Glossary of Public Policy Terms

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• Act: Legislation that has passed both houses of congress and becomes a law.
• Administrative Assistant (AA) or Chief of Staff (CoS): Reports directly to the member of Congress. He/she usually has overall responsibility for evaluating the political outcomes of various legislative proposals and constituent requests. The AA/CoS is usually in charge of overall office operations, including the assignment of work and the supervision of key staff.
• Advocacy: The act of pleading or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support.
• Amendment: A change in a bill by replacing the entire bill (substitution) or omitting portions of it.
• Appointment Secretary (Appt), Personal Secretary or Scheduler (Sch): This position is usually responsible for allocating a members' time among the many demands that arise from congressional responsibilities, staff requirements and constituent requests. They may also be responsible for making necessary travel arrangements, arranging speaking dates, visits to the district etc.
• Appropriations Bill: Legislation that provides funds for authorized programs.
• Authorization Bill: Legislation establishing a program and setting funding limits.
• Bill: Legislation introduced in either the House or Senate.
• Calendar: List and schedule of bills to be considered by a committee.
• Caucus: Meeting of Republican/Democratic members of Congress to determine policy and/or choose leaders.
• Chair: Presiding officer.
• Clean Bill: A bill, which has been revised in mark-up. Amendments are assembled with unchanged language and the bill is referred to the floor with a new number.
• Closed Hearing: Hearing closed to all but members, staff and witnesses testifying; also called Executive Hearings.
• Closed Rule: In the House, a prohibition against amendments not approved by the committee, which brought the bill to the floor. The House must either accept or reject the bill as-is.
• Co-Sponsor: Member who joins in sponsoring legislation but who is not the principal sponsor or the one who introduced the legislation.
• Committee: A group of members assigned to give special consideration to certain bills. See Standing Committee, Joint Committee, Special Committee.
• Companion Bills: Identical bills introduced separately in both the Senate and the House.
• Concurrent Resolution: Legislative action used to express the position of the House or Senate. Does not have the force of law.
• Conference Committee: Meeting between Representatives and Senators to resolve differences when the House and Senate have passed two versions of a similar bill.
• Congressional Record: Official transcript of the proceedings in Congress.
• Continuing Resolution: A resolution enacted to allow specific Executive Branch agencies to continue operating in the absence of a budget.
• Discharge Petition: A petition for the purpose of removing a bill from the control of the committee. A discharge petition must be signed by a majority of members in the House and Senate.
• Engrossed Bill: Final copy of a bill passed by either the House or the Senate with amendments. The bill is then delivered to the other chamber.
• Enrolled Bill: Final copy of a bill that has passed both the House and Senate in identical form.
• Executive Order: Generally, a rule or regulation having the force of law promulgated directly by the President under his statutory authority. Executive Orders take effect unless the legislature takes action to disapprove them within a specified period of time.
• Filibuster: Tactic used in the Senate whereby a minority intentionally delays a vote.
• Final Passage: Adoption of a bill after all amendments have been voted on.
• Fiscal Year: Accounting year. For the Federal Government, the fiscal year (FY) is October 1 to September 20 of the following calendar year.
• Grassroots Lobbying: People or society at a local level rather than at the center of major political activity that to try to influence the thinking of legislators or other public officials for or against a specific cause; influence public officials on behalf of or against proposed legislation and/or to try to influence (an official) to take a desired action.
• Hearing: Committee sessions for hearing witnesses.
• Joint Committee: Committee composed of members of both the House and Senate.
• Joint Resolution: Legislation similar to a bill that has the force of law if passed by both houses and signed by the President. Generally used for special circumstance.
• Lame Duck: Member of Congress (or the President) who has not been re-elected but whose term has not yet expired.
• Legislative Director (LD), Senior Legislative Assistant (Sr LA) or Legislative Counsel (LC): The LD is usually the staff person who monitors the legislative schedule and makes recommendations regarding the pros and cons of particular issues. In some congressional offices there are several LAs and responsibilities are assigned to staff with a particular expertise in specific areas.
• Lobbying: The process of attempting to influence the passage, defeat or content of legislation by individuals or a group other than members of Congress.
• Majority Leader: Chief spokesperson and strategist for the majority party, elected by members of the majority party.
• Marking Up a Bill: Process, usually in committee, of analyzing a piece of legislation section-by-section and making changes.
• Member: A United States Senator or Representative.
• Minority Leader: Chief spokesperson and strategist for the minority party, elected by members of the minority party.
• Motion: Proposal to postpone consideration of a matter in the Senate.
• Omnibus Bill: Bill regarding a single subject that combines many different aspects of that subject.
• One-Day Rule: In the Senate, a requirement that measures reported from committee be held for at least one legislative day before being brought to the floor.
• Press Secretary (Press) or Communications Director (Comm Dir): The Press Secretary's responsibilities are to build and maintain open and effective lines of communication between the member, his/her constituency and the general public. They are expected to know the benefits, demands and how to most effectively promote the member's views or positions on specific issues.
• Public Law: Designated used for legislation that has been passed by both the Senate and House and signed by the President (many times used in lieu of individual appropriations bills).
• Ranking Member: The member of the majority and minority party on a committee next to seniority after the Chairman.
• Record Vote: Vote in which members of Congress indicate their vote orally for listing in the Congressional Record.
• Regulation: A governmental order having the force of law. Also called executive order.
• Rescission Bill: Legislation that revokes spending authority previously granted by Congress.
• Resolution: A measure passed by only one house to express the sentiment of that chamber. A simple resolution does not have the force of law.
• Rider: A measure added to another, often unrelated bill with the purpose of one piece of legislation passing on the strength of another.
• Roll Call Vote: In the House, an oral vote for which a record is kept.
• Seniority: Length of unbroken service. Often used to determine rank on committees.
• Speaker of the House: Individual selected by the House to preside over the proceedings of the House in formal session. The Speaker of the House is almost always a member of the majority party.
• Sponsor: The Representative or Senator who introduces a measure.
• Table a Bill: Motion to kill a bill by cutting off consideration of it. Such motions are not debatable.
• Three- Day Rule: In the House, a requirement that measures reported from committee by held for at least three calendar days (not counting weekends and holidays) before being brought to the floor. Similar to the One-Day Rule in the Senate.
• Whip: Assistant leader for each party in each chamber who keeps other members of the party informed of the legislative agenda of the leader. Also tracks sentiment among party members for certain legislation and tries to persuade members to be present to vote for measures important to the leadership.