{ "id": "R40829", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R40829", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 419914, "date": "2011-03-09", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:08:38.003476", "title": "How Legislation Is Brought to the House Floor: A Snapshot of Recent Parliamentary Practice in the 111th Congress (2009-2010)", "summary": "The House of Representatives has several different parliamentary procedures through which it can bring legislation to the chamber floor. Which of these will be used in a given situation depends on many factors, including the type of measure being considered, its cost, the amount of political or policy controversy surrounding it, and the degree to which Members want to debate it and propose amendments. This report provides a snapshot of the forms and origins of measures which, according to the Legislative Information System of the U.S. Congress (LIS), received action on the House floor in the 111th Congress (2009-2010) and the parliamentary procedures used to bring them up for initial House consideration.\nIn the 111th Congress, 1,946 pieces of legislation received floor action in the House of Representatives. Of these, 885 were bills or joint resolutions and 1,061 were simple or concurrent resolutions, a breakdown between lawmaking and non-lawmaking legislative forms of approximately 45% to 55%. Of these 1,946 measures, 1,796 originated in the House and 150 originated in the Senate.\nDuring the same period, 78% of all measures receiving initial House floor action came before the chamber under the Suspension of the Rules procedure; 14% came to the floor as business \u201cprivileged\u201d under House rules and precedents; 5% were raised by a special rule reported by the Committee on Rules and adopted by the House; and 2% came up by the unanimous consent of Members. One measure, representing a small fraction (less than 1%) of measures receiving House floor action in the 111th Congress, was processed through the parliamentary mechanism formerly contained in House Rule XXVIII, popularly known as the \u201cGephardt Rule.\u201d\nWhen only lawmaking forms of legislation (bills and joint resolutions) are counted, 86% of measures receiving initial House floor action in the 111th Congresses came before the chamber under the Suspension of the Rules procedure; 11% were raised by a special rule reported by the Committee on Rules and adopted by the House; and 2% came up by the unanimous consent of Members. Less than 1% of bills or joint resolutions received House floor action in the 111th Congress by virtue of being business \u201cprivileged\u201d under House rules and precedents or through the provisions of the Gephardt Rule.\nThe party sponsorship of legislation receiving initial floor action in the 111th Congress varied based on the procedure used to raise the legislation on the chamber floor. Seventy-three percent of the measures considered under the Suspension of the Rules procedure were sponsored by majority party Members. All measures brought before the House under the terms of a special rule reported by the House Committee on Rules and adopted by the House were sponsored by majority party Members.\nThis report will be periodically updated to reflect legislative action taken in a full Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R40829", "sha1": "c96b35776a2371df2088721298c9b4cbc9b0b429", "filename": "files/20110309_R40829_c96b35776a2371df2088721298c9b4cbc9b0b429.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R40829", "sha1": "2b9f3fd66e23b71d703ba18e1b460faacd55116e", "filename": "files/20110309_R40829_2b9f3fd66e23b71d703ba18e1b460faacd55116e.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "CongOpsList", "id": 4139, "name": "House Floor Proceedings" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc491041/", "id": "R40829_2010Dec02", "date": "2010-12-02", "retrieved": "2015-01-27T19:40:46", "title": "How Legislation Is Brought to the House Floor: A Snapshot of Recent Parliamentary Practice", "summary": "The House of Representatives has several different parliamentary procedures through which it can bring legislation to the chamber floor. Which of these will be used in a given situation depends on many factors, including the type of measure being considered, its cost, the amount of political or policy controversy surrounding it, and the degree to which members want to debate it and propose amendments. This report provides a snapshot of the forms and origins of measures which, according to the Legislative Information System of the U.S. Congress (LIS), received action on the House floor in the 110th Congress (2007-2008) and the parliamentary procedures used to bring them up.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20101202_R40829_b50a2a553bcdbb544dd0e49a9f12b18250e60888.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20101202_R40829_b50a2a553bcdbb544dd0e49a9f12b18250e60888.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congress", "name": "Congress" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "House of Representatives", "name": "House of Representatives" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "House rules and procedure", "name": "House rules and procedure" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Legislative procedure", "name": "Legislative procedure" } ] } ], "topics": [] }