Legislation

Both chambers use four types of legislation. Two of these, bills and joint resolutions, become law if passed in identical form by both houses and signed by the president (or passed over a presidential veto). In the House of Representatives, these measures are labeled “HR” for a bill and “H J Res” for a joint resolution. In the Senate, “S” denotes a bill and “S J Res,” a joint resolution.

Every legislative proposal is given a number that reflects the order in which it is introduced during each two-year congressional term (HR 1, HR 2, HR 3, etc.; S 1, S 2, S 3, etc.). If passed and signed by the president, a bill that is public in nature receives another designation, a public law (PL) number. Public law numbers also include the Congress in which they are enacted; thus, “PL 113–1” identifies the first public law enacted in the 113th Congress, which began in 2013. (See laws.)

The vast majority of legislative proposals—recommendations dealing with either domestic or foreign issues and programs affecting the U.S. government or the population generally—are drafted in the form of bills. These include authorization bills and appropriations bills.

Joint resolutions—the other form of legislation that can become law—have a more limited focus, though occasionally they may be used for omnibus legislation, measures that combine provisions from several disparate subjects into a single bill. Proposed constitutional amendments also are drafted in the form of joint resolutions, as are some emergency and catchall appropriations measures. In addition, routine measures making technical or minor changes in existing law or correcting errors in newly enacted legislation may be drafted as joint resolutions.

There are no significant differences in consideration of joint resolutions and bills. Both must be passed in identical form by the House and Senate and signed by the president (or passed over a veto) to become law. There is one major exception, however: joint resolutions embodying proposed constitutional amendments are not sent to the president for signature after they have been approved by Congress (by a two-thirds vote in each house). Instead, they are forwarded directly to the fifty states for ratification, which requires approval by a three-fourths majority (thirty-eight states).

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