Lesson of the day
How a Bill (really) Becomes a Law
Listen: You can hear the episode here (Apple podcasts) on YouTube, or on our website. Feel free to take notes on our graphic organizer while you do. When you listen to the episode, keep these thoughts in mind:
Spoiler alert, one of the last lines in the episode is: “In the 115th Congress, of the proposed 13,556 bills, 443 became law.” Does that number surprise you? Do you wish it were otherwise?
Amendments to bills in the House have to be ‘germane,’ which is to say they have to be relative to the bill. But not so in the Senate! You can put any old amendment you want on a bill in the Senate. Can you see how this could be a good thing and a bad thing?
Do: The Case of the Murdered Bills! (Grade 6-12)
Henry, the intrepid Senate Page, calls you in a panic. Five bills dead on Capitol Hill. Can you solve the mystery of how they were killed?