The Legislative Branch

How does the legislature work to represent the citizens?

Senate House of Representatives

Congress

How Congress is Organized

House and Senate

Terms of Congress

● Congress- the national legislative body

● Every two years, new representatives join the Congress. They meet in sessions each year from January to November.

● Usually, the two houses of Congress meet separately, but they occasionally meet together in a Joint Session.

The House of Representatives● 435 members; must be 25 and a 7 year US

citizen. Each representative serves for two years

● Must live in the state they represent, and have political experience

● Representation is based on population. The number of representatives of each state changes every ten years based on the census (apportionment)

Congressional Districts● Each state is divided in parts of

equal population called districts. There is one representative per district. The people living in each district are called constituents.

● Gerrymandering: drawing a district to favor one group over another. This is illegal.

● Representatives focus on the concerns of their district rather than the whole state.

Before

After

George

Holding (R-

Rolesville-

Wake Forest)

2nd District

David Price

(D- Raleigh)

4th District

The Senate● 100 members; must be 30 and a 9

year US citizen. Each senator serves a six year term.

● Senator usually has government experience

● Each state has 2 senators who represent the entire state.

● Serve 6 year terms, 1/3 of senators are up for reelection every two years.

Thom Tillis (Republican)Richard Burr (Republican)

Congressional Leaders● Each house of Congress has a

majority party and a minority party.

● The majority party in the House of

Representatives elects the Speaker of

the House.

● The speaker chooses which bills to

address, who will speak, and when to

vote

Paul Ryan (Republican)Speaker of the House

Congressional Leaders● Vice President is the official leader of the

Senate. The day to day leader is the President

Pro Tempore.

● Each house has party leaders called the majority or minority leader. They direct members of their party to act on certain bills.

● Each party also has officials called “Party Whips” who make sure members of the party are voting with the party.

Orrin

Hatch

Congressional Committees● Most real work of the Congress

happens in committees.

● Standing Committee: work on

issues that never go away

● Select: temporarily created to

address a specific issue

● Joint: members of both houses

● Conference: members of both

parties work together to

compromise on a bill

Powers of CongressWhat exactly does Congress do?

Powers of Congress●Expressed Powers●Implied Powers●Legislative Powers:

○ Taxing and Spending: only the Congress can pass laws about raising and spending money

○ Regulating Commerce: only the Congress can regulate interstate and international trade

○ Foreign relations: Only Congress can declare war, maintain the military, and approve treaties with other nations.

Other Powers● Non-legislative powers:

○ Propose constitutional amendments

○ Check other branches: approve Federal judges and secretaries of executive agencies; impeach the President and VP

○ Oversight and Investigation: Congress investigates the effectiveness of their laws and programs

Limits on Congressional Power

● First Amendment freedoms

● Cannot suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus: cannot put people in jail without a charge

● Cannot pass a Bill of Attainder: cannot put someone in prison unless convicted in a trial

● No Ex Post Facto Laws: cannot charge someone with a crime if they committed the act before it was a crime

Benefits of Congress● $150,000 annual salary

● Free trips to home state

● Franking Privilege: send work related US mail for free

● Each member of Congress has close to 100 staff members who assist in many ways. They gather information on new bills, deal with lobbyists and the press, and deal with letters/email from constituents.

Congressional Support Services

● Library of Congress: collect

information on new bills as

requested by each member

of Congress.

● General Accounting Office: Reviews spending of Federal agencies and makes recommendations on changes

The 3 Jobs of Congress Members

1. Lawmaking

2. Casework: help constituents deal with the Federal government

3. Helping the district/state: get Federal money for projects at home. These are called “pork-barrel” projects.

Making the Law

How does the Legislature complete it’s most important job?

Bills

● Types of Bills:

○ Private Bills: deal with specific people or places

○ Public Bills: deal with entire nation

How a Bill becomes a Law

1. Idea: members of Congress, lobbyists, and the President or Governor come up with ideas for bills. Anyone can come up with the idea for a bill.

2. Bill is written up and proposed on the floor of one house by a senator or representative

How a Bill Becomes a Law

3. Each bill goes to the

appropriate committee

where experts are

consulted and

amendments are

discussed.

How a Bill Becomes a LawFive things can happen to a bill in

committee:

1. bill is passed with no

changes.

2. bill is passed with changes.

3. bill is replaced with an

alternative.

4. “pigeonholing”: Chair of the

committee ignores the bill.

5. bill is killed.

How a Bill Becomes a Law4. Floor Debate: Both houses allow all

members to debate the bill and propose

changes.

● In the Senate only: There are no time

limits in the Senate, so a Senator

can speak continuously for hours to

prevent a vote on a bill. This is called

a filibuster. Filibusters can only be

ended by a “Cloture” vote of 3/5 of

the Senate.

Longest Filibuster:24 hours and 18

minutes

How a Bill Becomes a Law

5. Voting on a bill: a simple majority of 51% is needed to pass a bill

6. Conference Committee: members of both houses meet to compromise on a single version of a bill. The bill must again be passed by both houses

How a Bill Becomes a Law7. The President can do three things:

a. sign the bill into law.

b. veto the bill (a 2/3 vote of Congress is needed to overturn a Presidential veto).

c. Pocket-veto: If Congress is not in session when the President receives the bill, he can ignore it for 10 days. After 10 days, the bill can no longer be passed.

The North CarolinaGeneral Assembly

Legislative branch at the state and local level

NC General Assembly● Passes laws (called statutes) for

the state. Also performs oversight, and can impeach elected officials.

● NC Senate: 50 members

○ Must be 25 and 2 year citizen of NC

● NC House of Representatives: 120 members

○ Must be 21 and 1 year NC resident

NC General Assembly● The state is divided into 120

House districts and 50 Senate districts.

● Sessions: when legislators are working in Raleigh

○ “Long Session”: in odd years, members meet from Jan-July

○ “Short Session”: in even years, members meet from May-Aug

NC House of Representatives

Chris

Malone

NC Senate

Chad

Barefoot

Municipalities

● Municipalities: cities, towns, and villages

● Provide services that are necessary for people living close together. Ex: street lights, water and sewer service, trash pick up.

Municipalities● Incorporated by the General

Assembly: the General Assembly

approves the geographic boundaries

and charter of the city. A charter is a

written document outlining the

government of a municipality. It is like

a city’s constitution.

Municipalities● Government in Municipalities:

○ Municipalities are governed by an elected council called either the city/town council, board of commissioners, or board of aldermen.

○ This council makes laws for the municipality. These laws are called ordinances.

○ The council is led by a mayor who may be appointed by the council itself or elected by the citizens.

○ The board hires a city manager to run the day to day activities of the municipality and enforce the ordinances. The city manager is the Chief Executive of the municipality

NC Counties

● There are exactly 100 counties in NC.

● Counties carry out the statutes passed by the General Assembly.

● They also provide services like public libraries.

You are here

NC Counties● Government in counties:

○ Run by an elected board of county commissioners. They oversee

elections, alcohol distribution, and schools in the county.

○ Each county has a Local Education Authority (LEA), aka School Board.

The school board operates the public schools in a county.

○ The citizens of the county also elect a sheriff who is in charge of law enforcement in the county.