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Questions tagged [bills]

A bill is a piece of legislation that is being considered by a parliament, after which it becomes an Act or statute

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Can bills (the documents of laws/legislation) have pictures? Or text only? Can images become part of the legal code?

Asking out of plain curiosity. I tried googling, but just couldn't find a combination of keywords that didn't bring up irrelevant results. Laws become law when the congress approves of a "bill" - a document that dictates and explains the terms of…
Hemsy19
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Can an insurance company drop you after receiving a bill and refusing to pay?

In June of 2018, I had a dental procedure done that ended with a total cost of about $1400. At the time, I was under my parents dental insurance. The dentist office confirmed my policy and claimed that I would pay 50% of the total cost and they…
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Can Congress pass a law that sets an incarcerated person free?

Imagine John Doe is incarcerated for a crime after exhausting all his appeals. Congress approves a bill, which is then signed into law, that, among a myriad of other things, sets John free. Has this ever happened?: Is this possible (i.e. within the…
Mindwin Remember Monica
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Once a congressional bill has become law, how is it noticed by and overseen within the executive branch?

Bills, once they become laws, seem to be archived and internally published somehow. I wonder how the executive branch picks up on and implements them when/after this happens. Someone, somewhere in the federal executive departments and agencies must…
2080
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What does "within ten Days (Sundays excepted)" — the veto period — mean in Art. I, § 7, Cl. 2 of the US Constitution?

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to…
candied_orange
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Why do US lawmakers attach amendments to the US Constitution instead of directly changing its text?

The US Constitution now has 27 amendments. I noticed that these amendments are "attachments" to the original US Constitution. Why don't the constitutional amendments directly modify the text of the original US Constitution? This seems to be…
Flux
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HR1 would force states to have independent districting. How does the federal gov't have authority to require this?

Section 2401-2422 of the H.R. 1 - For the People Act of 2021 would require states to set up independent districting commissions in order to prevent gerrymandering. This seems pretty clearly to infringe on state's rights, and doesn't seem like it…
spacetyper
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Is a medical provider required to provide a bill and/or receipt for a payment in Massachusetts?

We are currently self-payers for medical services. We found that many providers have trouble dealing with this and in particular it's very difficult to get proper documentation of the services rendered and the payment received for it (which honestly…
Hilmar
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How is a "passed" bill translated into a federal code in the US?

After a bill is through the legislative process what occurs for it to be translated from the form it is in when it is debated in Congress to when it is "implemented" or written and published as a federal code? For a concrete example I'm curious what…
Spencer
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Will there be any legal consequence if I ignore a bill that I do not owe?

I received a bill from my doctor's office for a copay of $25 that I do not need to pay. I called the office and they acknowledged that it was a mistake. However, for the past few months, they still send me this bill once in a while. I feel…
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A better tool for reading law than congress.gov

I am looking at the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, and interested in discovering how much spending the budget covers. Early in the bill, there is a reference to existing legislation: "--Section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit…
Charlie
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Can a state stop implementation of a bill passed in the parliament?

Yesterday Indian parliament passed citizenship amendment bill which seeks to provide citizenship to religious minorities which have to come to India before Dec 2014 as a refugee due to their persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. I…
Stupid_Intern
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How common is it for bills to be introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate?

Five bills are mentioned in this report. Two of them, H.R. 2422 and S. 829, are very similar and appear to be applicable to the same situations (though I can not find the full text of the latter), with the only difference being that the former was…
HDE 226868
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Can the signing of a bill by an acting governor be overturned by the actual governor?

In this article, it indicates that a bill was passed by the NJ State Assembly and signed into law by the Acting Governor who was the Senate President per the NJ's succession rules. This seemed odd to me, so I also verified that this was the case on…
Pyrotechnical
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Are nootropics illegal in the UK from April 2016?

According to new Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, the UK's government announced that new legalisation bans all substances deemed as “psychoactive” drugs excluding controlled drugs such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, etc. According to definition of…
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