Lawmaking in the States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lawmaking in the States - Essay Example Lawmaking is not only made contentious, but very difficult, due to partisanship. The legislature is affected adversely due to the bitter partisanship, when the two parties just keep on playing the blame game and side with their own party member, irrespective of their own personal beliefs, and without taking into account the cost of their â€Å"fights† to the public exchequer. It is interesting to note that the Senate delayed the state budgets of both 1997 and 1999 by months due to partisanship. The Republicans blamed Majority Leader Chuck Chvala for it, whereas he passed the proverbial buck to the Republicans. No matter who was responsible, the result was that with so much time spent on passing the budget, there was very little time left for other legislation. The legislators deliberate policy proposals in the Senate or the House of Representatives (U. S. Congress). A proposal is introduced as a â€Å"bill† or a â€Å"resolution† by any member of the house in front of a Committee, which can hold meetings or collect relevant evidence and can also amend the bill if they consider it necessary. The bills are approved if the majority of the House votes for it. Once these proposals/ bills are approved they are sent to the other house for deliberation. Legislators build support through various ways, these include, but are not limited to, creating advisory committees consisting of people supporting the proposal and reaching out to others with the proposal. Also newsletters are published with information about the proposal, along with the results of Community Surveys on the proposal. They also attend as many Community Meetings as possible with the view of increasing their relationship with the local people as well as the media. When there is a difference of opinion between the two chambers of the legislature, or when there is an amendment being made at the second chamber, the bill