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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 9 of 11

How Laws Are Made

Bills and vetoes, in Congress and in Austin

What your child practices

How a bill becomes law in Congress and in the Texas Legislature, committees, vetoes and overrides, the governor's line-item veto and special sessions, regulations, and how citizens and interest groups influence lawmaking.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: GOV.2(A); GOV.7(A); GOV.7(H) · how bills become law in Congress and the Texas Legislature, and how individuals and groups affect public policy

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill; that lawmaker is its sponsor. Committee chairs decide which bills move.
  2. A simple majority passes the US Senate. The Texas Legislature meets in Austin, and the governor has a line-item veto.
  3. Texas has no statewide citizen initiative, so citizens shape laws by testifying and contacting lawmakers.

Example: What is the sponsor of a bill? Every bill is brought in by a lawmaker. That lawmaker is its sponsor. Answer: the lawmaker who introduces it

How Laws Are Made in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 9 of 11 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Elections & Voting and before Government & the Economy.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Why do most bills never become law?

    • Voters reject them all
    • The president vetoes all of them
    • They are illegal to write
    • They fail in committee or never get a vote

  2. Question 2

    Who interprets a law if people disagree about what it means?

    • The courts
    • The voters
    • Lobbyists
    • Newspapers

  3. Question 3

    Who can call the Texas Legislature into a special session?

    • the Supreme Court of Texas
    • the US president
    • any senator
    • the governor

  4. Question 4

    Texas citizens cannot put a statewide law on the ballot themselves, because Texas has no…

    • governor
    • elections
    • statewide citizen initiative
    • legislature

  5. Question 5

    Why do lawmakers compromise?

    • Bills need majorities, so they must win support from people with different views
    • Compromise is illegal
    • It's never needed
    • One person passes all laws

  6. Question 6

    Members of the public can speak about a bill at a…

    • committee hearing
    • closed jury room
    • governor's home
    • private dinner

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