Business Law Alternative Methods

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1.) Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution describes how a bill becomes a law. The legislative process is fraught with conflict and compromise. Section 7 does not say specifically how legislation passes the House or the Senate; no provision is made for a majority vote, for instance. Such details are left up to each house in establishing its own rules under Section 5 of Article I. However, before a bill is sent to the president, the House of Representatives and the Senate have to pass identical versions. If there are differences, both chambers appoint members of a conference committee, which proposes a compromise bill. Section 7 also includes several examples of checks and balances. It gives the president the power to veto, or reject, legislation passed by Congress. Congress can override the president's veto by a two-thirds vote of each house, but this is done rarely. The president has only ten days in which to veto a bill or it becomes law automatically. Similarly, if Congress adjourns during that ten days, the bill dies if the president does not sign it; a tactic known as a pocket veto.

Many presidents have advocated a line item veto, exercised by most state governors, to allow them to reject specific provisions in a bill rather than the whole thing. They believe such a power will help them combat wasteful programs that benefit only a few Americans at the expense of the many. Congress passed a Line Item Veto Act in 1996, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in Clinton v. New York (1998). Efforts to pass a constitutional amendment for a line item veto have thus far failed. This provision in Section 7 is known as the Presentment Clause. It ensures that the president participates in the legislative process, whether or not the law in question is labeled a bill or a resolution. However, the Presentment Clause does not apply to proposed ...