval is typically known as a veto . Exceptions are the Irish Free State from the abolition of the governor-general in December 1936 to the creation of the office of president in December 1937, and Israel from its formation until today, during which period bills approved by
1232-693: The bill goes to the Ministry of Law and Justice and then is passed on to the Cabinet committee which the prime minister heads. Pre-legislative scrutiny is required in much of Scandinavia, occurs in Ireland at the discretion of the Oireachtas (parliament) and occurs in the UK at the government's discretion. In the Parliament of Ireland under Poynings' Law (1494–1782) legislation had to be pre-approved by
1276-402: The bill will again be handed to the opposite house, going through the same process, which repeats until both houses arrive at an agreement on the bill. (In the rare circumstance that the two houses cannot agree, the House of Commons has the final say since it is an elected body, whereas the House of Lords is not). Once the bill is finalised, it will move to the final stage, royal assent , when
1320-517: The constitution are within the annual sequence of public bills. In the Philippines , all bills passed into law, regardless of whether they were introduced in the House of Representatives or the Senate , are numbered sequentially beginning with the first Republic Act that became law on July 15, 1946. There have been 11,646 Republic Acts as of January 21, 2022. All laws passed by Congress, once given presidential assent, become law and are given
1364-509: The executive ( government bill ). In principle, the legislature meets to consider the demands of the executive, as set out in the King's Speech or speech from the throne . Mechanisms exist to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills, but they are subject to strict timetables and usually fail unless a consensus is reached. In the US system, where the executive is formally separated from
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1408-458: The field, and other people who the bill may affect. The purpose of this stage is to go into more detail on the bill and gather expert opinions on it (e.g. teachers may be present in a committee about a bill that would affect the education system) and amendments may be brought. After this is the report stage , in which the entire house reviews any and all changes made to the bill since its conception and may bring further amendments. The fifth stage
1452-430: The first 10 bills. Joint resolutions also have the same effect as bills, and are titled as "H. J. Res." or "S. J. Res." depending on whether they originated in the House or Senate, respectively. This means that two different bills can have the same number. Each two-year span is called a congress , tracking the terms of Representatives elected in the nationwide biennial House of Representatives elections, and each congress
1496-403: The legislature can usually override the veto by a simple majority vote. However, in most cases, the executive – a cabinet of ministers responsible to parliament – takes a veto by the head of state into account. In presidential systems , the head of state is also the chief executive, and the need to receive approval can be used as a political tool by them. The legislature is only able to override
1540-420: The legislature, all bills must originate from the legislature. Bills can be introduced using the following procedures: Bills are generally considered through a number of readings. This refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature. While the bill is no longer read, the motions on the bill still refer to this practice. In India , for
1584-409: The monarch signs or otherwise signifies approval for the bill to become law. Theoretically, the monarch could refuse assent to a bill, but no monarch has done so since Queen Anne in 1708, and the royal veto has fallen into disuse. Once the assent is granted, the law comes into effect at the date and time specified within the act; if this is not specified within the act, it comes into effect at midnight on
1628-445: The president rejects a bill or resolution while the Congress is in session, a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress is needed for reconsideration to be successful. Promulgation in the sense of publishing and proclaiming the law is accomplished by the president, or the relevant presiding officer in the case of an overridden veto, delivering the act to the archivist of the United States . The archivist provides for its publication as
1672-416: The president, receive a congressional override from 2 ⁄ 3 of both houses. In the United States, acts of Congress are designated as either public laws , relating to the general public, or private laws , relating to specific institutions or individuals. Since 1957, all Acts of Congress have been designated as "Public Law X–Y" or "Private Law X–Y", where X is the number of the Congress and Y refers to
1716-413: The same day it is granted royal assent. Where a piece of primary legislation is termed an act , the process of a bill becoming law may be termed enactment . Once a bill is passed by the legislature, it may automatically become law, or it may need further approval, in which case enactment may be effected by the approver's signature or proclamation . Bills passed by the legislature usually require
1760-408: The sequential order of the bill (when it was enacted). For example, P. L. 111–5 ( American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ) was the fifth enacted public law of the 111th United States Congress . Public laws are also often abbreviated as Pub. L. No. X–Y. When the legislation of those two kinds are proposed, it is called public bill and private bill respectively. The word "act", as used in
1804-488: The term "act of Congress", is a common, not a proper noun . The capitalization of the word "act" (especially when used standing alone to refer to an act mentioned earlier by its full name) is deprecated by some dictionaries and usage authorities. However, the Bluebook requires "Act" to be capitalized when referring to a specific legislative act. The United States Code capitalizes "act". The term "act of Congress"
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1848-478: The veto by means of a supermajority vote. In some jurisdictions, a bill passed by the legislature may also require approval by a constitutional court . If the court finds the bill would violate the constitution it may annul it or send it back to the legislature for correction. In Ireland, the president has discretion under Article 26 of the Constitution to refer bills to the Supreme Court . In Germany,
1892-552: The year they were proposed, separated by a slash, as in PL 1234/1988. Until 2019, each house used a different numbering and naming system, but the system was unified by a 2018 joint act by the secretaries of both houses. Before the 2019 unification, the Senate numbered bills starting at the beginning of each year, while the lower house numbered bills starting at the beginning of each legislature. This meant that bills sent from one house to another could adopt two or more different names. In
1936-684: Was signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 14, 2007. Main Sponsor: Sen Reid, Harry M. Co-sponsors: Closing the revolving door Ending the " K Street Project " Prohibiting gifts by lobbyists Full public disclosure of lobbying activity New transparency for lobbyist political donations, bundling and other financial contributions Congressional pension accountability Prohibited use of private aircraft Toughening penalties for falsifying financial disclosure forms Disclosure by Members and staff of employment negotiations Requires senior staff to notify
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